Life After the Recession

Roger D’Aprix VP and Senior Advisor ROI Communication 1

An Long-standing Identity Dilemma: What’s Our Role?

• Are we primarily internal media experts playing the role of tacticians/implementers?

OR

• Are we communication experts/internal consultants/advocates strategizing and facilitating all the complexities of internal communication from leadership communication to (most recently) social media?

The Credible Company 2

How Do We See Ourselves?

•

Both camps suffer from a sense of superiority

: – The ‘

implementers

’ tend to identify with the external media—production, projects and programs as solutions – The

internal consultants

that creates measurable outcomes and influences behavior, opinion and company cultures tend to see communication as ongoing process •

But a third camp is fast emerging:

– Internal communication’s role as that of a ‘free press’ of internal journalists – The

facilitators

hierarchical, transparent organizations where every voice counts in a quasi democracy of an ongoing social dialogue among the members of non | The Credible Company 3

Is It Either/Or?

Communication professionals will always be multi-taskers, but our assumptions and beliefs about mission profoundly affect how we approach our work In which role are you most competent (and comfortable?) The task is to know where you and your leadership stand… Are you both focused on the real needs of your audience? Do you know what they are? Is your leadership on board?

| The Credible Company

But it’s Not Actually that Simple…Other Forces • The worst recession since World War II and an uncertain economic future • Declining trust of senior leaders and their motives and competence • The saturation of companies with ever-changing communication technology and increasingly savvy users of that technology • The explosion of social media in the larger society (from Facebook to LinkedIn to Twitter, etc.) • The ‘corporate permeable membrane’ | The Credible Company

Further Complications… • The introduction of these tools into the internal communication process as a means of creating greater openness and employee dialogue • The natural desire to exploit the advantages of greater technological literacy • The accompanying decline of print (both outside and) inside organizations • And the usual unintended consequences, including: – Some erosion of face-to-face communication – Greater information overload – Declining business literacy | The Credible Company

Outcomes for Communication Professionals… • Further confusion about our proper role • Uncertainty about how to communicate change and its impact on our organizations • An increasingly skeptical internal audience • Concern over loss of leadership credibility and trust • Need to understand social media and their potential applications and value The solution: Write another book to try to make sense of it all… | The Credible Company

By the Numbers: A Distressing Report Card • The Stephen Covey Study: – Only 37% of employees understand what their organization is trying to achieve – 20% are enthusiastic about their team and organizational goals – 20% have a clear line of sight from their contribution to company goals – 15% feel they are empowered to execute key goals – Only 20% trust their leadership | The Credible Company

Life After the Recession: Other Voices Time Magazine, in a May 25 story on “The Way We’ll Work,” cites the way work will change in the future: • Job selection based on aptitude • Leaders held accountable for their behavior • Erosion of benefits • Continued outsourcing • Increase in retirement age • More collaborative work environment • Regulated, ethical capitalism | The Credible Company

Life After the Recession: Other Voices Opinions from ~50 respected colleagues: • Senior leadership communication is likely to be more candid, more truthful to counter today’s mistrust and skepticism • But leadership communication is likely to become less relevant to people in a radically changed workplace • ‘The team’ will be more the focus of communication in a flexible workplace where people are more likely to be free agents in attitude and fact • Nurturing, leading and retaining human talent will become a significant priority for company leadership | The Credible Company

Life After the Recession: Other Voices • Openness and transparency will increase to repair shattered trust and to improve performance generally; spin is a bankrupt strategy • Social media is a double-edged sword—as threat to corporate reputations and security; and as exciting opportunity for dialogue • Insightful communication professionals are needed to advise and facilitate the communication process and advise senior leadership • There is an opportunity for the profession to take a great leap forward in meeting these challenges, but there is doubt as to whether most practitioners are up to the challenges | The Credible Company

A Sense of Perspective • The world is changing at warp speed • We need to be diligent students of that change and how it’s affecting our audiences both in the short and long term • Also to be mindful that communication is intended above all to be an instrument of understanding and clarity and not simply a random collection of channels and programs • And let’s remember that our fundamental responsibility is to serve the business needs and success of our organizations as well as meet the information needs of our audiences | The Credible Company 12

What’s the ‘Aha’? • In an increasingly high tech environment, we need an equal focus on – high touch—on the humanity and meaning of work; – the clarity of corporate goals and intentions; – a sense of what the marketplace is demanding.

• To the extent we dive deeper into craft and tactics, we risk becoming more distant from the needs of our leadership and our audience.

• We need a new prescription for our work in a future environment that will require adaptability, imagination and greater relevance to its demands.

• Sustainability of this profession will depend on how well we craft that prescription.

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Summing Up: As a Profession We Are at a Crossroads • We are at risk of losing our focus on what kind of communication the workforce really needs • Those needs come down to meaning , clarity and understanding • Our fascination with technology as the ultimate communication tool tends to focus us more on craft and less on strategy and communication process • We need an exquisite balance between craft and strategy • To repeat: we need a new prescription for what effective communication really looks and feels like in the coming corporate organization | The Credible Company