Communications professionals have an important function in supporting leaders who understand the broader role they and their organizations can play in the world.
Whether a company has a formalized ESG (environment, social, and governance) mandate, or is just starting to align their shareholders with a broader group of stakeholders, communication teams today have a double duty. They must ensure the ongoing promotion of what makes an organization best-in-class to drive acquisition, as well as share meaningful commitment ‘post-profit’.
Explaining the journey:
At the heart of every press release, newsletter, speech, or social media post is a story.
Organizations focused on legacy-building tell this story naturally and authentically. It builds over time, continuously reinforcing their values. The impact is reflected in new leadership, innovative service, ongoing investment, and community partnerships.
Their words resonate because of who they are, not what they do.
Corporate messaging based on products, services and financial performance alone will have a finite runway to attract customers, employees, and investors. One can only be the best or first for so long. Whether a result of changing times, shifting needs, or simply a new company on the block, marketing performance alone will at some point run out of steam.
Contrast this with a marketing purpose. Messages are everlasting and ever-changing. They grow with the company and adapt to fluctuating needs. They start from the inside and move out and can have a long-lasting impact on society.
Motivate from within:
Real corporate purpose is integrated into business plans, reflected in HR policies, and seen in decisions at all levels. Witnessing these core values first-hand are employees.
When employees, regardless of their role, understand their greater contribution to colleagues, the communities in which they live and work, or the planet as a whole, they work harder. They care more about their success and work better as a team, understanding that their collective successes is greater than their individual accomplishment.
These employees tend to remain with their employers for longer periods and their organizations experience less turnover. What would YOU do with all the time, money, and productivity saved on recruitment and retraining?
Reward from outside
Communicating ESG requires transparency and metrics shared with the audiences that matter most. News of a financial contribution or a one-time social program is insufficient to sway today’s truth-seeking world.
Communications must focus on the WHY as much as the WHAT. The reward from clients, investors, and partners will be longer, repeat, and new business as well as by these stakeholders becoming brand evangelists.
Environmental transparency communicates how an organization is a steward of nature; social requirements are shared by relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities in which the organization work; and governance is explained through organizational leadership, executive pay, internal processes, audits, and shareholder rights.
Years from now, what will be the story remembered about your organization? Will it end with a message of great returns? Or, will it be a legend where great returns were harnessed by a mighty force and epic courage, the impact so large it lasted generations to come? Your communications team awaits.
Ready to tell your corporate story? Let’s talk.