In this episode of The EX Conversation, Kaz sits down with Rachael Knowles to explore what actually works — and what doesn’t — when communicating with frontline employees. Drawing on experience across hospitality, travel, and global customer-facing organizations, Rachael reflects on the realities of engaging time-poor workforces and why some popular communication trends may be missing the mark.
From launching internal communications initiatives at Atlantis Dubai to returning to Flight Centre as Head of Internal Communications, Rachael shares practical lessons on culture, employee connection, and the importance of designing communications around how people actually work — not how leaders assume they work.
This episode will be especially useful for EX, Internal Comms, and Digital Workplace leaders supporting frontline or distributed teams, particularly those balancing multiple channels, limited attention spans, and growing pressure to prove engagement. It’s an honest conversation about communication fatigue, measurement, and staying focused on what genuinely helps employees do their jobs better.
🎧 Enjoy the episode and thanks for listening.
Episode timeline
00:00 – 03:59 | From journalism to internal communications
Rachael shares her career journey from studying drama and journalism to becoming a travel agent and eventually moving into Internal Comms at Flight Centre and Atlantis Dubai.
03:59 – 08:00 | Returning to Flight Centre after COVID
A conversation about culture, hybrid working, and how employee expectations have changed since the pandemic.
08:00 – 10:14 | Why Rachael is falling out of love with workplace podcasts
Rachael explains why long-form podcast content often struggles with frontline and customer-facing audiences.
10:14 – 12:33 | The mismatch between leadership preferences and employee reality
The discussion explores how leaders can mistake their own communication habits for what employees actually want or need.
12:33 – 15:06 | Experimenting with creative leadership content
Rachael talks about creating a “Hot Ones”-style leadership video series — and the tension between creativity, engagement, and impact.
15:06 – 18:32 | What communication channels actually work?
A practical discussion about short-form video, email, frontline attention spans, and why relevance matters more than trends.
18:32 – 20:27 | Why introversion is an underrated workplace superpower
Rachael reflects on deep listening, emotional intelligence, and why quieter voices often bring valuable insight.
20:27 – 23:19 | Learning to stop saying yes to everything
A conversation about burnout, boundaries, and being intentional with time and energy as a communications leader.
23:19 – 25:48 | Employee Experience Room 101: vanity engagement metrics
Rachael shares why open rates and clicks only tell part of the story — and why communicators need deeper insight into employee sentiment.
25:48 – 27:26 | Listening for what people aren’t saying
The episode closes with a discussion on communication intuition, spotting unspoken concerns, and understanding organizational sentiment beneath the surface.
27:26 – End | The question for the next guest
Rachael leaves the next guest with a question about the most memorable initiative they were asked to support despite not believing in it.
About The EX Conversation
The EX Conversation is a podcast series from Unily that brings together employee experience, internal communications, and digital workplace leaders from across industries.
Each episode features an open, practical conversation with people on the frontlines of EX: sharing what’s working, what’s hard, and how they’re navigating complexity in real time. No hype. No scripts. Just honest perspectives and hard-won insight to help EX leaders learn from each other and move the workplace forward.