How Financial Services firms have navigated communications during COVID-19

In March 2020, the UK government, faced with the global COVID-19 pandemic, entered the nation into “lockdown”. The pandemic has been without a doubt one of the biggest global economic and health related crises that governments, organisations and individuals have had to face in modern times.

While many organisations and entire sectors have been left with little or no choice but to close their doors to business, the global financial services industry has quickly demonstrated an ability to transition its operations, albeit with a remote workforce.

Many businesses were quick to recognise, as the crisis unfolded, that effective communications were critical and that post-COVID-19 they will be judged on how they communicate and are perceived to communicate, both internally and externally, with their employees, customers and suppliers. Communications leaders and their teams are in a pivotal position to work with senior business leaders to help them navigate their organisations through the COVID-19 pandemic.

While many Communications leaders would have had a prior track record of managing crisis communications, it is probably fair to say that very few would have had experience of dealing with crisis communications on such a monumental global scale. And even for those businesses who had well prepared Business Continuity Plans, few would have anticipated a crisis on this level. 

Carter Murray interviewed three highly experienced Communications leaders from the Financial Services sector to share their insight into how they and their teams have been managing organisation-wide communications efforts since the outbreak of the global pandemic.

A special thanks to:

Jon Tracey, Global Head of Communications at Standard Chartered Bank

Rebecca O’Neill, Global Co-Head of Communications at First State Investments

Mona Patel, Group Head of External Communications at Royal London

Read the full publication here:https://indd.adobe.com/embed/f50bfcb8-33f3-474d-b769-eee5537aeefd?startpage=1&allowFullscreen=true