TransformativeTimes New Opportunities And Challenges For .
Transformative TimesNew Opportunities andChallenges for Corporate Affairs& Communications Leaders
Contextbusiness, albeit still very much those with a strong media relationsprofile.The corporate affairs, external relations and communications function isconstantly evolving and needing to do so with ever-increasing speed.Whilst traditional themes of integrity and judgement remain constant,organisations seek communicators who can cope with a fast-pacedenvironment, manage multiple issues and fully embrace the benefits ofgreater collaboration and partnerships, both internally and externally.By 2000, the demand had evolved to broader players—those whonot only had the judgement to guide the news agenda and shapethe story but who, increasingly, were able to think across differentstakeholders’ points of view. In 2003, the first requests from clientswere coming through for candidates with MBAs.In the early 1990s, the major trend was the development of thecommunications function as a professional in-house discipline awayfrom pure public and media relations agency support. Whereas ithad been highly reliant on agencies, staffed predominantly withindividuals with journalism training, the demand from CEOs from1995 onwards turned to individuals who could be embedded in theSince 2009 and the financial crash, there has been a significantswing again. Now the demand is for sophisticated hybrids who havethe intellectual rigour, leadership capabilities and professional skillset to protect and enhance reputation holistically.Discipline embeddedin the businessFrom agency to inhouse disciplineIncreased demandfor MBAsIncrease instakeholders2Rise of the chiefreputation officerRise of thesophisticated hybrid
Today’s communicator—factors and impactA New Engagement ParadigmThere are several factors affecting the changing profile ofcommunications and corporate affairs.The converging forces of technology, globalisation and multiplyingstakeholder segments require a higher level of communicationscoordination, integration and coherence than ever before.Messages can no longer be different for different stakeholders.Data andanalyticsGLOBALISATIONTECHNOLOGYNew influentialstakeholdersAligned, strategicand informedapproach yGOVERNMENTOVERSIGHT324/7communicationcycle
Corporate communications—a profession disruptedConversations at the CEO and chairman level indicate a far greateremphasis on reputation—both corporate and personal—in the lastseven years. The general public has grown increasingly suspiciousof corporations, governments and public institutions, and, as aresult, there has been an increase in demand for peer-to-peerrecognition and communication, bottom-up communication, andthe expectations of consumers and customers for greatertransparency and overall two-way engagement.Spotlight on leadershipCommunications is arguably one of the most disruptedprofessions—feeling the effects of seismic shifts in the mediasector (with its increasing commercial challenges), the weight ofreputational pressure in the age of activism and being at theforefront of game-changing trends such as big data and employeeempowerment online.Cyber riskIn this environment, what are the attributes companies shouldbe looking for, and are these skills and competenciesrepresented in today’s leading communicators and corporateaffairs directors?Drive for financial resultsDigitalisationActivismRisk managementBig dataHaving a voiceSRIs and risk measurementIncreasing regulationEmployees as brand ambassadorsWar for talent4
Spotlight on leadershipTHE OPPORTUNITY. Leaders are, on the whole, modern in theirapproach, digitally savvy, conscious of their personal brand, nervousabout their tenure and alert to market threats and the escalation of a“bad story.” However, given the complexity of shaping both personaland corporate reputations, forming a productive and trustedrelationship with a corporate affairs advisor is now seen as essential.THE CHALLENGE. Leaders (political or corporate) have probablynever been held under such scrutiny or potential vilification by thepublic as they are today. We see media slip-ups by CEOs thatsignificantly impact corporate reputation and brand love. TheUnited Airlines’ case massively undermined customer loyalty andmade a mockery of a “customer obsessed” corporate strategy and“friendly skies” brand.The advisor who can speak truth to power, can bring insight andperspective, is adept at setting out the risk scenarios and who hasbuilt up a pre-existing powerbase of influencers across a multistakeholder platform is going to be highly influential and impactful.Driving an inclusive culture depends significantly on how a CEOexpresses his/her vision and sets out his/her expectations oncorporate behaviour. The shift to two-way conversation, bottomup influence and a more consultative and engaging strategy whereleaders take people on a journey requires a compelling narrativethat is delivered with an authentic voice.The individual will need to be “heroic” and brave at times but alsohighly empathetic and intuitive, strong on galvanising action but alsoconnecting with others. Their approach to solutions should spanacross pragmatism and innovation.The best in class are already operating as significant trusted advisorsbut there is even more opportunity and scope for corporate affairsprofessionals to be “inside the CEO tent,” informing and shapingcorporate strategy.5
