Does communication add value?

No company can exist without communication. Communication enables the employees in an organisation to make, follow and influence joint decisions. And it is lack of communication which destroys organisations. So writes Herbert A. Simon, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and one of the greatest management scientists of the 20th century.  

Leadership is mainly exercised by means of communication, so there is nothing strange in saying that the best companies are also characterised by a sophisticated culture in which considerable resources are devoted to corporate messages and reaching out via channels suited to the various target groups.

New dimensions to management communication have come to the fore in recent years. When a listed company’s market value suddenly drops several dozen percentage points, the explanation is often an abrupt loss of trust in the management.

Once again – communication is the ‘vehicle’ of trust. If messages are lost, the channels of communication fall silent and the company then leaves the mental stage where people gather and process information to decide how to act –  whether as buyers or sellers, employees, citizens or investors. Messages other than the company’s own move in to fill the void.

There are many people who dispute the claim that communication adds value, and I will happily concede it is notoriously difficult to measure. The results of not communicating, on the other hand, are easy to measure. Silence can be fatal, for the company and the management.

The decision is therefore how should we communicate? What should we say to whom? How should we say it, and when and where? And who should say it?

In 12 years H&H has grown into Sweden’s largest resource centre within corporate communications, specialising in financial communications and the web. Together our 100 employees know most of what there is to know about effective messages and channels which will add value to your company.

If you want to be heard, start talking to us!

Martin Petersson