101 of Corporate Affairs
Recently I had the opportunity to reflect on advice to a large multi-national firm looking to set up in Australia. With a communications team but no local corporate affairs function, they wanted to look at local ways to enhance, shape and protect their reputation – particularly with government, their most significant Australian stakeholder. Through a quick and dirty brainstorm, here’s an abridged version of the priorities I came up with for them to implement – what do you think?
- Build connections and rapport with government through partnerships and participation in government programs
- Co-ordination and drafting of responses to state and Australian government inquiries on important regulatory and industry issues. For example, co-ordinating responses and proposals to government, such as reporting to the Women’s Gender Equality Agency and submitting to relevant Senate inquiries
- Training and workshops for executives on Australian government culture and priorities, such as for early bid meetings or industry roundtables
- Support and assistance on government relations and strategy, briefing the Board on Australian Government and state government political landscapes and players
- Establish a simple and consistent corporate social responsibility approach for Australia, with standard policy and principles
- Communicate and engage with external stakeholders to promote the company’s priorities including preparing briefs on key industry issues, preparing a schedule of meetings with key stakeholders and attending events
- Liaise with HQ and leverage internal expertise to bring a local flavour to international content, including social media and speeches.