The Role of Internal Communications in Changing Workplace Culture with Andréa Topper, Director of Internal Communications at Guardant Health

This episode features an interview with Andréa Topper, Director of Internal Communications at Guardant Health. Andréa’s path to internal comms has been anything but conventional. Starting out as a journalistic reporter and editor for publications like The Associated Press and Central Penn Business Journal, Andréa realized her passion for communicating with an audience. That passion took her to fitness company CrossFit, where she was in charge of content marketing. On this episode, Andréa sits down with Amanda to discuss how she built an internal communications function from scratch, the dos and don'ts of altering workplace culture, and the components of a change management communication. ------------------- “We know what needs to get done as internal communicators. We know what the problem areas are, but you have to prioritize and then figure out what is my plan for this? What’s my comms plan for unveiling this to the whole company? My change management plan. Who do I need to get on board? And how long is this going to take to really do based on the tolerance of the audience? And look for your early adopters. If you have fans right away, use them. They can be your champions so that when change starts to happen and people go to them because they are the company influencers, even though they might not be in senior leadership positions, people go to them because they respect them.” – Andréa Topper ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:51): Andréa’s background *(07:26): Andéa’s current role at Guardant Health *(10:04): How Andréa built Guardant’s Internal Communications program *(14:17): Segment: Story Time *(14:44): How CrossFit shaped Andréa’s Internal Communications career *(19:02): The dos and don’ts of changing culture *(25:39): Segment: Getting Tactical *(26:19): Relationship between change management and internal comms *(32:13): Components of a good change communication *(37:59): Segment: Seat at the Table *(38:40): Advice for professionals who are struggling with change initiatives *(41:59): Segment: Asking for a Friend ------------------- Links: Andréa’s LinkedIn Guardant Health Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast