US keynote speaker Mark Schumann, international chairperson of the IABC and managing principal of Towers Perrin (US), stated that he believes that what happens on the inside of organisations dictates their success on the outside, and that there is nothing more important than knowing how to engage all of the stakeholders in an organisation - including employees and communities.
On the role of the communicator in this, he said: “Nothing is more important than our knowledge of what will engage our stakeholders - knowing what they are hungry for - as well as our knowledge of what threatens that and of the role of management and communicators in feeding that hunger.”
Quoting a study conducted over three years in six organisations around the world, he laid out a formula for how employee engagement drives business results:
“Every leading indicator of financial performance rises in tandem with an increase in engagement. This is because more engaged employees care more about the quality they deliver and the innovation they bring to their role. If you multiply what they think, by how they feel, by what they do as a result, you get to financial results.”
New technology and social media received a fair amount of attention during the conference. They were the topic of sessions like the panel discussion on the second day and the presentation by Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx, on what corporate communicators need to know about the digital revolution.
These topics also popped up frequently in informal discussions during breaks, as the senior communicators at the conference compared notes.
Nonetheless, there was broad consensus with Schumann's warning not to fall too much in love with toys. Communication remains a high-touch phenomenon and is, to some extent, under threat from the increasing lack of personal contact in the workplace.
Which is not to say that behaviour-changing communication isn't possible, given the right mix of the personal touch and mass communication, according to the presentation by Logan Wort, group executive, Reputation Management, for the South African Revenue Service.
Delegates paid avid attention to his session on “How to get people to do the right thing”, outlining the recent campaign that succeeded in moving taxpayers to digital filing and achieving voluntary compliance.
The overall results were impressive: There was a 69% drop in manual returns between 2007 and 2008 and there has been a 370% increase in the number of people who do their own e-filing.
In explaining the impact of the campaign, Wort said: “You've got to understand your stakeholder's interest - what drives them. Also, reputation counts. You must be seen to be reliable, consistent and honest.”
Several sessions on strategy met the needs of the younger delegates, still moving into strategic roles in the organisations they serve. These were presented by the likes of Lorraine Lear, senior manager, Group Communication, at Telkom, Heather Robinson, general manager of the Reputation Institute, and Linda Hamman, chief executive of Talk2Us.
There was also something for the stakeholder relations specialists, in the form Estelle de Beer of the University of Pretoria's very comprehensive exposition of what communicators need to know about the newly released King III report, and specifically Chapter 8, which governs stakeholder relationships.
Several case studies also laid out current best practice - particularly in the African context. One gave a fascinating insight into the campaign that launched Kumba Iron Ore's entry into Guinea, prior to its withdrawal from that country for reasons of risk. Another laid out the management of MTN's relations with its stakeholders throughout Africa, and was presented by Nozipho January Bardill, MTN's group executive, corporate affairs.
On the fun side, there was also a case study by Rebecca Solomon, account director of Atmosphere Communications, on how the launch of Kulula's new logo became more than just a party.
The delegates also made a donation of new and second-hand books to the learners of the nearby Leeuwfontein Primary School, enabling the farm school to enhance its library. Three of the learners came to receive the donation in person.
