If you are an Internal Comms professional, now is without doubt your time to make big experiential or career strides. Why? Well, the landscape within our leading organisations is shifting, and that means anything is possible.

Over the past eighteen months, I’ve seen a massive shift around trust, visibility and timing. Research such as the annual Edelman Trust Barometer suggests that confidence in governments, NGOs and even main stream media is at an all-time low.

Conversely, with our corporations and in particular our C-suite, trust is rising.  

The reason is simple – in volatile times we look to familiar voices for reassurance.

Corporate leaders are stepping up to the plate

We’re told politicians have mishandled the pandemic. We’re also led to believe NGO’s have played to an agenda.

So, for eighteen months, employees have looked internally for comfort, guidance and a sense of normality. And for the most part, leaders have been stepping up to the plate.

• A global FMCG client runs regular leader-led all-hands forums. They welcome, and receive challenging questions every time. They’ve also trained their leaders to manage such questions.
• A global TV & Entertainment client is bolstering regular staff training by building in the faces and voices of their own leaders, as well as their customers.
• A European Pharmaceutical client has been using leader comms to provide reassurance and stability from the first utterance of lockdown.

So what does that mean for comms?

As the spotlight on leaders has got brighter, a communicator’s time has been burned faster than ever.

We’ve worked into the night, churned out countless briefings, updates and messages from the top. All while juggling product launches, events, challenging press stories and business as usual organisational change.

In addition, we’ve reacted to daily crises related to supply chains, petrol, gas, Brexit and sustainability.

So we’ve found ourselves in the eye of the storm, admittedly a place many of us draw energy from, and a place where our external comms peers have always thrived.

How you can leverage your time in the spotlight

The spotlight cements our reputations, builds loyalty from above and opens up opportunity. I’ve lost track of the number of clients asking me to refer ‘good comms people’ for their expanding teams, so the question is: do we grasp new opportunities with both hands now, or wait till the market is flooded with candidates seeking a change?

What the experts say

Recruitment expert Virginia Hicks, said:

“Nine months ago, hundreds of talented communicators were chasing interim roles and permanent role holders were so busy with Covid and juggling their priorities they were not even thinking about moving jobs. 

Now many are considering career moves. They’re also being more careful in their decisions by asking themselves – does the location work for me, do I want to work five days a week, do I need another big role, are there development opportunities, is this the time to move into freelancing, am I worth more?” 

So the market is the most buoyant we seen for 15 years, and reflecting a post-pandemic theme: we are back in business and there is so much that must be done. This presents a great opportunity for communicators whether interim or permanent.

Make a start and make it soon

CommsQuest has adapted a series of team and one-to-one workshops to suit the hybrid world we now live in. These sessions give communicators time to pause, reflect and plan ahead, as well as fine tune some essential capabilities.

Together we can make the most of this unique situation, so get in touch if you would like to talk about our coaching programmes and one-to-one mentoring options David.Norton@CommsQuest.com