DigitalisationFTSE 100 DirectorsTHE CHALLENGE. Digitalisation is empowering end users andincreasing competition for share of voice and share of market.There has been a rapid shift in societal expectations aroundaccess to information and transparency—and also a desire formore two-way dialogue and an opportunity to input ideas.Digital platforms, as a means of stakeholder engagement, featurelargely in the communications toolbox. Given the disintermediationof news distribution, companies need to be innovating but also getmore comfortable with their lack of overt “control” over content.The website is now, more than ever, a channel that significantlyinfluences perceptions of a company, but it must also be consistentwith the real-world experience of the brand. Information is nowexchanged in “real time” and perceptions flip in an instant. There willbe a balance between choosing to “rebut” a point of view versusletting it ride out and see if champions come through for the brandand then rebalancing. 50%See the rise of social, digital and mobile communicationsas the biggest change within their functionSource: “The Future of Corporate Communications,” Brunswick Group and the EACD, 20156
DigitalisationTHE OPPORTUNITY. We have seen significantly increasedinvestment in content. Every organisation is looking at better ways ofcreating content, not only because there is increasing emphasis onmanaging costs through digitalisation, but also because of therecognition that stakeholders expect to see more images.Employers are constantly seeking ways to engage with theirmultigenerational employees. Digital internal channels are a keymeans of engagement, learning and development, withorganisations such as Pearson and IBM developing their ownlearning academies.The current approach is to be far more proactive, ensuring that analready established set of networks and interrelationships can helpbuild support and understanding.Companies are hiring people from the broadcast industry—keen tocapture their skills in “packaging” information into bite-sizecompelling nuggets of distributable content.The skill set behind this is still evolving so quickly that talent tends tocome from agencies (with strong project management skills andexposure to multiple clients), as well as journalists who haveembraced social media, as they understand the purpose and powerof images.7
ActivismTHE CHALLENGE. Organisations, by and large, acknowledge thatNGOs, in their position as cause-related champions, can afford totake more risks and are less hampered by corporate paralysis. Theyare more sophisticated and nimble in building impact campaigns,have taken to social media and proactive campaigning more quickly,and are able to access and share information with speed.THE OPPORTUNITY. In the last five years, we have seen a significantshift in the importance of developing an advocacy approach. FromLevi’s and H&M pledging to make more eco-friendly clothing toSurveyMonkey, which donates 50 cents per completion of certainsurveys to a variety of charities, the drive for greater engagementwith stakeholders and playing a significant role in finding solutions toglobal issues is one of the industry’s biggest mandates.Consider Greenpeace’s highly successful campaign against Lego andits relationship with Shell. What might once have been a story in aregional paper now gains immediate exposure on the global stage.Small stakeholders have realised the benefit of pulling together toshare platforms as well as content.The rationale is that if you can build good relationships through timecommitment, face-to-face dialogue and data-rich insight and show awillingness to listen to another point of view, maybe even changeyour position, then there is a higher probability that you will be cut alittle more slack or be given a greater chance to explain. Thismitigates reputational risk.The success of a business depends on its relationships with theexternal world—regulators, potential customers and staff, activists,and legislators. In a highly volatile world, the need for betterstakeholder engagement and a more “advocacy” and “partnership”mindset is critical.There is also more focus on social performance and addressingconcerns locally, quickly and effectively through communicationengagement.Additionally, there is more investment in tracking and monitoring“chatter” and increasing the sophistication of custom riskmanagement systems.8
