Far be it for me to rain on your parade, but a recent report by We. Communications found that communicators have a rather inflated opinion of their abilities. (Shocking, huh?)

A whopping 81% of communicators believe they are doing a great job communicating with their internal and external audiences – the other 19% were either too truthful, too humble, too useless or too lazy to complete the survey.

And when it comes to communicating complex issues, 61% claim they excel… the problem is their audience begs to differ. Only 39% would agree. In other words, the majority of your target audiences are baffled by what you are doing. They complain messages are either too vague or too ambiguous. They certainly aren’t breaking through.

Both sides roughly agree on the top drivers of complexity – multiple channels, fast-moving information, AI, misinformation and increasing polarisation – but where they differ is on the approach that should be taken. Management consultancy speak should be consigned to trash. You need to stop boiling the ocean, circling back and thinking outside the box.

The vast majority of audiences – 77% – say such cliches are overused. It sounds obvious, but they just want you to speak like a real person because… here’s the kicker… they are real people. They’re not robots; they can successfully identify traffic lights in a random image. (Or at least by the third attempt.)

Audiences want empathy. If you’re delivering news that might be difficult to hear, acknowledge that at the outset. Try to use real-life case studies to illustrate your messages, rather than deferring to the company line. And while nobody wants the CEO weeping on camera, complaining about the stress of it all, his/her employees would like to see them being more human.

Think back to lockdown: CEOs were not immune to the issues faced by their employees. They were empathetic. Many shared their personal stories or issued regular updates on the business. We caught glimpses of their homes. And employment engagement rose. As one corporate affairs leader commented to me at the time, that was when CEOs learned to lead.

We may be back in the office (or not), but audiences still want that authenticity. As the report puts it, they want a face not a logo. When appropriate, 52% like leaders to use humour while 44% are partial to an unscripted or off-the-cuff briefing. Get your CEO to join the lunch queue once in a while…but take away his book of Dad Jokes. (Don’t at me: Mum Jokes are not a thing!)

It’s all great advice from WE. Communications, and one can only hope that the agency put it to good use when it recently laid off two per cent of its headcount.

IN CONVERSATION WITH

Sophie Timms, corporate affairs director, Kier

Sophie Timms’ favourite story from her time at construction company Kier arose from a meeting with a site manager, who had initially trained to be a hairdresser. But after achieving her childhood dream, the hairdresser realised she hated, er, hairdressing. Her father suggested an apprenticeship at Kier. She finished her apprenticeship, undertook a site management course and is now studying for Kier’s construction degree apprenticeship at Sheffield Hallam University, where she combines week-long learning blocks with her full-time role.

For corporate affairs director Timms, who joined Kier five years ago, the story works on several levels. It’s about Kier’s continued focus on upskilling its workforce – around 6.5pc are on apprenticeship programmes. And it’s about improving diversity, working to reducing the industry skills gap

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF REPUTATION

It’s the age old question, and one which Echo Research has tried to answer.

It reckons that corporate reputation now contributes £710 billion in shareholder value to Britain’s FTSE 350, boosting the market capitalisation of 95% of the constituents.

Its latest report, Beyond Perception; the true market power of reputation, argues that reputation remains a critical strategic asset, accounting for 29% of the value of the FTSE 350.

However, five per cent of the FTSE 350 fail to meet their full potential, because poor reputations have eroded approximately £9 billion of their values. These losses typically stem from perceptions of poor crisis handling, weak governance, or seeming failure to align with evolving societal expectations.

But on average, corporate reputation is now estimated to account for 29% of market capitalisation, which reinforces its ‘centrality to business performance’.

The report, which is now in its 16th year, claims that ‘as business environments grow more transparent and high risk, the companies that treat reputation as a core business strategy - rather than a reactive PR function - will be those that continue to win shareholder trust and long-term value, resilience and investor appeal.’

Reputation, it seems, is driven by nine factors.

• Long-term value potential

• Quality of product and services

• Global competitiveness

• ESG

• Quality of management

• Financial soundness

• Use of corporate assets

• People management

• Capacity to innovate

While the first three contribute 43% of the value, the growing importance of other factors suggest, according to the report, that the ‘stakeholder landscape demands proof, performance, and adaptability. The rise of product quality and even ESG contributions point to a market that rewards action over aspiration, and outcomes over intention.’

‘Quality of management’ has gained traction in recent years, and is now responsible for just over one tenth of corporate reputational value. The report suggests that this indicates growing market emphasis on credible management responses during crises, restructuring and strategic clarity.

Surprisingly, ESG - which has been battered of late - has strengthened its position as a contributor to reputation. Last year, it had a negative impact but today around 10.8% of a company’s reputation can be attributed to its ESG story. But, the report warns, stakeholders are looking for real delivery, not rhetoric.

CASE STUDY

Telling your story your way

RELX is a surprise winner in Echo Research’s reputation analysis.

Corporate reputation now contributes £32.3 billion to the market capitalisation of the FTSE 100 company, up £9.6 billion on the previous year.

Indeed, Echo Research claims reputation is responsible for 44.7% of RELX’s market capitalisation, describing the company as enjoying a ‘breakout’ year.

But is that an appropriate description? RELX is, after all, the top performing stock on the FTSE 100 over the past 40 years. It’s just that, beyond an investor landscape, few people were really aware of the technology company. It was deemed too boring for the Financial Times, for example, to write about.

That’s right. Rising profits. Good corporate governance. Satisfied shareholders… no longer a story! But issue a profits warning or discover your CEO cavorting with the receptionist, and you’re almost guaranteed a front page story.

But chief communications officer Paul Abrahams’ determination to share RELX story with a wider audience led him to disintermediate the media, and go direct to the people that the business needed to reach. Such has been his success - reaching more than one million readers every year - that even the FT had to relent last year.

It just shows that telling a corporate story in an engaging way has unexpected benefits - like a boost to reputation. That’s value. Right there.

ODDS & SODS

💰 Keen to prove the value of your work? Take a leaf out of the Government Communication Service, which this week produced a report reviewing its progress over the past three years implementing its Performance with Purpose Strategy – which comprised 30 specific targets across three pillars.

While the report is light on numbers per se – £1.3m annual saving on external training is one of the few – it demonstrates a body, comprising more than 6,000 communicators across multiple departments and organisations, working more collaboratively, with all the associated benefits.

Standardised protocols and response frameworks, for example, revolutionised an approach to crisis management that was previously siloed and fragmented, while the introduction of multi-year campaign approvals transformed long-term planning, saving around 192 hours.

GCS is also leading the way in AI. A bespoke AI assistant, Assist, with six specialised prompts, saves an average 2.8 hours per user every week, equating to a 7% rise in productivity. But even more impressive, GCS estimates that its innovation strategy will ultimately unlock annual productivity and efficiency savings worth £5m.

🪪 Wayne Reynolds, managing partner at Taylor Birchwood, finds the advice he offered five years ago to chief communications officers (other titles are available) starting a new role remains valid. So, he has reproduced it in a handy blog. Here is a TLDR bullet point summary:

• Understand the business

• Understand how to build high-performing teams

• Strategic planning required, with an understanding agility beats perfection

• Recognise the importance of relationships

• Bring the outside in

• Act as a business leader first

🤾🏽‍♀️ Helpful pitching advice from Steph Spyro, deputy political editor at the Daily Express, on LinkedIn. If you want any chance getting coverage in the print version, pitch before 8.30am. 🕣