NEW YORK AND LONDON — With the overarching goal of improving its external client relationships, Ruder Finn is looking inward, launching a multi-faceted initiative aimed giving their ‘internal customers’ – i.e. employees – a more fulfilling work life.

“We are looking at employees as the customer and how we can improve on their overall experience inside and out,” said senior VP Nina Scherr, who is leading the agency’s internal customer experience, or ICX, practice in the US. The US group works in collaboration with its London ICX practice, headed by internal communications director Jem Gregory.

Boosting employee engagement and driving connections across offices is a major component of the initiative, she said. Doing so reaps better hiring, output, and employee retention. It also creates a culture better suited to providing clients global services.

Areas of focus include: giving employees a sense of purpose; building skills; fostering collaboration; increasing employee recognition; and recruitment.

The ICX practice will be leveraging Ruder Finn’s breadth of expertise in areas it uses in its external communications — digital strategy, activation and customer experience among them, agency executives said. The practice's campaigns will mix analytics and emotions as a means of being more impactful and measurable, Ruder Finn said.