Risk managementFTSE 100 COMPANIESTHE CHALLENGE. Organisations recognise that they are only asstrong as their weakest link. There needs to be far moreinterconnectedness within the organisation.Reputation needs to be on the board agenda and the P&L, andcompanies should value reputation as more than just “brand”presence. It informs perception and is a key indicator of valueand performance.3%4%Have the means tomanage their reputationacross the businessMake their appetite forreputational risk explicitRecent Schillings research found that only 3% of FTSE 100companies currently have a way of managing their reputationacross the business, only 4% define their reputation riskappetite, just 8% currently measure reputation risk and 23%state that their reputation is owned by the board.Whilst a board perceives the corporate affairs function as“owning” reputation, it should be owned by everyone. Thecorporate affairs director is reputation’s steward, helping theboard recognise the reputational impact of a decision on eachstakeholder.8%23%Measure theirreputational riskSay their reputationalrisk is owned by theboardSource: Reputation Resilience Report, Schillings, 20159
Risk managementManaging Risk Through RelationshipsTHE RESPONSE. While the corporate affairs director (CAD) willalways continue to be the eyes and ears of the senior leadershipteam, now there is even more onus on the individual to act as a“purposeful connector,” listening attentively and facilitating strongworking relationships.InformationTechnologyA corporate affairs professional should have “freedom to roam”within an organisation. He or she is expected to take the lead inbuilding relationships across functions, specifically legal, marketing,finance, strategy, regulatory, investor relations and humanresources. The CIO is also an important internal stakeholder. Anddon’t forget external stakeholders.LegalHumanResourcesOnce the CAD has built these relationships, he or she has the uniquepower to escalate any risk issues discovered along the way. With theincreasing number of CADs on executive committees, they are nowembedded within the heart of strategic decision-making and caninfluence this topic.MarketingInvestorRelationsCADRegulatoryAs a result, the CAD must be proactive in building relationshipswith the risk team and ensuring board attention on reputationalrisk. Successfully fulfilling this role requires low ego and a truedesire to collaborate.10FinanceStrategy
Big dataTHE CHALLENGE. Marketing has always utilised customer andcompetitor data, and data has long supported the developmentof product lines and brand launches, as well as informed politicalcampaigns. The challenge is to embrace the crossover andblurring of lines between marketing and communications. Thechallenge is also to have the skill to pick out the salient facts andinsights from big data and cut the “noise” in in order to build outclear, distilled messages.THE OPPORTUNITY. By building out a stronger marketing mindset,the CAD has the opportunity to draw upon data for reputationmeasurement, issue tracking, stakeholder analysis and third-partyperspective. Critically, it is not the raw data that enables the functionto add maximum value, but rather the insight and guidance. Thesuccessful CAD should understand how to utilise this data to bringfresh perspectives and deeper rigour to a communications strategy.Intertwining powerful storytelling techniques with quality data pointswill influence behaviours and inform audiences better than everbefore.Nobody “owns” data—breaking down siloes and encouragingcross-fertilisation of skills and experience will benefit theorganisation.So it’s no surprise that in the last few years corporate affairsdepartments have started to hire their own data teams to lookwidely across corporate data. So many elements feed into corporatereputation that it is critical that a 360-degree analysis informdecision-making.11
Cyber riskORGANISATIONS: COSTS OF SECURITY BREACHESTHE CHALLENGE. The corporate affairs function has had to get togrips quickly with cyber risk and develop ever-stronger relationshipswith the chief information officer and chief risk officer. An attack willhappen—it will be a matter of companies needing “to lookunfortunate, not incompetent,” as one cybersecurity specialist put it.Widespread education for all board members and wider managementare essential, especially with the imminent GDPR regulation, wherebycompanies will be required to disclose cyber breaches.50%Faced public scrutinyafter a breach29%Lost revenue—38% of which lostmore than 20%Source: Annual Cybersecurity Report, Cisco, 20171222%Lost customers—40% of which lostmore than 20%23%Say their reputationalrisk is owned by theboard
Cyber riskTHE RESPONSE. The corporate affairs director needs to work withthe board to understand and draw out the “agreed level of appetite”for risk and work with the chief risk officer around joint planning andthe future investment strategy.Having a conversation about the viability of a business strategy in thecontext of reputational risk, including cyber risk, will enable the CADto become integral (if they’re not already) to corporate strategy.Internal relationships remain key—data can be a “bonding” factorbetween functions. We see that FTSE 100 companies, such as LloydsBanking Group and Vodafone, all have data security within the CAD’sresponsibility.Further, one must have crisis communications experience—notonly planning for crisis scenarios, but also knowing how tohandle them.The impact of data loss can be catastrophic for reputation.Confidence in data management has become a significant boardissue, and the communications function should be working hand inglove with the CIO and across all functions to mitigate all risk factorsand, in all likelihood, be ready to deal with a cyberattack.13
