In the immortal words of Billy Ocean…
As headhunters we are privileged to talk with some of the best companies and best executives in the world. These conversations give us extraordinary insight into the issues and trends shaping the global economy, impacting business and politics and defining the way we all live and work.
Nearly twelve months ago we began the merger of two thriving businesses, creating Taylor Birchwood: an international executive search firm, focused exclusively on Corporate Affairs, Communications and Investor Relations. In our first year, drawing on 40+ years of search experience and unrivalled global connectivity, the team has placed a host of senior executives – we haven’t looked back.
But what are today’s organisations telling us about the search for top talent? What does it mean to be a Global Head of Corporate Affairs, or Head of Communications or Investor Relations, in a world dominated by complexity and noise?
Expert communications leadership has certainly ceased to be about four earnings announcement a year and a well-crafted press release. Today it is about having 360-degree vision, an ability to join the dots and the skill to persuade and take people on the journey with you.
Every organisation is different, requiring nuanced skills to help manage reputation, shape culture and drive delivery, but as I reflect on our conversations, these are the three things that our clients are speaking with us about:
It’s a hailstorm. Whether it is sanctions or trade wars; supply-chain management or human rights abuses; regulation or retrenchment. It’s the overarching narrative of our time and it’s very loud. Every organisation we talk to is looking for talent that is intellectually robust and capable of helping to navigate a world that is volatile and charged: one that potentially could even do a wholesale-flip in 24 hours. Alongside business-as-usual considerations, organisations are also stepping into the trust-holes vacated by the global establishment – they are having to own the narrative. Communications leaders need to think about authenticity, alignment, risk management; and organisations need talent with a sharp-mind, a great network and the courage to challenge the status quo.
The bots are here. AI, Robotics, Data Capture, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Fake News, Algorithms, Virtual Reality. These are part of our world. If you’re from an era where your computer had a big red ‘on’ button and a cover on it – you need to upskill yourself. At the very least, you need to surround yourself with digitally-savvy, code-literate, next generation tech-natives. There is not an organisation in the world that is not grappling with the relentless march of tech – not just how it is applied within a business, or how it is disrupting tried and tested ways of doing things: but how it will make staff obsolete, how it will drive an even larger wedge between rich and poor, how alongside the immense opportunities (and they are immense) we are also all being forced to look at ways to protect ourselves.
No peg, no hole. We are not being asked for talented square pegs for square holes, or even talented round pegs for square holes: we are being asked for it all: for executives who are strategic and operational, those who can navigate the hallowed halls of political power as well as the 24-7 media landscape; who can understand and shape the customer proposition and the investor story; who can walk with kings, but can also inspire the next generation. Aside from the CEO, perhaps no leadership role in an organisation has changed so significantly as that of the communications leader over the last 20 years. And in the last twelve months, that has become even more apparent. Comms teams are taking on more and more too – for example sustainability and philanthropy now often stable alongside media relations and employee engagement; and even HR, Health & Safety and Marketing have strayed into some remits. With this broadened reach, there often comes a seat at the top table for the top job – a direct report into the CEO, and/ or a place on the executive leadership team, or a role as a trusted political whisperer or influential ‘puppeteer’. No longer just tacticians or operators, but strategists and navigators. Today’s modern comms lead has now properly graduated to the C-Suite.
The importance of these three things varies by organisation, and there is other chat that we hear – such as a lack of industry diversity (a shout out to the Taylor Bennett Foundation who are having a real impact here), but these are undoubtedly the big themes that are shaping the comms leadership landscape.
It makes for a noisy life. I don’t think I am alone in predicting that the backdrop is not going to get simpler any time soon. Change is perpetual though, and all is not doom and gloom – far from it. This volatility creates opportunities for the skilled and the brave: organisations’ needs are amplifying and the nature of communications, and the role of the seasoned communicator, is evolving.
Those with better music taste than me, might not be aware that crooner Billy Ocean had a cracking 1985 singles hit with ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’. He was talking about love (of course), and I am talking about communications, something perhaps a little less profound. But the sentiment applies. It’s time to skill up, not down.
A sincere thanks to all the clients, candidates and friends of Taylor Birchwood who have supported us as we moved into our next new and exciting chapter: we are passionate believers in the power of great communications and we look forward to helping many more of you chart your own successes in the months and years ahead. You can always reach us at hello@taylorbirchwood.com
Tori Cowley, Chair, Taylor Birchwood