Sybil Taunton

The value of communications Last week I shared guidance on setting up a Community of Practice (CoP) for communications professionals. I believe CoPs can help in organisations where professionals don’t feel that communications is valued, as the community can have a real impact by working together to showcase their value. How does a communications professional showcase their value: 1. By demonstrating their impact: using metrics like engagement rates, collecting feedback and testimonials, and developing case studies highlighting success 2. By showcasing their skills: being confident referencing experience, resources and theories, creating a portfolio of work samples, and by offering effective communication advice 3. By leading on best practice and innovation: you can’t underestimate the value of being a connected and curious professional, adopting new communication technologies, and showcasing creative solutions to challenges 4. By showing up consistently: (it matters) you build trust by consistently meeting deadlines and delivering quality work, and maintaining proactive and transparent communication with stakeholders And picture how you can move the dial if this is done at scale in an organisation! What would you add to this list? #communications Image description: White quote on a beige background which says “How does a communications professional showcase their value?” 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m Georgia, I’m a strategic comms specialist with over 13 years' experience 👩🏻‍💻 I post about comms - from neuroinclusive comms to leadership in comms - and the importance of flexible working as a tool to tackle the motherhood penalty 👩🏻‍💼 All opinions are my own, not my employer’s

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Are you a public sector Director or People Director who are looking to support someone recently promoted into a leadership role where some leadership support would be helpful? Or someone with potential looking for their first step into leadership? I have spoken to many senior leaders across the public sector and they are finding that sometimes senior managers are brilliant technical experts but can feel uncertain about decision making, taking people through change, improving delegation, problem-solving and people management. This can be so frustrating! However, I have found with support through leadership coaching or group coaching programmes that people very quickly can develop the people skills needed to become great leaders. Don’t just believe me. Here’s some feedback from people I’ve worked with. “I have learnt so much about myself and how to operate within the organisation. This has had a positive impact on my work, and I have been able to become an effective leader. I would recommend coaching from Emma to all, especially new leaders.” “Emma created and continued to adapt a unique programme that recognised me as an individual, with the clear outcome of becoming the most effective version of myself. It was an extremely effective learning experience.” “Excellent programme, I feel equipped and ready to take the next step. Thank you.” If this is something you’re thinking, yep that resonates with me and you’d like to hear more DM me for a chat. #LeadershipCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #LeadershipProgrammes

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🗳️ As the UK heads towards the general election this week, families with disabled children are keenly observing party manifestos to understand what the future might hold. Supporting a child with disabilities requires robust and reliable government support. Over on the CPG website we’ve reviewed the main parties’ manifestos to highlight their commitments to children with special educational needs and families with disabled children. It’s crucial for families to evaluate these proposals and choose the policies that best align with their needs and aspirations. 🔗 Read more about what each party promises in their manifestos in the link below. #UKElection2024 #DisabledChildren #FamilySupport #SpecialEducationalNeeds #ElectionManifestos #Vote2024 

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It was great to see Labour promising to 'put Britain back on track to ending homelessness' in its pre-election manifesto. In Big Issue, we at Emmaus UK set out why this requires a new cross-government approach, bringing together policy on housing, work, health and social care, and more 👇 https://lnkd.in/eTn3SJnA

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If dis/misinformation isn’t in your comms #risk register & #contingency plan (with rehearsals!), why not? Great LGC thought-provoker below from Georgia Turner Chart.PR MCIPR . Usually, because it’s hard to get the time, *and* get all the right people involved. But this is nothing less than #governance. Communications are not the cherry on the cake, or the court messenger with the scroll and bugle. Thinking up what to say and how, to whom and when “on the day” is the most irresponsible thing you can do. Bringing in an external expert like Georgia Turner Chart.PR MCIPR (or when she’s fully booked, me!) is a great way to get things going. #leadership #strategicCommunications #governance

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This is an excellent example of how to bring about change that will achieve the desired end result and that will last - involve all the parties and people who are affected, even if just a little bit, and listen to them. There are so many aspects to a problem and many aren't obvious. And all this combined brain power can create inspired and workable solutions. #behaviourchange #sustainability #consultation #wildlife

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A few immediate thoughts on the challenges ahead for the Labour Party "We may have turned the page but we now need to write the next chapter"

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An important update on charity campaigning from the CharityCommission. To find out about other guidance and legislation governing charity campaigning during General Elections then just sign up for my webinar next week!  https://lnkd.in/dr6Nwvyx #GeneralElection #CharityCampaigning 

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An article for so many of my connections, in #leadership, #broadcasting, #EDI & #HR. When you’re a specialist, brought in to transform, what happens when you can’t? This case is an #EDI story. Success or failure in diversity, and in such large orgs, impacts us all.

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CIPR Volunteer Awards - it takes a village! It was terrific to be nominated for two Chartered Institute of Public Relations Volunteer Awards for 'Outstanding Contribution' and 'Strategic Comms Experts of the Year'. However, without getting too "I'd like to thank my parents" about things, any individual awards are a function of the amazing collective achievement of the CIPR Crisis Communications Network, to which I'm honoured to serve as Special Advisor. For proof of that, you just need to look at the fact that every member of our steering committee picked up an award this year. Our fearless co-chair Katherine Sykes FCIPR Chart.PR was one of the Outstanding Leaders of the year, while her fellow co-chair Chris Tucker also landed that honour, as well as receiving a gong for Developing Best Practice. Sara Naylor was one of the three Strategic Comms Experts of the Year, Adelaide Arthur Chart.PR was rightly recognised for her Outstanding Contribution and the brilliant Felix Östman was among the Events and Social Media Champions of the Year. In just two short years, the Network has attracted over 800 members, with a LinkedIn following approaching 2,000 - from across the UK to Nairobi, New York, Mumbai, Joburg, Sao Paolo, Jakarta, Brussels, Melbourne and Beyond. We run a brilliant events programme - combining panel-based webinars and our member-led Open House sessions - that attracts among the highest numbers of attendees of any group. This year, we've also introduced our turbo 'In Conversation With' sessions - the first featured the incredible Professor Lucy Easthope and I'll be talking to Timothy Coombs on 1st July. We have a terrific monthly newsletter (all hail Sara Naylor), a blog averaging 2-3 posts a month and last September produced our first ever Skills Guide (step up Chris Tucker) on writing a crisis communications plan. In short, while it's always lovely to receive individual recognition, it's even nicer when it's alongside other members of the Network family. And if you're not a member or follower, you don't know what you're missing! Great things are yet to come and I can't wait. #cipr #crisiscommunications #pr #publicrelations #risk #reputation #resilience #riskmanagement #leadership #marketing #business #management

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Whatever your views on the timing of the Prime Minister’s decision to call a UK General Election on 4th July, we are now in the throes of a campaign where many expect a Conservative defeat at the polls and the first Labour administration for 14 years. Do you feel prepared to navigate the campaign period ahead and make the most of a new Parliament and Government? Please read our briefing attached which outlines four essential things businesses and organisations need to consider over the coming weeks and a timeline of key developments.

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The Electoral Reform Society 2024 elections dashboard is now live ( https://lnkd.in/eXN5zSx7 ) Includes: - seats vs vote share - how many seats has it taken to win a party an MP - how many wasted votes were there? - seat by seat and regional analysis

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Can you help? Are you a heritage sector organisation? Do you have a good story to tell about how you recruit, retain and support your trustees? Then we are looking for you…   Historic England recently published this report on the Barriers and Enablers to Board Diversity in the Heritage sector https://lnkd.in/e4CPWtZ7 One of the recommendations is to develop some case studies on Board diversity. I am thrilled to report Getting On Board have now been commissioned to produce case-studies that exemplify good practice in the sector.     We are now looking for Heritage organisations that are willing to be interviewed for a written casestudy. So have you got a story to tell about:   Recruiting trustees: 🎯 Good practice in recruiting board members 🎯How you have reached out to, listened to and recruited more diverse board members 🎯How you have gone about developing inclusive board recruitment marketing and promotional materials 🎯The benefits you offer Board members and how these are communicated to potential board members 🎯What is good heritage Board practice in terms of process around term length and succession planning      Retaining trustees: 🎯How you retain board members 🎯How you onboard board members 🎯 Setting up a shadow board, shadowing programme or trainee board member placements   Supporting Inclusion, diversity and equity 🎯How you embed Inclusion, diversity and equity as a priority without putting unfair workload or emotional labour on specific Board members? 🎯 How you have made realistic commitment to Board diversity and communicated these internally and externally 🎯How you have conducted a Board diversity audit and communicated your findings in an effective and GDPR compliant way 🎯 How you have developed communication on IDE as a Board, in terms of language and content 🎯How you have effected culture change in your organisation so a diverse Board is welcome and effective   Providing on-going Board training and support 🎯 How you have supported your Board members through tough times of challenge and change 🎯 How you have dealt with trolling and negative press as a heritage Board and individual Board member 🎯How you have reported specific issues of online harassment, racism, homophobia, and other hate speech   Supporting your workforce to get governance experience. 🎯How you have made it possible for your staff to sit on Boards of other organisations, and what benefits this brings you? Clearly these topics will over-lap – but if any of the above resonates with you please get in touch or if you know of a heritage sector organisation that you think has a good story to tell please tag them in the comments!   #trustees #governance #heritagesector #inclusion #diversity #equity

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I'm often asked what my job consists of... My response: I engage with businesses/trade associations to tell their story and bring our Free Trade Agreements to life through communications. Their response: What is a Free Trade Agreement? My response: It looks like I've got more work to do... Joking aside, the world of trade can be a complex one, with alien words and strange concepts, but it really doesn't have to be - as the below video goes to show. A massive thanks and well done to our production team at the Department for Business and Trade for putting together this helpful explainer video!

