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.
00:00 – 03:34 | From journalism to internal communications
Rachael shares her career journey from journalism and travel sales into internal communications leadership in hospitality and travel.
03:34 – 06:12 | Building EX at Atlantis Dubai
A look back at the Atlantis and Kerzner employee experience transformation and the operational realities of communicating in a large frontline workforce.
06:12 – 11:23 | Connecting employee experience to customer experience
How internal communications supported the launch of Atlantis The Royal and helped align frontline teams around guest experience.
11:23 – 15:38 | Returning to Flight Centre in a post-pandemic workplace
Rachael reflects on rejoining Flight Centre in a leadership role and how employee expectations have shifted since COVID.
15:38 – 21:53 | Why internal podcasts aren’t landing with frontline employees
An honest discussion about declining engagement with long-form internal content and why podcasts don’t always fit operational work environments.
21:53 – 25:19 | Experimenting with leadership content and creative formats
The conversation explores balancing leadership expectations with practical engagement tactics, including Flight Centre’s “Hot Ones”-inspired leadership series.
25:19 – 28:08 | The underrated power of introverts in communications
Rachael discusses why deep listening, emotional intelligence, and quieter leadership styles are often overlooked strengths in EX and communications.
28:08 – 31:01 | Burnout, boundaries, and learning not to say yes to everything
Reflections on career growth, relationship-building, and avoiding the trap of becoming responsible for everything.
31:01 – 33:29 | Moving beyond vanity metrics
Why open rates and click metrics only tell part of the story — and what communicators should pay attention to instead.
33:29 – 35:30 | Communication superpowers and listening for what’s unsaid
Rachael shares how spotting silence, hesitation, and unspoken concerns has become one of her most valuable leadership skills.
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.