Welcome to a new year! With resolutions and fresh mindsets all round, how about a challenge that will both educate and inspire you?
We’ve collated our favourite books from the past year and created a reading list of internal comms books to motivate you in 2025.
With 12 books in this list, you can take on one per month, and by December, you’ll be a fountain of knowledge for all things internal comms, company culture and employee engagement (even more so than you already are, of course).
Best internal comms books for your internal comms strategy
We’ve seen some great new releases this year, which we’re excited to share. The list also includes some of our favourites from the past few years which continue to stay relevant to all aspects of internal comms and employee engagement. So, if you need some guidance in levelling up your internal comms strategy which makes the most of all of the features of your intranet, look no further!
1 📖 Innovative Internal Communication: How creativity, curiosity and technology can create lasting impact - by Joanna Parsons
Topic: Using internal comms to drive change and exceed employee expectations
Key takeaways: Empowering IC professionals to adopt an innovation mindset to transform internal comms, overcome obstacles and create a thriving culture of continuous improvement with engaged employees.
Author bio: Recognised as one of the leading experts in internal communications across the UK and Ireland, Joanna Parsons is CEO of The Curious Route, an internal comms consultancy based in Dublin Ireland. She has a membership community, ‘The Curious Tribe’ where she offers practical support and actionable expertise to overcome internal comms challenges and help organisations to thrive from the inside out. Joanna has vast experience in internal communications, having spent 3 years on the Board of Directions with the Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) and has won many awards for the work she has done in the past 12 years.
2 📖 Nobody Believes You: Become a leader people will follow - by Jenni Field
Topic: Leadership, credibility in your organisation and communications skills
Key takeaways: The key to overcoming communication breakdown and gaining organisational buy-in from the top level lies in a leader's credibility. This book is packed with practical tips and insights, showing how you can build authenticity and credibility to become the kind of leader people want to follow.
Author bio: Jenni Field has worked in communications for over 20 years, and in 2017 she founded Redefining Communications, her communications consultancy that gets organisations on track for success with internal comms, leadership support and employee experience. In 2020 she authored Influential Internal Communication, and in 2024 she released Nobody Believes You which carefully and concisely explores 8 practices of credible leadership.
3 📖 Refreshing Comms: Internal communication for a better connected, feel-good, goal-achieving workplace - by Liz Atkin
Topic: Internal communications, employee engagement and company culture
Key takeaway: A fresh and accessible resource on how to connect people, purpose and strategy to revamp your approach to internal comms to succeed with leadership buy-in and engaging your audiences. Plus, there’s a practical Tools of Engagement Framework to help you get started straight away.
Author bio: Liz is a leadership and communication coach and Founder of Refreshing Comms which she set up amongst the launch of her book in 2024. With over 10 years of business improvement experience, she is very well placed to advise on creating and delivering meaningful communications and the impact comms has on culture and organisational change. Liz believes that communication is the cornerstone of any modern workplace, vital not only for achieving strategic goals but also for creating a culture of collaboration, performance, and engagement.
4 📖 Internal Communication Strategy: Design, develop and transform your organizational communication - by Rachel Miller
Topic: Internal communications strategy development and implementation.
Key takeaway: Creating a shared vision so maximise success of your internal comms strategy, from development through to delivery, with a solid framework to return to time after time.
Author bio: Rachel Miller founded her consultancy All Things IC in 2013 and has over 20 years of experience in the internal comms space. She had already contributed to 7 best-selling books prior to launching her own book, which is packed with case studies and real-life examples from brands she has worked with during her career. Rachel’s professional kudos extends to working with some of the world’s biggest brands including Visa, L’Oreal, GSK and Sky, so she has plenty of experience to draw on when offering consultancy, training, masterclasses and the one-day quarterly event, All Things IC Live.
5 📖 Internal Communication in the Age of Artificial Intelligence - by Monique Zytnik
Topic: Understanding new technology and the impact on internal comms
Key takeaway: Getting the basics right when it comes to AI, leadership and comms in times of technological change and the mindset to adopt to futureproof your organisation and its culture.
Author bio: Monique Zytnik is a global employee communication expert with award-winning campaigns under her belt. She has worked with many huge global brands including LEGO and DHL, and her decades of experience enable her to give back by mentoring others in the PR and communications community.
Her expertise enables leaders and organisations to communicate effectively at scale, from corporate strategy to company culture, digital transformation and return to office projects, her skills encompass all the challenges internal communicators face. Monique’s most recent book focuses on the impact of AI in internal comms and is filled with insights, useful global case studies and expert opinions.
6 📖 Building a Culture of Inclusivity: Effective internal communication for diversity, equity and inclusion - by Priya Bates & Advita Patel
Topic: Public Relations / Business Communication Skills
Key takeaways: Preparing communication professionals for the importance of inclusivity in the workplace to help support internal communication strategies.
Author bios: Priya Bates is an award-winning professional communicator, and President and owner of Inner Strength Communication. Priya is also co-host of the Leader Like Me Podcast and her clients include organisations and leaders across the technology, retail, financial, government and education sectors. She is an accredited Business Communicator (ABC) and was one of the first Certified Strategic Communication Management Professionals (SCMP) globally.
Advita Patel is the director of CommsRebel and co-host of an award-winning podcast, CalmEdgedRebels and A Leader Like Me. An experienced speaker, she has worked in internal communications for 17 years and has gained experience in various industries. Based in Manchester, UK, She is a Chartered PR practitioner and a Fellow of CIPR. In 2020 she was named one of the top 100 Asian British entrepreneurs and in the top 101 global employee engagement list with inspiring workplaces.
