Meet the Expert
Sarah Martin
Managing Director - Corporate Communications, KM Systems Group
- 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.
Meeting Packages from $400
Your Meeting Package Includes:
- 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
Managing Director - Corporate Communications, KM Systems Group
Common Problems
- Internal and external demands for greater transparency may be in conflict with corporate leadership style and corporate culture's historical disclosure posture.
- Many organizations, with a legacy management style or culture of limited communications and disclosure, are being forced into an era of greater transparency where information flows throughout the company and marketplace through social media and other channels. Whether a company wants it or not, information and opinions on its products and performance is available to employees, customers and other stakeholders.
A corporate culture that does not embrace transparency and establish communication protocols to help it manage and respond will face repercussions both inside and outside of the company. - The speed at which information (and misinformation) now travels puts greater pressure on crisis management and communications response and renders many traditional approaches obsolete.
- Electronic communications, ranging from email to social media to online forums that allow customers and employees to publicly critique companies in real time, requires companies to develop ever-evolving monitoring capabilities and response protocols. Companies that fail to demonstrate open communications, resist stakeholder feedback forums, and do not establish agreed upon disclosure policies, jeopardize their ability to effectively manage negative events and minimize the impact to brand, morale and operations during times of crisis.
- Employees' lack of understanding of strategic priorities and the actions required to achieve corporate objectives lead to disengagement, reduced commitment and diminished performance.
- In the absence of meaningful, instructive communications during times of change, employees are forced to operate in a confusing environment of incomplete or inaccurate information. As employees become increasingly disenfranchised due to the lack of information and direction from senior management and their immediate managers, individual performance and commitment to the company decreases. If the situation continues for extended period of time, the company will experience lowered employee morale, attrition in top performers and a larger percentage of management attention spent on change management.
- Communications is often under-resourced and viewed as an event-driven, stand-alone function and therefore not enabled to clarify and strengthen corporate messaging on strategy, vision and operational priorities.
- Communications functions, even in large, established companies, are often under-resourced, not aligned to decision makers, and do not have access to the necessary information to plan for and develop meaningful, timely messaging and responses to corporate or marketplace events. When corporate communications are not adequately resourced, coordinated and empowered, the organization is at risk of delayed response, confusion of the facts and message inconsistency. Instead of relying on an established communication function with defined roles and responsibilities, the organization and its executive team will be playing catch up.
Building, Upgrading and Embedding a Successful Corporate Communications Function:
Common Problems
Expert Topic