Trailblazers and leaders: Joe Salmon
Joe Salmon | Associate Director, People + Purpose |
Hill + Knowlton Strategies
How did you get to where you are today?
My internal comms career started at Vodafone. I was working as a contact centre advisor when I was invited to do a secondment into the comms team. The short story is that I instantly fell in love with the role, and knew I'd found my thing. Back then it was very different to the strategic role we play today. The focus was on message delivery, and ensuring employees received the right message, at the right time, over the right channel.
When I applied and secured that role permanently, I was keen to learn more and to add more value to the business. I completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Internal Communication at Kingston University and started reading lots of books on comms models, understanding audiences, and influencing leaders etc. The more I read, the more I wanted to put what I learned into practice and to shape how we interacted with employees to capture their attention and drive new behaviours. It felt like a huge challenge, but one I was ready for.
Two decades later here I am. Honoured and privileged to be supporting and mentoring other communicators, and recently appointed to the Board of Directors at the Institute of Internal Comms.
What does an average day look like?
At H+K there is no 'average' day. We have some of the best clients anyone could wish for. They keep us busy and on our toes. Delivering for my clients daily is my priority, so being agile and able to pivot quickly to meet deadlines is key but means no two days are the same. There are a few things that happen every day though. I get to work with some of the most inspiring and talented comms and PR professionals on the planet. We come together, form teams and collaborate to solve challenges and offer creative solutions to our clients. It's like nothing I've experienced before.
What advice would you give your 18-year old self?
"You're a young King. You can achieve whatever you put your mind to." Growing up in Handsworth, Birmingham at a time when the area was most known for the Handsworth riots, gangs, street crime, and poverty - there were no role models, so being a successful young black man was a dream and a myth.
For me and my friends the goal was to stay out of trouble, and to get a job as soon as possible to help support the family. Going to university or even college at that time was not really an option. My first job at 17 was an Apprentice Motor Vehicle Mechanic for West Midlands Travel. I didn’t enjoy it one bit but stuck it out and completed my college courses to get my qualifications.
Looking back having role models and more encouragement to believe in myself and to dream big, outside of my family, would have been a game-changer.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known when you started working in comms?
My whole experience has and continues to be a learning curve, so there isn't one thing I wish I knew before starting out in comms. I love and welcome new challenges and get heaps of that working in internal comms - even more, working at an agency.
What’s your greatest achievement to date?
By far my greatest achievement is being a father, friend, role model, mentor, and inspiration to my son. Family is everything. Having the relationship we've developed means the world to me. Nothing compares to supporting and watching him succeed and grow into a confident, ambitious, loving, and phenomenal young man.
What do you think is one of the biggest challenges facing the comms/marketing/influencer industry today?
One of the biggest challenges for IC pros today is matching the pace of change. New and more flexible ways of working require us to pivot and adapt quickly to engage and meet with our audiences wherever they are, at a time that works for them. It's also more difficult to keep your finger on the employee pulse and to get feedback. And as always message overload and lack of time for employees to engage continues to be a challenge for many.
What’s the key skill you think a successful comms/marketeer requires?
Listening is key, make sure you understand the good, the bad, and the ugly. Internal and external audiences can change their views quickly. Brand perception, employee advocacy, and how people feel can shoot up or down literally overnight in some cases because of a business announcement, or for a company showing support or lack of support for something that has hit the news headlines. Listening to and understanding your audiences puts you in the best position to engage and to get people to think, feel, or do something differently.