CorpComms Magazine

It may be the busiest time ever for some corporate communicators who are coping with the backlash over profits warnings and mass redundancies but they should dampen down expectations of a special bonus for their hard work.

But while financial rewards may not be forthcoming, the current year may bring benefits of a different kind.

Geraldine Davies, director of Willis Partnership, explains: 'This is going to be a very grim year. Now is not the time to go into your boss and say I want a promotion or I want a pay rise. But it may be the time to say Could I get some wider experience? Could I learn about government relations? Or Could I shadow the IR director? It is a time to broaden your skills which will make you more marketable when the opportunities come around again.'

Davies, a former director of corporate communications at two FTSE 100 companies, adds: 'Make more use of advisers. Why shouldn't a comms director spend time with the brokers? It is something I wish I had done when I worked as a comms director. Or why can't they attend meetings at their financial PRs, public affairs or other consultancies? There are not many in-house comms people who are au fait with viral marketing or blogs, but people at their consultancies might be.'

Oskar Yasar, managing director at VMA Search, agrees. 'This is also a great opportunity for you to consolidate relationships with senior management, particularly with the chief executive. These are challenging markets but we will get through them and people need to look to the future. There may be a limited number of openings at the moment, but who is to say that there will not be opportunities in six or eight months?'

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Working in the current challenging environment will also expand some people's skill sets. For example, they can add crisis management to the experience box on their curriculum vitae. Indeed, some comms directors who have previously worked for companies in crisis describe it as one of the most exciting and challenging times of their careers, but also a period when they learned so much. Sarah Leembruggen, managing partner at search consultancy The Works, adds: 'This is an opportuntity to reinforce your value and to become a specialist in crisis situations or crisis communications. There will also be an increasing need to quantify results and your worth to a company.'

Ros Kindersley, managing director of JFL Search & Selection, adds: 'One of the first effects of a recession on the corporate communications sector is the predominance of issues and crisis management, announcing profits warnings, redundancies and delivering difficult messages to stakeholders. Most organisations' primary aims are to protect their corporate reputation and brand - and to stay in business. This can be a challenging and, dare I say it, exciting time for communications.' 

But, when the initial activity is over, life can slow down and a lull descends. The adrenalin that fuelled activity over the past few months dissipates and comms people can find themselves struggling with slashed budgets, a chief executive who has decided that the best strategy at the moment is keeping the company out of the news and the possibility of redundancies within their team. 

'I believe when it comes to your job, the two most important questions to ask yourself are: Is my work absorbing and worth doing? And, am I working with people who are inspiring and from whom I am learning?' says Kindersley. 

She believes that if, after the initial flurry of activity, somebody considers those questions and has unsatisfactory responses, it is time to initiate some changes. 'This is where you need to use your entrepreneurial instincts and initiate activity yourself,' says Kindersley. 'Your priorities of corporate reputation and brand largely rest on the trust of your stakeholders - internal, external, business and consumer - and this is where you need to direct your focus. Stakeholder engagement, building relationships and trust, whether it is with consumers, the public, the business or financial communities, is of paramount importance.'

NOT ALL BAD NEWS

It is inevitable that the current economic environment will impact comms departments. Some redundancies have already been seen, and more are expected to follow. Leembruggen adds that, it is generally accepted that, in a redundancy programme, the first people to go are those that are deemed less essential or less talented than their colleagues. The next raft of redundancies will affect the middle ranked and, if there is a final round, then the most talented members will be impacted.

But there is some good news. 'We think the market is much more robust than it was during the last recession, because chief executives and companies value their PR, comms and IR professionals much more this time around,' says Yasar. 'We do not believe there will be a significant number of people who will be made redundant, although there may be a handful of senior people affected.' Indeed, a recent survey conducted by VMA Search found that 23 per cent of respondents were looking to grow their team this year. Leembruggen points out that there are opportunities in professional services, who 'appreciate the need for PR and corporate communications to continue to grow their profile'.

Kindersley concludes: 'During the boom times, we look for innovation and we enjoy risks. Now we want the familiar. Rather than breeding contempt, familiarity now creates loyalty. In communications, we are in a unique position to add value and safeguard the reputation of our organisation.'  

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