Unlock the true potential of Corporate Communication

When done successfully, Corporate Communication can create immense business value for your organisation. 

• When marketing communication resonates, customers in the marketplace will buy more, pay more, and stay loyal to your business
• When investor communication performs, stakeholders in capital markets will invest more, and finance on better terms
• When public affairs and relations are strong, stakeholders in the broader society grant you a licence to operate and place their trust in you
• When internal change and leadership communication is effective, employees and leaders are engaged, understand priorities, embrace change more quickly, and perform better

This is the dream, or aspiration, of Corporate Communication: all the individual communication functions and disciplines in an organisation work towards different stakeholders in the four arenas above, but all led by the enterprise-mindset idea of fulfilling the core purpose and strategy of the organisation through the sum of all the parts. 

Complexity is constraining even great communication teams 

The dream of Corporate Communication is, in fact, also the challenge. One thing is to do the individual communication disciplines well. Another thing is to manage all the different disciplines collectively and effectively day-to-day across all the various arenas and stakeholders. 

So why does this dream of Corporate Communication too often go unfulfilled? 

• In many organisations, roles and responsibilities overlap between various communication functions, teams, and individuals, with numerous disciplines operating in a grey area and requiring diverse skills to provide genuine value 
• The number of processes and channels has increased, but governance and ownership continue to be unclear in many organisations
• Leaders continue to underestimate their role as key communicators and culture setters, leaving communication teams to ‘fix’ what must be led 
• Performance is too often tracked through activity metrics, not outcomes – and linkages to business value remain weak 
• Numerous stories and messages lead to confusion and inconsistency both within and outside organisations 

Corporate Communication is complex by design. Treat it as disconnected sets of communication activities, and you get inefficiencies, misalignment, and missed synergies. Treat it as a system – with a clear structure – and you unlock strategic value.

Corporate Communication needs a structured operating model 

To deal with the high level of complexity constraining many communication teams, we need a structured approach – a mission control centre that grounds us and brings order to chaos. Specifically, what we need is an operating model for communications that aligns ‘why’ and ‘what’ with ‘how’ across the business.

Our Communication Operating Model includes three elements (outer ring), that set the direction for the operating model, and six core dimensions (inner ring), focused on making execution work inside and across various communication disciplines. 

Let us take a closer look at the Communication Operating Model, including key questions and best practices for each directional element and core dimension. 

Unfolding the Communication Operating Model 

The Communication Operating Model is based on insights from our experience with hundreds of communication projects. It links the directional elements of strategy, story, and stakeholders, which most organisations already have in place, with six core execution dimensions that many organisations lack.

Directional elements (outer ring)

Strategy: Align communications with business value 

Key question: What impact must corporate communications deliver to advance our purpose and business strategy? 

What good looks like:

• A clear impact case linking communication outcomes to strategic priorities (e.g., growth, productivity, trust, licence to operate)
• A prioritised portfolio of business‑critical communication activities
• Annual planning rhythm tied to business cycles

Story: An aspirational, unifying narrative that mobilises action 

Key question: What is the overall aspirational and unifying story about our organisation’s role in the world? 

What good looks like:

• A coherent organisational narrative – aspirational, inspirational, and explorational – that sets a direction and animates stakeholders to act
• Strategic message house and proof points
• Narrative guardrails and adaptation rules

Stakeholders: Anchor focus on what creates value – and for whom 

Key question: Which stakeholder segments must corporate communications successfully understand and engage with to deliver the desired impact? 

What good looks like:

• Quantitative and qualitative stakeholder insights and analysis
• A shared stakeholder map with clear segmentation and prioritisation of the most critical stakeholders
• Personas, needs/wants, moments that matter, and influence pathways for the most critical stakeholders

Core dimensions (inner ring) 

1) Organisation & Governance: Clarify roles, interfaces, and mandate

Key question: How does the optimal organisational design and governance look for integrated communications? 

What good looks like: 

• An organisational design that enables coherence and speed across levels, functions, and teams
• Governance model, incl. roles and responsibilities, decision mandates, and escalation paths, especially for shared disciplines (e.g. employer branding, sustainability/ESG, product launches)
• Cross-functional alignment, interfaces, and meeting structures

2) Processes: Build efficient and high-quality end‑to‑end processes 

Key question: What are the core activities and processes for corporate communications that enable us to deliver value for our stakeholders? 

What good looks like:

• Process mapping ‘as-is’ (incl. current pain points and bottlenecks)
• Process ‘to-be’ redesign for efficiencies and enhanced value-creation (incl. approvals, interfaces, and quality criteria)
• Implementation roadmap, standardisation, and continuous improvement of core processes

3) Capabilities: Invest where advantage is created 

Key question: What are the key capabilities for corporate communications to deliver on strategy now and in the future? 

What good looks like:

• Capability assessment and gaps
• Capability strategy with clear priorities on investments in upskilling, outsourcing or insourcing, and acquiring the capabilities needed
• Capability building and training

4) Tools, Tech, & Channels: Create the right mix for efficiency and impact 

Key question: Which combination of tools, technologies, and channels best enables efficient operations for corporate communications? 

What good looks like: 

• Optimised landscape for tools, tech, and channels (incl. standardised architecture and interplay rules)
• Playbooks and best practice guidelines
• AI governance and data management enabling quality, speed, and trust

5) Performance Management: Prove and improve value creation 

Key question: How can we track and measure the impact of corporate communications? 

What good looks like:

• Clear impact case with a hierarchy of metrics and KPIs linking how communication activities create business impact
• Impact tracking (incl. integrated dashboards and monitoring)
• Performance rhythm (review cadences, e.g. monthly reviews; quarterly deep dives)

6) Leadership & Culture: Make leaders the most powerful channel 

Key question: How do we cultivate the needed ownership among leaders and organisational behaviours for corporate communications to deliver value? 

What good looks like:

• Behavioural principles and cultural ‘rules’
• Leader communication system (incl. engagement and coaching, cadence, formats, and toolkits)
• Change management (incl. leader-led organisational empowerment and plan to embed new ways of working)

Five steps to bring the operating model to life 

The operating model framework can be applied in various situations and in different ways, depending on the organisation and the scope of the problem to be solved. You may address multiple dimensions at once or start with one, work across communication functions and teams or focus on a single area, and choose to operate globally, regionally, or locally. 

No matter the scope, you can put the model into practice by following five general steps:

Conclusion 

Corporate Communication becomes a true value driver when it runs as a coherent system that connects strategy, story, and stakeholders to six disciplined ways of working. 

With our Communication Operating Model, you can add structure to complexity and unleash the true potential of your organisation’s communications. 

The organisations that move first will set the standard. Are you ready to leave the hamster wheel behind and bring the dream of Corporate Communication to life?