Exploring the modern corporate communication function
The Institute for Public Relations and PR NEWS have published a study of corporate communication teams and their contribution to organisations. It reports on the factors that determine effectiveness.
The Evolving Communication Function reports that the strength of internal relationships and reporting lines are the greatest indicator of the performance of a corporate communication team. It finds that the size, investment, and scope of a team is highly situational.
The study by the Institute for Public Relations and PR NEWS published in August 2021 explores more than 300 US organisations, including international organisations. It’s a useful piece of work. The corporate communication or public relations function is underserved an area of study, in contrast with other areas of management.
Value of corporate communication
Most communication leaders (78%) said their CEO values the communication function. However, 10% disagreed with this statement.
A third of respondents said they report to the CEO, Executive Director, or President of the organisation. Two-fifths report to the Chief Communications Officer (CCO) or another communication leader, and 17% report to the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) or another marketing leader. The balance report to legal, human resources, or another function.
Those who reported to the CEO were significantly more likely to agree that their CEO values the communication function compared to those who reported to others within their organisations. Access and influence of senior decision making is a clear indicator of the motivation of a communication team and its effectiveness.
Role of corporate communication function
The most frequently mentioned responsibilities of the communication function included media relations (86%), social media (80%), and crisis/risk communication (75%). Other often-mentioned responsibilities included employee communication (69%), brand building (69%), executive communication (64%), and community relations (58%).
Alignment with other operational areas of the organisation
Communication leaders said the communication function has closer relationships with some departments than others. Most respondents (89%) said the communication function collaborates well with other functions within the organisation.
Overall, communication leaders reported higher-quality relationships with marketing and public affairs and lower-quality relationships with finance and information technology (IT).
“Regardless of structure, communicators should focus on being valued and invested in by top leadership. In addition, it is important to build and strong relationships with other functions to avoid redundancies, inconsistencies, and silos,” said Dr Tina McCorkindale, President and CEO, Institute for Public Relations.
Reporting and structure of communication functions
Less than half of communication leaders said they were satisfied with the structure of their function. However, respondents were more likely to agree that their function is effective. Half of respondents agreed that their department is well structured compared to other functions within the organisation.
The communication function is commonly combined with marketing, followed by public affairs, and advertising. Of the communication functions that were combined with other functions, marketing (69%) was the most frequently named function. Communication leaders also said public affairs (45%) and advertising (44%) were part of the communication function.
Challenges to the communication function
Respondents anticipated numerous challenges to their communication function in the future: increased responsibilities but not enough headcount, budget, or resources to meet demand (48%); an increased reliance on digital and changes to the technological landscape (9%); and acquisitions, new markets, an expansion of service offerings, or significant growth in a short period of time (9%).
Other predicted challenges included the rapid pace of change; diversity, equity, and inclusion; sustainability; the economy; and the perceived value of communication.
Future demands on the communication function
The number of responsibilities of the communication function will continue to increase, but most expect their headcount to remain the same.
Four fifths of communication leaders said their number of responsibilities have increased in the past two years, and 71% said they anticipate their number of responsibilities will continue to increase in the next two years.
“Resources are critically important to the effectiveness of the communication function. Companies that add responsibilities to the communication function without increasing budgets, headcounts, or other needed resources decrease the potential of communication at a time when this function is vital to organisational success, internally and externally,” said Dr Tina McCorkindale.
When asked what they would change about the communication function, leaders identified the need for additional resources (46%), changes to the structure of the function (18%), clarification of roles (7%), and better collaboration, coordination, and alignment with other departments (7%).
Methodology
The Institute for Public Relations and PR NEWS conducted an online survey of 318 public relations professionals to understand the roles, responsibilities, relationships, and evolution of the communication function. The study was conducted from November 2019 to March 2021. A thematic analysis was conducted of the two qualitative responses. The researcher also analysed organisational charts.
