The Evolving Role of External Communications Professionals
Once upon a time, the remit of an external communications professional was clear: to reach and engage with identified audiences via appropriate channels to promote and enhance the company or organisation’s products or services. While the world of external communications has always been a multi-faceted discipline, these days, with hybrid working, the advance of AI, and heightened expectations from CEOs, it’s become even more so.
A recent external comms round table discussion, hosted by VMA GROUP, highlighted this when we invited a group of senior managers and Heads of Comms to share their thoughts alongside the findings from VMA GROUP’s The View, a snapshot of the external communications industry in 2023. We had representation from a range of industries including aviation, construction, housing, energy, and property, and it was interesting to hear these common denominators. Perhaps these resonate? We would be interested in hearing from you.
Changing Work Patterns
While hybrid working has largely become the norm, the increased expectation from employees as to what this looks like is presenting some challenges. Pre-COVID, the usual pattern was office-based, with flexibility for working from home, dependent on work remits. Now, Heads of Comms are expressing frustration with new employees joining their teams who seem to expect specific reasons to come into the office.
While most agree that the best working patterns are about productivity, the challenge of having to spell out why there is an expectation to be physically present at a place of work is frustrating. Office working has many benefits: co-worker participation and learning through osmosis, the intangible but valuable learning curve of hearing how colleagues do business, whether pitching media stories, dealing with tricky stakeholders, managing workloads, sharing ideas, problem-solving, using language, and personal presentation.
These skills are hugely important, and while technology enables us to navigate challenges like lockdowns, geography, or time zones, most agree that it has its limitations in a world where human interaction and engagement are key. The growing challenge for line managers is how to keep their new recruits happy and engaged while ensuring they are learning their craft.
The Impact of AI
While the consensus is that AI should be embraced for its considerable time-saving benefits, all attendees recognized the need for a comms professional to check and oversee the content created from its use. Right now, AI lacks nuance and empathy, so the human touch to filter is required. However, with advances in technology, this will probably change, and some noted that initial copy drafts created by AI were of a higher standard than those produced by their own team members.
Some managers were less concerned with its impact within the comms team but said copyright issues were of more concern to their colleagues in graphic design. Many companies have strict directives against using AI due to the legalities of patents and their company’s listed status. The main concerns expressed were: a) AI is growing more rapidly than the legislation to manage it, and b) mistrust over content. This is potentially the most damaging, as for a comms professional, their work centers around positive engagement, and if audiences no longer buy into the messaging and narrative, their work implodes, as does brand reputation.
Appreciation of Comms Professionals
It would seem senior management and CEOs are highly supportive of their comms teams, and there has been a positive shift in perception of what good communications is all about. However, having navigated the wealth of work created during lockdowns and restructures, there was frustration that teams remained lean and expectations of delivery very high. Maybe the downside of having done a great job during challenging times is that new benchmarks are created.
The danger here is that good talent will move, and VMA GROUP’s findings indicated that salaries were holding well, even though the volume of senior comms roles is currently lower than a year ago.
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