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What's in a name? It's a case of new government, new rebrand for hard-working colleagues at what was Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities which will go back to its former name, The Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government, as revealed by Heather Jameson While it's always good to see #localgov recognised on a departmental brass plate, I'm not going to get too excited about a move that will mean absolutely nothing to many of our citizens, unless they work in the office stationery or banner stands businesses. We can all discuss the practical merits of levelling up, and some will be sadder than others to see it disappear from Government nomenclature. However, it did, along with Brexit voting patterns, help shift the previously niche political topic of regional inequality into the political and media mainstream. We also shouldn't forget the excellent Michael Gove-inspired White Paper that started it all. There are still lessons to learn here, particularly about the importance of cities to wider regional economies and the need for system change at the heart of Whitehall. I think the big challenge for the new Government and re-named department is to move this agenda away from the centre - where it was beset and held back by national politics and a wasteful and expensive bidding culture - to a true partnership between local and national. That's why the forthcoming Take Back Control bill will be so important and worthy of scrutiny from across the sector. Remember, the future is local!

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With Labour's manifesto launch tomorrow we already know some of their housing policies but what else can we expect? Last week's announcement meant we know that the manifesto should include: - The Freedom to Buy permanent mortgage guarantee scheme. - Compulsory purchase reform - 'First dibs' on new homes for FTBs - Planning reform to build more homes including relaxed green belt rules - Tax on foreign investors to fund more planning officers Hopefully there will be more detail on social housing and private rented sector proposals. I've set out a round up of other potential housing measures https://lnkd.in/eQyXn2-i

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Out today - just ahead of the dissolution of the House of Commons - a blueprint for examining Government progress in a new Parliament from the Liaison Committee. • If the King’s Speech sets out a government’s programme of legislation and the annual Budget is about spending plans - why wouldn’t ministers tell us their ambitions for government? The report proposes an annual statement to Parliament setting out their ministerial priorities and the right for MPs to question them about it. • Fairness between generations demands action from government and Parliament. Long-term strategy needs to engage public imagination and consent, especially among younger generations. Why plan for long-term challenges like housing or social care without their input? • We need to do strategy better. Teach ministers, MPs, civil servants (not just the top people) how to scan for challenges; deliver and implement strategic planning. It’s essential.

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Three takeaways from the mayoral elections (beyond the obvious)... 👇 If you're as into local politics as I am, no doubt you've spent the weekend binge-consuming podcasts and other analysis of last week's local and mayoral elections. Naturally, in a General Election year, most of the discussion has focused on what the results could mean for a national vote, but here are my three other takeaways: ♀ Progress on mayoral gender equality - before last Thursday, there were more UK metro mayors called Andy than there were female mayors. But now, Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, the country's first woman elected metro mayor, has been joined by Kim McGuinness in the North East and Claire Ward in the East Midlands. That's still only 25% of the total (and notably Sadiq Khan remains the country's only mayor from an ethnic minority background), but progress is still welcome. Diversity in political leadership leads to different thinking, solutions and outcomes - as Mayor Brabin's focus on safety for women and girls in her Policing Plan shows. As a country we need to do more to encourage people from all backgrounds into politics and local and mayoral government provide a ideal route in. 😐 Disillusionment with the status quo? The steep rise in support for independent and other candidates could be indicative of wider public disengagement in mainstream politics and the two main parties especially. Granted, these results won't be repeated in a General, but combined with reduced voter turnout in many places, it's another sign that people are fed up with our current politics and are looking for real change. If I were a Labour or Conservative politician, I'd be putting democratic renewal and meaningful engagement with the public near the top of my agenda. Corrosion of trust in politicians in the long-term can only be damaging to our democracy and all parties. 🏘 The rise and rise of devolution? Although turnout remains far lower than ideal, this was the first year that the national media and political commentariat really gave mayoral elections the emphasis they deserve. The gripping late result in the West Mids and the sliver of silver lining that Ben Houchen's re-election in the Tees Valley gave an embattled PM all added to the political theatre. Indeed, much has been made of the fact that Lord Houchen's re-election was the result of his personal record of delivery locally, rather than (or despite of) his party affiliation. Both main parties (especially Labour since they now control 11/12 MCAs in England) need to see this as an opportunity to win back trust in politics. By devolving powers out of London to local leaders who can invest in what really matters to local people, voters can see the positive difference that politics can make in their communities and feel a greater stake in the system. Here's hoping for proper devolution that truly empowers places in the #GE2024 manifestos 🤞 #localelections #localgovernment #devolution Social

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Good luck to local authority colleagues in the run up to the #GeneralElection. A plea from the Adult Support Sector: please promote inclusive elections. #Disabled people have the same right to vote as people without a disability, and Government decisions affect them - the attack on PIP just one example, and of course funding! #MyVoteMyVoice campaign provides accessible information and resources for people with learning disabilities, #Autistic people and other support needs, including a very handy voting passport that can make the actual process easier for both polling station staff and the person with LD. My area of interest is LD, but obviously the same applies for other disabilities. https://lnkd.in/eVDFCtqV #AccessibleElections #Accessibility #Inclusion #InclusiveElections

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