Understanding the value comms brings to the C-suite

How much influence can the communications function wield across the business? That depends on your willingness to learn and communicate through the language of finance, to level up your measurement and analytics game and to tie communications wins back to larger organizational OKRs and KPIs.

A powerhouse panel of C-suite leaders described the qualities the C-suite relies on communicators to bring to the table when they convened last fall during Ragan’s Future of Communications Conference. All spoke of qualitative values that communicators can bring  — the human touch, the ability to focus on internal stakeholders and the investment we take in psychological safety, just to name a few

Moderated by Ragan CEO Diane Schwartz, the power panel featured Columbia Business School Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Amy Jaick, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CCO Michelle Russo and Jennifer Thurman, former CCO of Dow Jones.

Schwartz kicked off the discussion by asking the panel what it takes for communicators to have more influence in an organization. How do communicators keep the momentum going around the influence our function has gained over the past few years?

Communicators remind executives of the humans behind the screens.