Can corporate communicators find common ground by Francisco Romero

INSIGHTS

Communications

Can Corporate Communicators Find Common Ground? C

orporate Communication…It’s the term used to describe a variety of management functions related to an organization's internal and external communications. In practice, Corporate Communication is a strategic tool ready to be leveraged to gain competitive advantage. Corporations use it to lead, motivate, persuade, and inform employees - and the public as well. At its best, effective Corporate Communication promotes: A Strong Corporate Culture A Coherent Corporate Identity A Genuine Sense of Corporate Citizenship A Professional Relationship With The Media Quick, Responsible Ways of Communicating In A Crisis …to name but a few. At its worst – such as with the recent public image debacle faced by Enron - it can be the flashpoint for scandal and ill will from which companies may never recover. In short, Corporate Communication is how an organization communicates with its employees, its extended audiences, the press, and its

customers in a way that brings its values to life. That’s what we know about corporate communication. What isn’t exactly clear - or at least consistent - is what Corporate Communication is comprised of, what its chief responsibilities are, and what budgets it controls. Depending on the organization, corporate communications can include such traditional disciplines as public relations, investor relations, employee relations, community relations, media relations, labor

relations, government relations, technical communications, training and employee development, marketing communications, management communications. Many global organizations now also include philanthropic activity, crisis and emergency communications, and advertising as part of corporate communications functions. And when you add the Internet as a delivery media to this mix – things really start to get complicated and confusing.

INSIGHTS So what is the current state of Corporate Communication? What are its best practices? And are things changing? These are just a few of the burning questions that The Corporate Communication Institute at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey has been investigating over the past three years. Since the year 2000, The Corporate Communication Institute - known as CCI - has been tracking this information by conducting an annual survey to help benchmark the practice of Corporate Communication. In the process, it has surveyed Corporate Communication executives from Fortune 1000 companies across a wide variety of industries.

Many of the 18 survey questions were specifically focused on revealing the functions of their work and the budget responsibilities for those functions. Other questions asked about the executives themselves – age, educational background, gender, salary. CCI also conducted phone and email interviews with selected respondents. In parallel with this research, CCI was also commissioned by the Council of Public Relations Firms to conduct a study of the relationship between spending on Corporate Communication functions and its

Communications reputation as reported by Fortune in its annual ranking of the “Most Admired.” Together, these studies have held a mirror up to the profession that has revealed new and confirming insights into the changing roles of active corporate communicators, as well as future implications for them and how they perform their work. If you are a corporate communicator, here’s what their findings mean to you:

Relationships With Your Community Matter A Great Deal The Council of Public Relations Firms Study indicated a positive, statistical relationship between what a corporation spends on its “foundation activities” and its reputation ranking. Citizenship activities are fundamental to the positive perception of the corporation. This implies that corporate behavior builds "equity" in the minds of your constituents - internal and external.

Culture Is Vital To Organizational Health Intangibles such as the culture of the organization form an inviting environment that can attract and retain quality people; or create one that encourages people to be less productive or to leave. A positive culture has become a standard for global corporations, such as: American Express, Boeing, GE, H-P, IBM, SONY, Johnson & Johnson. Though corporate communication

executives say the budget for this function is decreasing slightly, the profession has the broad set of skills and wisdom to be responsible for this function.

In an information driven age, communication is an integral part of the corporate strategy.

Communication Is Strategic - Now More Than Ever Data and interviews show that corporate communication executives are overwhelmingly responsible for communication policy and strategy. Many company executives consider communication as purely tactical in both its nature and its execution. In an information driven age, communication is an integral part of the corporate strategy. Strategic issues include an orientation of communication to an organization’s priorities, as well as toward the external environment. This implied roles for corporate communication executives including: brand and brand reputation steward; corporate citizenship champion; counsel to the CEO and the orporation; manager of internal communication.

The Age Gap Between You and Your Employees Must Factor Into Your Planning Sixty-eight percent (68%) of corporate executives in charge of public affairs and employee communication (internal and external) – a large majority, are between 40 and 2

INSIGHTS

Communications

55 years of age. The workforce they manage is overwhelmingly younger. A “generation gap” exists, but can be mitigated by applying the basic communication process, by conducting an audience analysis, and by focusing on the concerns of the workforce and the generation.

People In Your Workforce Care More About Themselves Than The Company Members of the contemporary workforce have been told since high school, and by parents and elders, that corporate life is not forever and no job has a guarantee. Is it any surprise they practice enlightened selfinterest? How can a company expect employee loyalty in such an environment? This implies that your workforce will not trust you without a very good reason.

