Conference Takeaways: Corporate Communications, Getting the Next Job Done

Last week I had the pleasure of attending The Conference Board ’s in-person event, Corporate Communications, Getting the Next Job Done. It gathered around 300 people for an impressive lineup of speakers from companies across many sectors, including General Mills, Hasbro, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Mars, Mayo Clinic, Merck, Medtronic, Neiman Marcus, Pfizer, PwC and others. As a healthcare communicator, it was great to see the strong representation from the healthcare industry. Sessions focused on topics like the changing role of the communications function within organizations, crisis communications, DEI, employee engagement and internal communications, sustainability and impact storytelling, and integrating AI into the comms function. These are my main takeaways:

1.?????? “Communications is not a ‘soft skill.’ It’s a rock hard competency.” That’s what 辉瑞 ’s Sally Susman said while talking about her bestselling book, “Breaking Through.” It discusses the communications challenge during COVID-19 and how Pfizer raced to produce an effective vaccine, and reflects on the communications principles that enabled her to break through during that turbulent time, and throughout her career. Of the nine CEOs she’s worked with, three (including Albert Bourla at Pfizer) were game changers for their organizations. Why? Because they were good communicators.? ?

2.?????? The chief communications officer (CCO) is now an advisor to the CEO. This may be the biggest shift we’ve seen in the communications function. 通用磨坊 ' Jano Cabrera brought this to life with a story about an old book on public relations that covered many themes relevant today but was missing how to advise the CEO about communications. To be a good advisor to a CEO, he said, you must understand business. He recommends “The Ten Day MBA” for sharpening your business acumen. Book club anyone?

3.?????? CCOs play an important role as the “Chief Dot Connector.” 普华永道 's Megan DiSciullo talked about how communicators are typically aware of pending big changes in an organization, so it’s important to think ahead and connect the dots. A perfect example: An organization announced layoffs, but activities were planned for Employee Appreciation Day shortly thereafter. It’s so important to consider issues like these before they turn into big communications mistakes.

4.?????? Making the right GenAI choices today will give you an advantage tomorrow. Every industry, including comms, is buzzing about GenAI adoption. Christopher Hannegan and Scott Likens from PwC presented how these tools will redefine the roles of leaders as much as employees, the importance of building guardrails now to instill public trust, and the trend toward building organization-specific, secure tools so enterprises can benefit from GenAI in a safe and confidential environment. As communicators, we need to talk now with leadership about policy development, secure tools, employee upskilling and integration into the comms function to set us up for success.

5.?????? Is it Bolted-on or baked-in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB)? In her presentation, Mandy Mooney at Prologis explained: “Bolted-on” are standalone trainings, hollow statements (that aren’t backed up by actions) and reactionary responses. In contrast, “baked-in” means inclusive and gender-neutral language, diverse imagery, and diverse speaker representation. And why should organizations care? Because DEIB isn’t just nice to have, it’s a competitive advantage. In another session, Torod Neptune of 美敦力 said that being inclusive is a mindset and means picking up and recognizing the best talent — sometimes it’s visibly diverse and sometimes it’s not.?

6.?????? People expect more from brands. Lara McCauley at 玛氏食品 made this point when talking about her company’s 10-year journey to become more transparent. The owners of the family-run business previously felt it was acceptable to be private but have since adjusted their approach after recognizing that today’s consumers care a lot more about the brands they buy from. At 万卓环球 , we know this is true, not just because we live and breathe it in the work we do for clients every day but because our research shows it. Our latest Brands in Motion study, It’s Personal, the New Rules of Corporate Reputation, found that more than half of respondents (54%) said they want to hear more from brands during times of uncertainty and three out of four agreed that brands should be transparent in communicating to the public about what they do in response to current and emerging issues in society.

7.?????? Don’t forget about internal stakeholders during a crisis. Crisis communications nowadays is largely preemptive, and more sophisticated teams will have done scenario planning and will have external communications processes and procedures. The Conference Board’s Denise Dahlhoff, Ph.D., presented findings from its latest annual survey of CEOs and members of the C-suite, showing the trend toward developing more comprehensive internal crisis communications plans as well. Corporate reputation starts from within, and as Aimee Christian, Ph.D., at Jazz Pharmaceuticals said, one of the most pressing jobs of the CCO is internal communications and employee engagement — “people need to feel good about where they work.”? ?????

This event was such a great way to pause and reflect on the state of the state of the communications industry. I felt energized after hearing that communications truly has a seat at the table within so many organizations I admire — and getting to know more about the people who sit in those seats. After being in agency-side healthcare communications for over 20 years, I can say that wasn’t always the case for many of my clients and it’s great to see how far we’ve come.??

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