Obstinate

The synopsis of Corporate silence is progressing very well. Our summer visits to various communications professionals generated a great deal of input. The approach we adopt in the book is pragmatic: 10 questions about corporate silence. The first question is obviously what exactly corporate silence is. And our answer to that is more broad-ranging than the views commonly expressed in publications today. That’s because, as writers, we too are a bit obstinate.

 Internal and external focus

That’s also why we are seeking to extend the concept of corporate silence. Going beyond an internal focus on a culture of silence and moving to an external focus as well. Because in our eyes corporate silence has a direct impact on a company’s reputation and commercial performance. How proactively do you communicate with your stakeholders? How quickly do you respond to social change? These are all things that in our view are part of corporate silence. We see corporate silence as something linking these sorts of things together. And this link between corporate silence, commercial success, reputation and alignment is something we’re going to be examining in more depth over the coming months. One of our ultimate aims is to extend the EcQ measurement (a tool devised by Cees van Riel to measure internal alignment). We are currently looking for an intern to help us achieve this aim. If you or anyone you know is interested, please contact us via mark@corporatesilence.nl.

 Dilemmas

Our discussions with communications professionals also highlighted various dilemmas. Issues these people are currently struggling with include: Why should I be the only one to stick my head above the parapet? What’s the best way to do that? When is the right time? These are just some of the dilemmas we will be discussing on 10 November with 10-15 communications professionals from various sectors. From financials to property.

 Silence not an option

Silence is ultimately a luxury that many organisations just cannot afford. Certainly not with the rise of the social media, where stakeholders simply expect you as an organisation to be in continual dialogue. Telling them what you’re doing. Proactively communicating. As far as we’re concerned, the old Dutch saying of ‘If you’re getting shaved, sit still’ is only partly true. You need to start from a position of strength rather than waiting until you’re under fire. You need to build up relationships with your friends, fans and followers. And these will stand you in good stead in a crisis. You won’t then be so quick to fall. And that, too, is all part of your reputation.

 Art of (conscious) omissions

The art of knowing when to leave something out is very important in our work. But sometimes people leave things out without realising it. In their corporate story, for example, or when communicating with employees. The concept of corporate silence makes this explicit. It gives management and communications departments a better understanding of what corporate silence means in their organisation, and importantly also why it exists and how to deal with it. By making the implicit explicit you ensure that you as an organisation stay sharp and focussed. The pensions world is a very topical and good example of this. Everyone saw the crisis coming, but everyone kept silent. The challenge now is to restore the trust that has been lost.

 In short, we are hard at work and will be breaking our own silence more and more often. We are active on the corporate silence linkedin group. So why not contact us and join the discussion? By the end of October you’ll be able to find the synopsis of the book on this site. And you can respond directly.

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This book, a work in progress, is about corporate silence. A topic that has come up again and again over the years, but that we never looked at closely before until we became intrigued by corporate silence and began reading more about it. ‘Interesting material,’ we would think, only to leave it at that and go on with the hype of the moment. We are not going to do that this time, however. Instead, we are going to write a book on the topic, a pragmatic book that can benefit professionals in communications, HR and marketing, a book similar to Internal Branding 2.0, which Luc wrote jointly with Gaby Nedeski.

The book is scheduled for publication in 2012 and we have already designed a cover for it to inspire ourselves and stimulate prospective readers. You can monitor the progress of the book on this site, as well as make comments or submit ideas and best practices.

What is corporate silence?
Corporate silence is keeping your mouth shut when you see something happening in your company that could have a negative impact, whether you are a manager or an employee and whether what you see involves ethical or moral issues or the day-to-day activities of the company. When we say ‘keeping your mouth shut’, we mean failing to bring the issue to the attention of someone who is able to change the situation.

Corporate silence often involves issues that can have an immediate negative impact on the performance or reputation of the company, things that can be turned around with very little effort, but that can have an enormous impact on the company’s performance. Examples include problems with existing processes, remuneration structures or the service offered to customers, as well as problems relating to a lack of clarity in the company’s strategy. To a greater or lesser degree, corporate silence is an issue in many companies. In some cases it has even resulted in bankruptcy.
Management and communications literature is brimming with publications on the topic of corporate silence. Research shows that the convictions held by senior management and managers’ fear of feedback from employees play an important role in corporate silence. It also shows that employees’ fear that speaking up could negatively affect their pay or career plays an equally important role.

What are the consequences of corporate silence?
Numerous studies have been done on the impact that corporate silence can have on companies. The consequences are serious indeed: low involvement on the part of employees and a strong culture of silence stifles creativity and innovation and slows or even stops change entirely. The ultimate result is damage to the company’s reputation, since building a reputation starts within the company.

Employees are the foundation of every company and that foundation must be kept in good condition. Silence at the level of the individual can also have a huge impact. This is not a good springboard for companies that are working to strengthen their reputation.

How to break corporate silence
Before you can break corporate silence, you have to be able to recognise it and its symptoms. On what topics do employees fall silent? How do company communications encourage corporate silence? What can be done to prevent corporate silence and is corporate silence always bad? How do you ensure that speaking up becomes a normal, everyday part of your company’s culture? What role can you play as a communications professional? What is required of senior management? How can communications departments work with other departments, such as HR and Marketing, to break corporate silence? And how does breaking corporate silence help to strengthen a company’s reputation?

You will find answers to these and many other questions in this book, which is a pragmatic combination of theory and real-world practice. The book focuses on building reputation from the inside out, with interesting examples from home and abroad.