Having a voiceTHE RESPONSE. The silo that used to exist between marketing andcommunications is being broken down across all sectors. Primarily thisis around the social brand value and engagement strategy acrossmultiple channels and platforms, especially social media. Asmentioned previously, it is also about the utilisation of data to informthinking.THE CHALLENGE. Campaigning is another key development acrossthe corporate affairs function. One can track some of this back topolitical campaigning, where significant numbers of people weremobilised and, with the introduction of more digital social media,campaigning became a natural bottom-up movement to harness theenergy behind commongoals.Another important point of connection for CADs is with all of theircompany’s own employees, who are already living embodiments ofthe company’s voice, whether or not they are all aligned. Makingsure employees understand and feel ownership of a company’smessage will help amplify it even further.Also tied up in this need for a voice is the increasing pressure forcompanies to be socially responsible and to create a positive impactin the communities they serve (discussed in more depth on page 8).It’s no longer just about what your brand stands for and does out inthe world, but how you tell the story. In a world where consumers areexposed to thousands of brand messages every single day, having aunique voice helps companies rise above the clutter.14
SRIs and risk measurementTHE CHALLENGE. Investor focus around social responsibility andsocial purpose has been growing exponentially. It is the means bywhich quite often a board may suddenly have a light bulb momentwhen they realise that how they are perceived, and the level of socialgood they are seen to be achieving globally, will directly impactinvestors’ opinions of them.THE RESPONSE. Corporate affairs still struggles to find the best wayto account for its impact because of the long-term nature of its role.Matt Young, former director of corporate affairs at Lloyds BankingGroup, talks about the importance of relationships and perceptions inan interview with CorpComms magazine, saying, “The big sea changein the last ten years has been the fact that reputation has moved frombeing something that the board prodded at to becoming the mostimportant issue facing them.”In the 2016 UK Reputation Dividend Report, based on more than200 UK PLCs, it is estimated that “38% of the marketcapitalisation of the FTSE 100 Index is directly attributable tocorporate reputations, up from 30% a year earlier.”The market-value attrition of companies, such as Tesco andVolkswagen, who have behaved badly, is evidence of the tangiblevalue of reputation.Being a good corporate citizen plays a big part in buildingconfidence in an organisation and in its leaders. It is also proven tobe a significant lever in attracting, developing and retaining talent.With investors evaluating businesses through social value andperformance, the mandate of the corporate affairs director haswidened significantly. Increasingly, the scope of the role has overtlyshifted to include sustainability and CSR. This includes companiessuch as Volvo, Carlsberg, DHL, Heineken, Vodafone and GSK.15
Increasing regulationTHE CHALLENGE. With the rise in regulation globally, the significantreputational risk and business viability that result from a lack ofcompliance and the increasing importance of influencing policy andregulatory frameworks early have meant a significant shift in what isexpected of the corporate affairs director. All sectors are undersignificant pressure to manage regulatory impact.There has been greater interest and demand for people whose earlycareer was in central government, multilaterals or powerful NGOs,where knowledge of due process is strong, levers of influenceunderstood, and contacts established and credibility gained. Some ofthese roles might be policy related but others are diplomacy related,such as former junior diplomats in the UK Foreign & CommonwealthOffice. The reason for this is that very many of these were selected ona fast-track graduate programme and identified as talent with theirintellectual horsepower already well established. With Brexitnegotiations dom
Marketing has always utilised customer and competitor data, and data has long supported the development of product lines and brand launches, as well as informed political campaigns. The challenge is to embrace the crossover and blurring of lines between marketing and communications. The
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