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Corporate communications teams are being called on to reinforce their company’s reputation in the face of a skeptical public, concludes a report by The Conference Board, Corporate Communications Practices: 2018 Edition. The survey covers more than 100 publicly traded companies. This is a critical moment for the corporate communications function. It is both an opportune moment and a challenging one. Organizations need experts who can uncover and disseminate the right messages and deliver them to an audience that needs to be won over. At the same time, these experts need to inspire and motivate employees, and deliver insights to company leaders that can help them make smart strategic decisions. The survey finds a movement toward larger team sizes, particularly among larger companies. Among manufacturing, financial services and non-financial services firms, more than 70 percent have increased or maintained the size of their corporate communications teams over the past two years (including more than 90 percent of financial services companies). Among companies with revenue above $25 billion, nearly half said their corporate communications teams comprised more than 50 people, with 35 percent saying their team was over 100. This compares with only nine percent of companies that reported 100 person-plus teams in 2016. Digital transformation is ushering in a new focus on big data, the survey finds. However, corporate communications departments are not yet equipping themselves to maximize its potential. When looking at the skills that are most sought-after by communications teams, the top ten, led by writing ability, did not include mention of skills that relate to data expertise. In fact, the one skill that is particularly relevant for big data—mathematical and statistical competence—ranked among the lowest levels across all industry and size categories, coming dead last overall. “The traditional skills, roles, and responsibilities of communicators appear to be in high demand from companies,” Parkinson added. “But our findings suggest that although the practice is modernizing in terms of its responsibilities, it needs to better prepare itself with the type of modern data expertise that is beginning to define companies through digital transformation.” Other key findings:Communications Practice Unprepared for Digital Transformation
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