The comms job that isn’t on an org chart yet

Tricia Taylor, vice president of corporate communications and change management at Coca-Cola Bottlers and Sales Services, has a bold prediction for the future of comms.

“There’s going to be something around an AI transformation communicator, or a workforce translator,” Taylor told Ragan. “Someone who sits at the intersection of all these transformations happening really fast but communicates in a very people-centric way. It’s not just explaining the tools. It’s helping the organization adapt to the changing way of working while staying empathetic and connected to the person.”

But it’s important to know that this new role won’t come from nowhere. It’ll evolve out of where communicators already sit within their organizations.

“Corporate communications has become increasingly more central to how organizations navigate change, in partnership with HR and IT,” she said. “Whether it’s AI, return to office, hybrid work, cybersecurity or culture transformation, all of it touches HR and IT and communications. We are the connective tissue between strategy, human behavior and implementation.”

Getting to that point can take some time, and Taylor said that it took her a little while for it to sink in.

“In today’s workforce, credibility comes from cross-functional partnerships,” she said. “So it’s about not just being publishers, but strategic advisors and organizational translators.”

Taylor will share her insights on cross-collaboration and comms at Ragan’s Future of Communications in Austin this November. To register, click here.

A seat at multiple tables

Sharing message-building with HR and IT only works in communicators’ favor if they get involved when decisions are being made, not after, while bringing along their unique expertise. That includes:

• Turning technical language from IT into messages people can actually understand.
• Treating two-way employee comms channels as comms work rather than HR work.
• Building conversations with departments like legal and operations to get a fuller perspective on how the organization communicates and how comms can help.

“Strong organizations really embed communicators throughout the company,” Taylor said.

Shared ownership of the message doesn’t always stay tidy. When work is shared across departments, communicators are usually the ones that explain it to the rest of the company.

“If there is a change in responsibilities, navigate the rigidity around it by speaking to things that really matter to people —  how decisions will be made, how escalations will be handled and how we will continue to collaborate,” Taylor said.

Taylor recommended a few ways communicators can do their part when responsibilities and duties change:

• Explain how decisions get made and who makes them.
• Share how teams that are splitting up or merging can keep vital connections.
• Answer questions out in the open.

Taylor added that even as roles overlap and shift, comms pros need to stay focused on the top resource of the organization: the people that work there.

“Change management is owned across the business, but as a communications practitioner, I lean into the people side of change.” she said.

Translating work for communicators goes upward too.  Taylor said employees need to hear from the CEO and other top leaders directly during times of change, which leaves comms to prep leaders’ priorities, what they model and how messages cascade without losing their meaning.

Taylor said she’d tell anyone in the organization asking what happens to their job the exact same thing.

“We are not making promises that there won’t be changes to roles,” Taylor said. “What we will say is that we’re going to help you learn new skills and use this technology, and be very honest about the reality of it. Tasks are becoming automated and roles will evolve, but new roles will emerge that may not exist today.”

For communicators, Taylor said that there’s a specific mix of skills in question.

“The future is a combination of technical fluency about AI — not expert, I don’t know who’s an AI expert — but strong in emotional intelligence, strong in strategic communications, strong in organizational insight,” she said. “That will be the role of the future.”

Sean Devlin is the senior internal communications editor at Ragan. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.