Tips To Succeed In Corporate Communication

The year 2017 was an interesting year for most companies with regards to corporate communication. Some brands had a joyous year while others didn’t because some occurrences – errors, man made disasters, et cetera – threatened their brand equity. An example is when fire engulfed Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra last year as well as negative reportage about MenzGold, UT Bank, Capital Bank and Zoomlion. In certain cases apart from the organization in trouble, stakeholders such as staff, shareholders and Government Agencies like regulators could also suffer reputation damage. These and many more are the reasons why corporate communication plays a vital role in any organization. This article focuses on 10 core practices young communication professionals starting their career can undertake to help them carry out their job productively.

1. Read about the industry
It is extremely important that you learn everything about the industry both technical and non-technical because it will help you in many ways. An example will be if you are appointed as the spokesperson as part of your new role, you will not be found wanting because you have a strong foundation hence making you very confident when you speak.

2. Check whether your new organization has a communication strategy
Most Ghanaian firms especially those who fall within the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) category do not have a communication strategy. As you start your new role, check whether the firm already has such document, if it does go through it and amend it if necessary. Also check and evaluate what has been implemented in order for you to know what worked and what didn’t. If such document does not exist then you have to develop one.

3. Evaluate the level of internal & external communication
Find out the level of communication, both internally and externally, that has been done in the past and how it was carried out. If it’s a new company, what you can do is to extend this activity to the entire industry/market, evaluate how competitors carry out their communication activities.
Indeed you also want to know how your company communicates to various stakeholder be it shareholders, strategic partners, staff, clients, media, Government regulators, Associations, et cetera. You can also undertake what I call ‘reputation value report’. This will help you figure out how stakeholders perceive your organization. Do they perceive the organization positively or negatively? What about media coverage? What has been reported in the media about the company?

4. Think about the structure of your department
To be effective, you need to have a team behind you. Some organizations practice what I call “one man PRO”. If indeed that’s the case with your firm, you have to talk to management because you need a team to work with – let them engage a PR Agency if they don’t want to directly hire anyone. Public Relations, Client Service, Community Engagement, External/Government Relations are functions that can be part of your department depending on factors such as company size and whether communication is centralized or decentralized in the organization.

5. Build a fruitful relationship with the media
The media is one of your key stakeholders and it is extremely important you have journalists on your side. What I mean by having journalists on your side is having a good working relationship with them. As the old adage goes, success or worth depends on your network or contacts. As a communication professional never underestimate the power of the media (both old and new media) because they can make you or break you. You can start by identifying media houses you want to work with, new media channels you want to use and build your press correspondents. Also implement protocols such as the first point of call in order for you to be in control of any situation.

6. Branding
Branding is more than just a logo, tagline and colours. It is more about who you are? What you do? How you do it? Who needs to know? How will they find out? Why they should care? To get your stakeholders to trust and fall in love with your brand, you need to have a brand strategy.

7. Issues, Risks and Crisis Management
Issues, risks and crisis management do not only lie in the realm of the corporate communication department but rather every department in the organization must be involved. First and foremost, the organization must create a steering group to deal with issues, risks and crisis. The steering group needs to perform an audit to identify past; current and potential issues, risks and crisis that might have a negative impact on the organization hence making stakeholders perceive you in a negative way. The second step is for the steering group to identify the corporate and brand position on each listed item as well detailing processes for response. You then put a plan together to ensure that your organization has an unblemished, concrete structure for responding to any negative or problematic issues that may affect the organization’s brand negatively.

8. Don’t ignore NEW MEDIA
Social media, blogs, online news outlets, web tools, mobile apps and others are often categorized as new media. New media is as important as old media (radio, television and print) and more over it is highly interactive. A report by Cliqafrica and Avance media indicates that Ghanaians spend not less than 3 hours 30 minutes surfing the internet on their phones, out of which majority of it is spent on social media. Most of your stakeholders are using new media channels every second hence you can’t afford to ignore it.

9. Develop a yearly work plan
Develop a work plan that outlines programmes you intend to implement each year. These programmes should have objectives, targets for every quarter, target for the year, indicators, how each activity will be verified, implementing team members, budget and funding source, risk/challenges and how those risks/challenges will be mitigated. You must have a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plan attached to your work plan because you need to know what is working and what isn’t so you adjust your plan as you progress.

10. Develop Yourself
It is a known fact that staying the same means going backwards because everyone around you is progressing. New trends emerges, new tools are developed and industries change at a fast pace hence it is very important that you commit to endless progress. Always learn new skills, read more, avoid being in your comfort zone, live a healthy life, gather information, attend seminars and have a mentor.
In conclusion, always remember that as a communication professional one of your upmost responsibilities is to prudently manage the reputation of your organization. I wish you well in your endeavours. Stay informed!

By: King A. Wellington
The writer is a management consultant who specializes in Reputation Management.