Since I started working in public relations 20+ years ago, things have changed big time!

From technology evolving to consumer habits changing, the economy, Brexit, COVID, Russia's war on Ukraine and the cost of living crisis.

But some things remain the same. We focus on engaging real actual people and we still need to listen, act, adapt and build relationships, in order to build trust.

Plus a few other thoughts!

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Laura

Since relaunching Aura on World Environment Day, with a specific focus on sustainable business, I’ve been conducting a lot of one-to-one webinars. The webinars are meant to help explain my proposition and how the Synergy Framework© works.

Along the way, I’ve been tweeking my slides for different audiences, (agencies, consultants, business owners, CEOs…) and taking note of things people have taken an interest in and also noted that may have been missing.

On a recent webinar where I was talking to the Head of Corporate of an agency and the person asked me about governance, as I focussed a lot on sustainability.

This is a misconception about sustainability, that it only focuses on environment. It’s one I try and address head on in the presentation by explaining sustainability is about people, communities, the economy and the planet. Sustainability means that there is a future because you’ve future-proofed your business/organisation having recognised that change is inevitable.

So, we were talking about that then I flicked back to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and referenced inclusion and equality. Then looked at Synergy© at the very first point, ‘Clarity’, where we would clarify the current governance of the business/organisation before we even start. Why? Because how we can make it part of the transformation if we don’t know where we are and where we are going?

Governance in ESG is also something I was talking to a fellow consultant about, and how it’s often not considered until the end of the process, after a strategy and plan has been developed, often because part of the governance structure is broken in the first place and needs fixed for the strategy to work.

It comes back to purpose, the make-up and role of the Board of Directors, values being aligned, ethics and transparency. Also, if there are shareholders, structure, reporting, risk and systems are measured.

Good governance means listening to stakeholders. Things that matter to them and high on the corporate agenda could include benefiting customers, employees and communities, as well as shareholders.

This is why the stakeholder relations part of Synergy© is so important - you need to know them intimately in order to represent them and engage them.

Diversity and equity is also much talked about, although not always acted on, with better representation, equal compensation being top of the list. The financial benefit of creating inclusive workplaces has already been proven, so what’s stopping them?

Please remember to subscribe to my podcast and also leave a review! And if you'd like to get in touch with me to work together, collaborate on a project, discuss my private client mentoring and development, or just to connect, drop me an email laura@auraadvisory.co or find me on socials @laurafromaura :)

Last week, the PRCA's Misinformation and the Climate Crisis Strategy Group launched its annual findings of the industry and the consumer research.

It revealed that we must be more brave and lead the way in ethical communication.

• More than 9 out of ten (96%) of PR professionals now advise their clients and colleagues to understand the climate crisis and how they can effectively communicate the part they play - up from 82% last year
• Almost half (45%) have noticed their clients or organisation attempting to greenwash, however 89% have pushed back on this and 57% managed to change the approach as a result
• Almost all (97%) said they have taken action to address the climate crisis but only 48% measure their carbon footprint
• 71% of consumers say they would stop buying from a brand if they knew it had misled its customers about having a positive environmental impact
• 57% of the general public don’t know the outcome of COP26 and a third (33%) felt the agreements made at the conference didn’t affect them

You can read my blog here and PRCA's news release and infographics here.

I mention Aura's ground-breaking Synergy Framework again and I urge small businesses and agencies to get in touch to have a chat to see how I can help you get started. The worst thing you can do is nothing! I'll help guide you and give your teams the tools to do the graft.  View the framework here and please do get in touch!