Sarah Martin
- 25 years experience as a communications executive providing strategic, brand and crisis communications support.
- At KM Systems Group, advises companies on communication strategy and execution for enterprise transformation, planned and unplanned CEO and executive transitions, M&A, divestitures, reductions in force and other significant change events.
- Extensive research and knowledge on values, characteristics and motivations of Millennial workers. Advises companies on strategies to attract and retain millennial employees while achieving performance expectations.
- Former vice president of corporate communications for CSC and BearingPoint, responsible for developing and executing global communications strategy and directing worldwide internal and external communications functions.
- All 7 Best Practices
- Pre-Meeting Discovery Process
- One-on-One Call with Expert
- Meeting Summary Report
- Post-Meeting Engagement
Building, Upgrading and Embedding a Successful Corporate Communications Function
Overview
A well-defined and integrated corporate communications function helps advance a company's strategic goals and strengthens its corporate culture. It also allows leadership to respond in times of uncertainty and crisis, and ultimately protects and strengthens its brand with employees and in the marketplace.
Successful organizations are those that proactively and consistently communicate with employees and other stakeholders openly and transparently. When a business operates transparently and addresses difficult events, not just promotes positive ones, management is viewed with more credibility and employees are much more likely to feel engaged and connected. Engaged employees are emotionally committed to the company, care about their job performance and put forth their best effort on behalf of the company.
A well-defined and proactive corporate communications program contains the following:
- A plan for keeping employees up to date with key information about the company strategy and direction that is integrated with other key corporate functions.
- Regular communications about the role employees play in supporting their team and in helping the company attain its goals.
- A multi-channel approach to reaching employees based how different segments consume information.
- A method to measure employee understanding of the corporate vision and strategies.
- A means for employees to provide feedback and ask questions, and a system for timely response.
- A commitment to transparency, where communications are genuine and information is shared.
- A crisis communications protocol with defined roles and responsibilities, likely crisis situations, and established corporate positions to respond quickly and accurately in times of crisis.
- Engaged employees. Open communication fosters a positive attitude toward work and increased on-the-job effort.
- Improved performance. When employees have a clear understanding of their role in supporting company strategy, they have fewer distractions and their performance is enhanced.
- Sharing of information and ideas. Effective communications invite employees to provide feedback to colleagues, managers and executives, creating synergies and uncovering innovations and solutions that benefit the company.
- Support for the company strategy and goals. Employees understand how their work supports the big picture and how their job aligns with other functions and departments.
- Creates a change-ready culture. Employees who participate in open communications from multiple levels of management respond more productively to changes in the company.