Speed Is Faster That It Ever Was Experts compare an Internet year to a “dog” year. Is it any wonder that some of us seem much older than our years? The speed of life has us live several lives in one lifetime. This means that your job exists in real time and requires an ability to adapt to events as they unfold. Strategy is important in keeping up with this environment.

Your Company Is Expected To Be A Good Corporate Citizen and Make Money In the wake of diminished power among almost all power structures in our society – religion, government, the family – corporations have by default taken on a greater role in solving many of the ills of society.

Social problems – substance abuse, sexual harassment, childcare, elder care – have fallen to the corporations by default. This implies a new role for corporations.

Media Relations Is More Complex – No More Old Boy System In a 24/7/365 environment with scores of media outlets from newspapers to broadcast to the Internet, relationships with the media are no longer a matter of contacting a few old friends over a leisurely lunch. Each channel, each reporter demands a professional relationship built on credibility. The implication for the corporation is one of influence over control of information that is published, broadcast, or posted.

The Internet has changed dramatically the way people in corporations communicate internally and externally.

Internet Is Just A Tool; Internet Is A Strategy – Truth Is On The Continuum Any anthropologist will tell you that a new tool in a human system changes that system. So the Internet has changed dramatically the way people in corporations communicate internally and externally. It has at once created a sense of liberation, and also represents a constantly present taskmaster. The dot.com promise was only partly fulfilled. The Internet is almost ubiquitous to corporations and its communication etiquette is the responsibility of corporate communication.

Your Company Will Have A Crisis … Prepare For The Ones You Can’t Conceive Of Crisis planning is informed by the Boy Scout motto: “Be Prepared.” The Boy Scouts, however, did not conceive that their court victory could have resulted in a crisis of their own - funds drying up and communities barring their use of public facilities. Be prepared, indeed. They lost their "license to operate." Enron never conceived it would lose its license to operate.

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Communications

Writing Is Still The Core Skill For Corporate Communication The Internet has underscored that writing of the highest order is still the major talent required of those who create and send the messages in and from our major corporations. Organizations are flat and speed is important. Electronic communication brings the written message back to the center of the profession. Some of CCI’s research supports the notion that workplace communications are indeed evolving, and that shifts in how corporate communicators relate to colleagues and their community are already in play. Corporate Communication is taking on a more central role, is getting closer to the CEO’s office, and is becoming increasingly crucial to strategic, global executions. At the same time, communicators are serving multiple roles and working collaboratively across their organizations to create results.

John Crawford - MBA, MAOB, is the Founder and Chief Idea Officer of the Timely Ideas Corporation an independent

management consultancy that brings people, technology and ideas together to create "Breakthrough Business Solutions" for evolving companies. Its core practice areas in strategy, communications, transformation and coaching have helped clients ranging from Fortune 500 global companies to leading edge entrepreneurial ventures to be more adaptive, better positioned and highly effective.

Among its specialties are programs in communications that help organizations improve individual and team performance. For more information go to: www.timelyideas.com

Michael B. Goodman - Ph.D., is the founder and director of the Corporate Communication Institute at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Over the past 20 years, he has taught business communications and literature courses at New York University, New York Institute of Technology, and SUNY at Stony Brook.

He is the author of seven books on business communications and is currently at work on "While You Were Looking the Other Way -- Sixteen Forces That Are Redefining Communication" with several professional colleagues.

The Corporate Communication Institute at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey offers information on the best practices and theory of the profession to university students, practicing professionals, and scholars through traditional university courses, professional seminars and symposia, traditional publications, electronic and online media, and briefings and white white papers. For more information visit: www.corporatecomm.org

Fairleigh Dickinson University, founded in 1942, has grown into one of the largest private universities in New Jersey. Nearly 9,000 students study on the University’s two campuses in New Jersey and its overseas campuses in Wroxton, England, and Tel Aviv, Israel. The University offers nearly 100 degree programs at the associate, baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral levels

Since 1981 he has been a consultant to aerospace companies, medical institutions, manufacturers, and corporations on corporate communication, managerial communication, problemsolving, new business proposals, change, and corporate culture. Email: drmbgoodma@aol.com.

With all the changes in the nature of work, the tools, the people, the companies - maybe some simple guidelines might be helpful. How about Nordstrom's? They have two: #1 Use your best judgment #2 See Rule #1 Judgment, wisdom, understanding, integrity - develop and rely on them! [Authors’ Note: This article is based on CCI Research Findings that originally appeared in the Corporate Communication: An International Journal, in June 2001]