This book acknowledges that diversity, equality and inclusion have never been so important in organisations and so all professionals need to be prepared. The authors combine their expert knowledge to help engage employees in driving culture change within organisations, providing a tangible roadmap to help internal comms professionals throughout the year, also highlighting techniques to avoid.
7 📖 The People Business: How ten leaders drive engagement through internal communications - by Annabel Dunstan and Imogen Osborne
Topic: Internal communications strategy / business performance
Key takeaways: Exclusive insights into the internal communications strategies behind leading businesses like WPP, Heathrow Airport, Pizza Express and more.
Author bios: Annabel Dunstan has worked in marketing and comms in senior positions at top firms and in-house. She co-founded the engagement consultancy Question & Retain whose clients include Suzuki, Pizza Express and Ferrero.
Imogen Osborne has spent over 20 years in senior communications leadership roles at Skype, Cisco and Edelman. In 2018, she set up the Pulse Business, building on eight years of experience working with real-time insight and helping companies understand how to take advantage of it.
Understanding how other companies, particularly big brands, have approached internal communications and engaged their people is fundamental knowledge for taking key wisdoms and applying those that may be relevant to new strategies within your organisation. This book is built around interviews with senior executives, providing an honest perspective on the practices, and challenges, communications professionals can face.
8 📖 Beyond Employee Engagement: Building workplace cultures that drive legendary employee experiences and phenomenal customer experiences! - by Kristina Vaneva
Topic: Employee experience / workplace culture
Key takeaway: Blueprint to making a lasting difference in transforming employee experience which then transforms business outcomes for the better. Create an outstanding workplace culture, whether you’re starting from scratch or working on what you already have.
Author bio: Kristina has over 16 years experience in guiding organisations toward employee happiness by crafting people-focused workplace cultures that have a ripple effect on customer satisfaction, productivity and profitability. She is Founder of Beyond Employee Engagement Consultancy where she offers a vast array of services to assess and improve all aspects of employee engagement and experience. Her website also provides free resources which you can explore before reading the book, which was published in 2024.
9 📖 Monetising The Employee Experience: How to prove the ROI for investing in your people and unlock lost productivity - by Mike Sharples and Nicholas Wardle
Topic: Internal communications / business strategy / employee experience
Key takeaways: A guide on how to build the case for investment in your employee experience. Covering, senior leadership buy-in and the tools needed to create a winning culture.
Author bios: Mike Sharples has over 14 years of experience in strategic consulting, branding and business transformation. As the founder and chief experience officer of Brand Experiences, Mike works with clients to develop and implement innovative solutions for employee engagement, retention and advocacy.
Nicholas Wardle is an Employee Experience Director and fellow of the Institute of Internal Communications (IoIC). An internal communications award-winner and global keynote speaker, Nicholas designs effective employee experiences, IC strategies and tactics.
We understand the importance of leadership buy-in when it comes to internal communication strategies. This made our list of best internal comms books because great ideas, strategies and new employee experiences typically require a presentation of how this will positively impact the business, particularly financially. This book will help you to prove ROI and get the backing you need to execute your strategy.
10 📖 Cracking Culture: How to make employment happier and achieve exceptional business success - by Paula Mitchell
Topic: Company culture and workplace happiness
Key takeaway: Jam-packed with new ideas, backed up with evidence and accessible for employees at all levels in the business. An easy read that brings the importance of a strong workplace culture to the forefront.
Author bio: Former recruitment consultant, entrepreneur and co-founder of The Condor Collective, Paula Mitchell has decades of experience and brings exceptional insights into human behaviour and workplace psychology, having interviewed over 20,000 clients and candidates.
11 📖 Remote Not Distant: Design a company culture that will help you thrive in a hybrid workplace - by Gustavo Razzetti
Topic: Remote / hybrid working / business success
Key takeaways: Rethinking office culture, hybrid working and remote teams to succeed in today’s new normal.
Author bio: Gustavo Razzetti is the CEO and founder of Fearless Culture, a culture design consultancy that helps teams do the best work of their lives. For more than 20 years, Razzetti has helped leaders from Fortune 500s, startups, nonprofits, and everything in between on every continent but Antartica. Gustavo is also the creator of the Culture Design Canvas, a framework used by thousands of teams and organisations across the world to map, assess, and design their culture.
Although a fairly new genre, it’s one that cannot be ignored. Books like this are exceptionally relevant due to the way working culture and office/home working has transformed since the pandemic. Considering these new realities is essential to any internal comms professionals in navigating new ways to engage employees and maintain a solid sense of inclusion throughout your workforce, at home or on site.
12 📖 Powering HR with AI: An in-depth guide to ChatGPT for Human Resources professionals - by Matt Dunn
Topic: Technology / AI / communications / human resources
Key takeaways: A dive into the world of ChatGPT, specifically focussing on how this is changing how HR teams work, designed to enhance productivity.
Author bio: Matt Dunn has trained over 2,000 users in prompt engineering and brings real world experience to human resource teams.
AI is an unmissable technological advancement that is now more tangible and real within workplaces than ever. What began as future ideas is now something businesses and teams are using and can use further to improve operations and support company culture. For venturing into the realm of AI, this book is a good place to start and is considered a “must read” for HR professionals who want to step into the future.
At Oak, we have Aria, our AI assistant that helps you create compelling content within our modern intranet software so you can save time and boost productivity with streamlined internal communications. Find out more about Aria, here.
Get ready for your best year yet
With all of this reading material you’re guaranteed to find plenty of golden nuggets of insights, information and guidance to help finetune your internal comms and employee engagement efforts this year.
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