Heyman Associates

The Martin Center for Mentorship at the College of Charleston is so proud to celebrate the recipient of our inaugural Distinguished Mentor Award, Bill Heyman, founder and CEO of Heyman Associates. All of us who are friends and admirers of Bill know that he exemplifies what an outstanding mentor should be. He is empathetic, loyal, and persistent in helping so many of us grow and develop, not just as professionals, but as people. We look forward to celebrating his achievement on March 29 at the College of Charleston.

The scope of communications is changing, and data continues to prove what we hear in the market. As CCOs and senior communicators broaden their remits, the teams they oversee increase in value to the CEO. Read more from Eleanor Hawkins on reporting structure changes in the function and why it’s important. https://lnkd.in/gag_sXKa

Today we are delighted to announce that Taylor Bennett and Birchwood Knight have merged, to create a new international search firm leader, Taylor Birchwood. Taylor Birchwood becomes the largest specialist executive search firm, globally, for organisations wanting to source exceptional talent in corporate affairs. The merged firm will be jointly led by Taylor Bennett’s Managing Partner, Matthew Wall and Birchwood Knight’s founder and Managing Director, Wayne Reynolds, with Tori Cowley joining the company as Non-Executive Chair. Together with our global network of partners - Heyman Associates in North America, Barber Search in Asia and GK Personalberatung in Germany, Taylor Birchwood will provide unique access to exceptional talent across the world. https://lnkd.in/e5GADQs7

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of stepping into the CEO role at Heyman Associates. After 19 years with the firm, I’ve watched significant and exciting changes to the functions we focus on and the first half of this year presented significant shifts in the profession worth sharing. Here are the top four shifts I’ve noticed during my first six months as CEO: 1.     PROTECT, PROTECT, PROTECT: while organizations embrace an opening for proactive strategy building, risk mitigation continues to creep up in priority. The pendulum has swung from promoting your brand to protecting it. This also manifests in conservative spending and decision making, and a reticence to make sizeable commitments despite a strong economic outlook. 2.     CHANGE IN POWER: there is more talent on the market than open roles and employers are squarely back in the driver’s seat. The definition of flexibility has also shifted; there are few fully remote, executive level roles. While role inventory is down and candidate negotiating power has waned, there is always a market for great talent – we’re seeing a demand for enterprise and operational leadership experience, diversified functional backgrounds, a proactive approach to issues management, and business acumen as a skillset of most importance. 3.     CLEAR SILOES TO BLURRED LINES: We are seeing more roles I anecdotally refer to as ‘Communications Plus’. Integrated communications and marketing is no longer a trend; it’s a permanent shift and the new normal. There are also more communications roles integrating with public and government affairs and ESG efforts. This is reinforced by more Chief Corporate Affairs Officer titles, indicating a broadening of responsibilities. 4.     AI EXPERIMENTATION TO IMPLEMENTATION: No question AI will transform businesses and communications. The challenge is twofold for communicators – not only to articulate a business’ AI strategy to both internal and external stakeholders but to determine how AI can enhance certain communications or team productivity. New tools raise stakes on critical thinking skills and no matter how much deeper the tech stack gets for CCOs, we still always hear from our CEO clients the importance of strong writing skills. “How are you telling an AI story and how are you using AI?” are now expected interview questions.

Jessamyn Katz of Heyman Associates shares the best advice she’s ever received. https://lnkd.in/gzYqqUEG

Jessamyn Katz of Heyman Associates shares the best advice she’s ever received. https://lnkd.in/gzYqqUEG

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the #AnnualConference in Toronto hosted by Page Society. So much insightful content and discussion, and a few takeaways that stuck with me that I will be keeping an eye on: STAKEHOLDER VALUE CREATION: communications leaders are crucial in supporting the C-Suite when it comes to understanding a multistakeholder environment. CCOs and top communicators are ever more important as integrators and are valuable leaders sitting at the center of an organization to help with focus and prioritization in a fast paced, cluttered stakeholder landscape. INDIFFERENCE IS NOT AN OPTION: when it comes to the political and social landscape, organizations and leaders are under a microscope. This is not new, but comms has become harder; neutrality can be fraught, and impartiality can feel like complicity. INNOVATION AND AI: Generative AI continues to dominate conversation, and in a time where there is so much distrust, a new calculus for managing reputation with new tools is important but so is getting back to basics and identifying what makes a good story and why stakeholders should care.