CorpComms Magazine

The world is undergoing fundamental political, economic and environmental changes. Creating and communicating clear messages about how organisations are responding to these factors, whilst maintaining their integrity, will be the greatest challenge for corporate communications professionals.

Over the next six months, as major financial services institutions unbundle their ‘investments' and find that some of their assets are in fact, major liabilities, the value of our pensions and the organisations that provide them will fall... or fail. Industry insiders believe the extent of the fallout is the only uncertainty.

Towards the end of 2009, the focus of the UN Environmental Programme will be the creation of a more effective agreement on Climate Change, than the one that emerged from Kyoto. The UN Secretary General is already warning of the need for urgent and drastic reduction of CO2 emissions to prevent triggering runaway climate change.

Looking at the 2010 and 2020 targets, it is apparent that the UK has yet to scratch the surface of the deep changes necessary to move into the next generation of sustainable energy production. The government has failed to communicate the fundamental changes that must occur to our lives both at home and at work.

So this year, the biggest challenge for corporate communications professionals will be to persuade hard pressed executive boards, along with staff who may be losing their jobs, key stakeholders such as investors and the wider public, that, even in a serious economic downturn, ethical values such as sustainability and corporate social responsibility, still matter.

Corporate communicators will need to face up to the issues, be honest with their communications and realistic with stakeholders about what can be done.

The age of spin is over. The less credible the communications or the communicator, the bigger the fall in trust in their institution will be. Effective communicators have never been more important.  

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