Summit Update

Hello from the Melcrum Strategic Communication Management Summit in sunny Sydney. Having just partaken in a lovely lunch harbourside at Darling Harbour, my poor Melburnian skin is still smarting from sitting in the sunshine!

But, on to more important matters...

Its still early in the summit but a couple of themes are emerging. There has definitely been a strong focus on engagement. It seems that engagement is still the topic de jour for internal communicators especially and is showing no signs of waning or becoming one of 'those' fads. In fact, if anything, the talk is getting sharper, more scientific and there is now irrefutable evidence to back the business case for engagement initiatives.

Which brings me to the second and, I think, all-pervasive theme. Not sure if it's just the current global financial climate (or just the gloomy predictions of Australian financial analysists) but there seemes to be an ever-stronger need for internal communication to prove its viability. Exactly how does it contribute to the bottom line? How can internal communication and employee engagement provide better customer satisfaction, loyalty and higher shareholder returns?

Jim Shaffer, one of the Summit's keynote speakers, made the point that too many communicators don't know enough about the business drivers of the organisations we work for and therefore find it difficult to connect the dots for their leadership. (And that's something we bang on about quite a bit at Black Belt.)

Jim presented an interesting case study that proved how internal communication is blurring the lines between HR, organisation development, strategy, leadership and communication. Chatting with an HR colleague afterwards we both commented on the fact that working relationships between HR and IC is not just nice to have, but pretty much compulsory if you're going to achieve the kind of strategic change that leads to real business results.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts on the so far. More to come...