8 June 2006
Darren Briggs moves to a consultancy role
Darren
Briggs has resigned from his position as group head of communications
at Vodafone to take up a consultancy role with The Company Agency, of
which Vodafone is a client.
Briggs, who has been at Vodafone for the past five years, will take up his new post in August as partner with The Company Agency, a management consultancy that specialises in communication. Briggs plans to use his 20 years experience in internal communication including posts at BA, Microsoft, Nike and Pepsi-Co to set up a strategic internal communication practice working at CEO level. “I can offer something based around hard corporate experience, rather than theory,” he said.
Building on experience
But it’s at Vodafone that he’s learned most valuable career
lessons: “The power of leadership communication is something I’ve
seen more of at Vodafone than any other company I’ve worked for – I’ve
been blessed with working with two chief executives who value it very
highly and who have acted as role models across the entire internal media
mix.”
Other areas of expertise include culture changes resulting from mergers and acquisitions. “In five years we’ve experienced more than most companies do in 20,” he said. Communicating internationally has proved a further challenge. “Understanding the nuances that exist around communicating with people from different countries has been invaluable,” he added.
The power of leadership communication is something I’ve seen more of at Vodafone than any other company I’ve worked for.
Leadership, engagement and alignment
But
of these three areas, it’s probably leadership communication
that will be most useful to Briggs in his new role. “I’ve
managed to support, coach and educate the chief execs I’ve worked
with to become more effective in the way they communicate with their
people. That’s a growing component of internal communication – more
executive teams are seeking advice on how to engage and align their people.
Communication is a major component of that.”
Briggs’ move coincides with the merger of Vodafone’s group, brand and UK PR functions and the downsizing of the UK-based communication function from 75 to around 65, but is unrelated. At this time there’s no replacement for Briggs and, according to Briggs, group director of corporate affairs Simon Lewis will principally be searching within the company for a candidate but “may well also cast the net a bit wider.”
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