As we settle into a country with a new government the announcements have come thick and fast as to how this one will feel different.
by Hannah Clubb
Rachel Reeves began her tenure as Treasurer with a focus on how she planned to balance the books and get the economy thriving again.
Amongst plans to scrap any non-funded projects she also announced that non-essential spend, namely consultants and, in particular communications and marketing spend, would be scaled back.
Now let’s be clear I’m keeping the politics out of this blog but it did sink my heart slightly that yet again an easy swipe at comms makes it into the very first of new government announcements.
And I get it, I really do, I’ve advised many politicians in my time and clearly taking money out of management consultants and spin doctors is much more palatable than raiding the coffers of highways or health. But what announcements like this do is yet again further the mistruth that communications is spin; that it does nothing for people in our communities, on our frontline services or in our hospitals.
And yet whenever something goes wrong, whenever disaster strikes, the first refrain is always, where was the information, why wasn’t there any communication?
Cards on the table I’m bound to feel somewhat put out at this being, as I am, a special breed of consultant and comms. But I’ve also worked in and for the public sector for almost 20 years now. I’ve seen just how transformative good communications can be and just how damaging it is when it is forgotten or done badly.
The communications I see, and have seen for many years, in the public sector, is acting for the people the organisations serve. When you have good communications in the room you’ll be asked difficult questions about the services you’re running, you’ll be asked who you’re aiming at, what are some of those barriers to reaching those people, your good comms people will be helping you reach communities who have historically not been reached and unlock channels that help people not only access information but understand it and act upon it. Good communication works hand in hand with engagement to make the services you offer meet the needs of the people they are for. Good communication challenges woolly language or jargon, I can’t count how many times I’ve asked the question ‘what does that actually mean’ and not stopped until I’ve had the answer.
Good communication isn’t a waste of tax-payers money it is essential to make sure those same tax-payers get the services they deserve and are able, willing and comfortable accessing those services. New shiny services built to transform people’s lives are good for nothing if those people don’t know they are there, an IT outage is so much worse if the organisation it serves isn’t clear about the issue and the solution, a tragedy or a crisis in a community can cut even deeper if misinformation is allowed to spread, if clear reassurance cannot be issued from organisations communities trust. All of these rely on excellent communications professionals working hard to represent the man on the Clapham omnibus.
This is why communication matters, we’re not there to make it look pretty, we’re not there to bolster executives’ reputations, we are there to hold to account, to tell the story and to make things simpler for people. Done well that does change lives and we should never be ashamed to say it.
Hannah Clubb Communications offers communications and engagement support and training to public sector and charity organisations.
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