The Strategic Role of Corporate Affairs: Aligning Values, Enhancing Visibility, and Managing Communication
✍️ OpinionsThis article has been contributed by Vasudha Jajoo Pahwa, Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Bry-Air, Pahwa Group.
Corporate affairs hold a lot of significance for any organization. Looking at the dynamic and highly competitive business landscape, organizations are always on the lookout for effective corporate affairs strategy to create an impactful reputation in the industry. Forming a vital link between the company and the internal and external stakeholders is crucial for forging a strong relationship with the stakeholders and is also responsible for maintaining consistent and cohesive messaging across the platforms.
Corporate affairs have a far-reaching influence on the existence of the company, as it navigates the potential risks that could harm the reputation and operations of the company beforehand and devise appropriate strategies to uphold the integrity of the company.
Gauging the crucial role corporate affairs plays in an organization, devising a comprehensive corporate affairs strategy can go a long way in driving optimal results.
Alignment with Company Values
Corporate affairs function extends beyond just managing internal and external communications within the company. At Bry-Air, marketing and HR activities are also part of corporate affairs. It's important to emphasize that maintaining consistent communication across all functions and ensuring that all departments are aligned with the company's mission and vision is crucial. This alignment is a key responsibility of corporate affairs professionals.
Another significant aspect is how the company is portrayed in the media and the management of relationships with stakeholders. While marketing plays a role in this, the focus should be on the broader scope of corporate communication, which includes both internal and external aspects. Internally, it's about ensuring employees understand the company’s mission, vision, and holistic goals. Externally, we communicate the same to our stakeholders, business partners, and customers to keep them informed about the company's ventures and direction.
Enhanced Visibility Among Audiences
It's also important to highlight the innovations spearheaded by the company. Especially in a B2B segment, making the audience cognizant of the new technologies and unique offerings is crucial. The communication efforts should revolve around keeping the audience informed about these developments. Corporate affairs ultimately serve as a platform to communicate important narratives about the company. The messaging needs to convey these critical points effectively.
Integration of Advanced Tools
In today's digital world, the success of communication depends on two factors: the quality of the data one possesses and the channels being used. As the world becomes more digital, it’s imperative to utilize world-class tools, such as HubSpot, to manage the data and communications. There should be an incessant focus on managing SEO, running campaigns across social media and Google, and creating targeted email campaigns that give an insight into the problems that are being solved by the company.
Highlighting the Problem-Solving Aspect in Media
The positioning of the organization in public relations should always reflect the problem-solving approach. It's not just about claiming that the products or services are the best, but about taking a more human-centered approach, emphasizing the larger mission of the company. For instance, we are solely driven by our mission to make life better for both people and machines. Since air is omnipresent and integral to our environment, our work in air treatment contributes to improving everything around us. This is also depicted in our communication, which revolves around the problems we are committed to solving, both for our internal teams and external customers.
Focus on HR Roles
Corporate affairs should proactively touch on the HR aspect, emphasizing the importance of employee engagement. As a company, it should value employees and stakeholders with policies focused on sustainability and employee well-being. Prioritizing a diverse workforce with the commitment to rendering a safe and inclusive place to work, particularly for women, can foster a progressive work culture within the organization. For instance, we at Bry-Air have female staff working on our shop floors. These points, which are also highlighted in our sustainability report, can be framed within the broader context of corporate communication.
Having elaborated on the various aspects of corporate affairs, it also bodes well for ensuring the legal and regulatory compliance of the company. Therefore, overseeing diverse facets of the organization, corporate affairs is essential for ensuring alignment across internal and external stakeholders.
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