Corporate communicators have been arguing forever about how they need a “seat at the table”. And that’s never more important than in a crisis. But it should be something you earn, not something you get assigned.
One analysis of boards and management teams of the FTSE 100 top listed companies in the UK found almost half have no Director of Communications, Director of Corporate Affairs or similar dedicated position at this senior level.
Despite growing crisis and reputational risk in today’s 24 hour news and social media, research by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) revealed just three FTSE 100 companies having a dedicated communications director; only twenty-nine having a non-executive with clear communications experience; and just over half (52%) having a dedicated communications or corporate affairs expert in their executive leadership or management teams.
By contrast, 80 of the FTSE 100 companies have a dedicated HR figure on their executive leadership team or management committee.
As CIPR Chief Executive Alastair McCapra concluded: “In the space of an incredibly short period, a company can become front page news for the wrong reasons – a position many could find themselves in if they don’t have the right communications expertise at the very top.”
Sadly, this corporate shortcoming is nothing new or confined to the UK. Go to the website of any big company and open the tab labelled “Our Management Team.” There is a good chance you will not find a Corporate Communications Manager among all those photographs of earnest-looking executives (even though corp comms is likely the department which oversees the website).
The crisis risk is clear. We all have our favourite examples of companies and executives under pressure saying and doing really dumb stuff which seems to demonstrate no understanding of stakeholders and no appreciation of even the most basic principles of communication.
One obvious cause is top management simply lacking adequate understanding of the potential contribution and scope of professional communicators. For example, the latest Edelman Future of Corporate Communications Study, involving more than 200 American Corp Comms leaders, found only about half (52%) believe the communication function is regarded as value creators, while 37% said the function is still earning a seat at the table and just 10% said the function is responsive or reactive.
Similarly, an earlier survey of 100 C-suite executives for the New Jersey chapter of the Public Relations Society of America asked them to prioritise their top three objectives for PR. While a seemingly impressive 85% identified “building reputation”, when it came to how this is achieved, only 25% identified “corporate social responsibility”, and a dismal 12% prioritised “crisis management”.
The lead pollster for the study, Nathan Richter, was on the money when he said: “Our survey shows that CEOs ‘don’t know what they don’t know.’ Good reputations don’t just appear out of thin air. A more well-defined articulation of how PR can benefit their companies is a must.”
Which neatly captures the other main reason top management so often don’t properly understand what effective communication counsel can provide. Either there is no qualified communicator at the top table, or they sit there but are not listened to. Such deficiencies can be cruelly exposed when a crisis strikes.
Closely aligned with this problem is the fundamental challenge for communicators themselves, namely their consistent inability to sell the strategic importance of what they do. They need to talk in management language, with a focus on how communication contributes to corporate objectives, protects reputation, sustains brand, reinforces the bottom line, and helps avoid disaster in the event of a crisis.
However, communicators who complain the executive suite won’t take them seriously are too often the authors of their own failure. While they persist in perceiving their contribution in tactical terms, such as media relations and how to pitch stories and how to write news releases, they will never earn – and don’t deserve – a seat at the table.
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