Study: In-house comms teams suffer from a ‘trust gap’

Trust is a powerful concept. It permeates all relationships and is the foundation of high-performing teams and brands. But when brands talk about trust or distrust, they generally think of their externally facing reputation, ignoring that distrust can be largely internal and potentially insidious. According to new research by PR73, in-house comms teams find themselves distrusted by internal stakeholders and at odds with other department priorities. PR73 surveyed 100 U.S. in-house communications professionals from organizations that included NBCUniversal, Disney, Visa and CBRE, and across a variety of industries, with this takeaway: These in-house comms pros, tasked with helping to establish a strategic, unified sense of brand direction, nevertheless report that they are often not trusted, believed or even valued by the internal stakeholders that they serve. “We had an inkling that a trust gap existed, but not at this level,” said Justin Goldstein, founder and lead strategist at PR73. “An inability to solve for this gap can have a negative impact on productivity and a host of KPIs.” Dispensable and costly as well At its core, the PR73 study found that about half of communications professionals feel “dispensable or highly distrusted” by other departments. Whether under a cloud by senior leadership, other business units or even board members, 85% of in-house communications pros say that they experience a lack of trust while guiding or executing communications strategies. In-house communications pros are also prone to feeling that their team is viewed merely as a cost center; and that they have trouble obtaining the budgets they need to be effective. Providing what they see as an expendable, even dismissed in-house function, one-third of communications professionals find it challenging to work with their own senior executives, and it gets worse below the C-suite; two-thirds say that when they offer communications strategies to other departments, they’re ignored, challenged or resisted. “Sure, on some level it’s normal for a communications professional to experience challenges in these areas,” Goldstein said. “But frankly I think a lot of this may come from a disregard for public relations and marketing itself. Leadership and other departments may have no marketing or strategic communications experience, and could inherently misunderstand what their in-house comms teams do, and why they do it.” The study also reveals that 88% of communications professionals think they’ll be cut if the company performs poorly financially. “This is terribly shortsighted on the part of many organizations,” Goldstein said. “While there may not be an immediate impact by in-house comms teams on revenue or earnings, they do play an immense role in supporting an organization’s bottom line and helping their organizations to communicate effectively. Just as internal communications can improve staff morale, any slip-up in messaging could hurt. Charting a path forward Seeking solutions, about 89% of in-house comms pros say that using the right external firm may make them appear more competent, and improve trust with internal stakeholders. Sometimes, the study concludes, external validation from a high-quality source can help turn things around. “It’s important for the in-house comms teams to discuss how external agencies might support them in building trust with key internal stakeholders,” Goldstein said. “You need to be transparent that you need help in improving internal relationships. Look for attributes in a partner that can fill in capability gaps on your team and emphasize reputational credibility.” Here are some other conclusions from the PR73 study for addressing the trust-gap challenge: • Focus on data. Historically, communications departments had to fight hard to show their value, because success was difficult to quantify. Today, communications professionals can track and utilize data, especially qualitative data, in nearly every type of campaign to indicate performance and how to boost it. “ROI is now achievable, which can play a determining factor in retaining or growing the department’s budget,” according to the report. • Be a visionary. From a cognitive psychology perspective, focusing people on higher-level ideas helps them to grasp the broader, strategic significance of the in-house team’s point of view. This approach can facilitate buy-in by appealing to their strategic thinking and vision for the company's future. • Demonstrate success, inspire others. In-house comms pros are urged to align their communications activities and successes with other business units: Highlight media coverage that features key messaging to various departments; detail how marketing initiatives are supporting sales teams’ work; showcase those new, high-performing employees who recently joined the company because of positive public perception garnered by media coverage. “The trust gap experienced by in-house communications professionals is real,” Goldstein said. “It doesn’t happen in every organization and with every team, but it happens in every industry we surveyed. We hope that this research and other suggested recommendations from the study, can provide a first step towards in-house communications professionals working to close the trust gap.” About PR73 PR73 is an integrated communications firm that helps to develop insight, strategy, and content that fortifies trust across internal and external audiences. We leverage our expertise across public relations and marketing to humanize brands, help them demonstrate authenticity, and provide value that can be felt and seen.

Study: In-house comms teams suffer from a ‘trust gap’

Featured Stories