NEW YORK, Oct. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More than seven in 10 global chief communications officers (CCOs) report that digital communications ranks as their top priority for the next 18 months, and in North America the highest priority for top CCOs is employee engagement, according to a survey released today by Spencer Stuart and Weber Shandwick.  Additionally, more than half of global CCOs report that their companies have been impacted by shareholder activism, with an even higher percentage (58 percent) of CCOs in North America reporting impact. These findings come from The Rising CCO VI, a survey conducted by global executive search firm Spencer Stuart and global communications and engagement firm Weber Shandwick. Now in its sixth year, The Rising CCO explores how CCOs expect their responsibilities to evolve over time in a rapidly changing world.

"Effective and engaging employee communications is in great demand today as the communications function continues to touch all parts of a company's business," said George Jamison, who leads Spencer Stuart's Corporate Communications business. "CEOs are asking their top communications leaders to ensure that employees internalize strategy and company purpose.  Our research shows that CCOs are working hard to drive employee advocacy and deepen their relationships with stakeholders both within and outside the company."

Digital Communications A Strategic Partner, Hiring Priority

Digital communications is reported as the top area of focus globally for the next 18 months and is a top hiring priority for the near future. In North America, digital communications is the second top area of focus for the next 18 months, behind employee advocacy/engagement.  Importantly, CCOs in every region also report that digital and social media would be their closest working partners in the future. This aligns with a related trend of using data analytics widely to evaluate corporate reputation, refine messaging, and identify company supporters and allies, according to the study.

Focusing on Employee Communications and Engagement

The importance of employee communications as a top tier priority differs regionally among global CCOs. By very wide margins, North American CCOs (90 percent) report that employee communications is a top tier responsibility compared to 70 percent of EMEA CCOs. In line with North American CCOs' strong focus on employee communications, these leading communications professionals in North America are also more likely to report that employee advocacy and engagement will grow in importance in their portfolio of responsibilities over the next 12 to 18 months compared to EMEA CCOs (70 percent vs. 45 percent, respectively). Global CCOs also plan to make hires in the employee engagement and internal communications field in the next 12-18 months. Specific positions cited include Global Head of Employee Engagement, Head of Enterprise Communications (Internal and Leadership) and Employee Engagement Specialist. 

Fostering Ties to Human Resources

As global CCOs focus on strengthening their connections with employees as part of their skill set today and in the near future, a large 83 percent report working closely with their human resources (HR) departments. Another 14 percent report that they do not currently work closely with HR, but their company would benefit from doing so. Global CCOs report that they work with their HR peers as often as they do with marketing (86 percent) and legal (83 percent) counterparts. Additionally, 79 percent of global CCOs expect to work more closely in the future with HR departments. These findings underscore the importance of internal alignment within organizations and the rising importance of employee advocacy and engagement in the years ahead.

By very wide margins, North American CCOs (93 percent) are more likely to count HR as close partners in how they do their jobs compared to 75 percent of CCOs from EMEA. When it comes to expectations about the next few years, North American and EMEA CCOs are in greater agreement that they will be working closely with their HR brethren (81 percent vs. 77 percent, respectively).

Other Areas of Concern Facing CCOs

The research uncovered other top concerns on the minds of CCOs. They include:

• More than one out of two global CCOs (53 percent) have been impacted by shareholder activism. Of those who have been impacted by shareholder activism, 92 percent say their department was very or somewhat involved in addressing the event.
• Nearly one-half of global CCOs (47 percent) spend a great deal or a lot of their time preparing for or dealing with cyber security, followed by understanding shifts in consumer spending behaviors (45 percent) and managing financial crises (44 percent).
• 80 percent of global CCOs believe that marketing and communications departments are more collaborative than ever, and 54 percent expect the two functions to be fully integrated in the next few years.
• When asked what would be the one thing global CCOs would most like to focus on in their role if they had the time, the top answer was reputation (28 percent). (This question was asked on an open-ended basis.)

"As seen in this study, reputation management is a prime responsibility of the corporate communications position today. Nearly every CCO, 93 percent, places this responsibility at the top of their lists, regardless of region," says Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick. "Clearly, global CCOs take their jobs as reputation guardians seriously and are ever-vigilant about protecting their company reputations from harm, whether it be cyber threats, crises of any kind, or the growing importance of employee engagement."

About the Survey

The Rising CCO, now in its sixth year, examined the expectations, challenges and changing responsibilities of CCOs in the world's largest companies. The 153 survey respondents came from companies based in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The survey was conducted online from April to July, 2016.

About Spencer Stuart

At Spencer Stuart, we know how much leadership matters. We are trusted by organizations around the world to help them make the senior-level leadership decisions that have a lasting impact on their enterprises. Through our executive search, board and leadership advisory services, we help build and enhance high-performing teams for select clients ranging from major multinationals to emerging companies to nonprofit institutions.

Privately held since 1956, we focus on delivering knowledge, insight and results through the collaborative efforts of a team of experts -- now spanning 56 offices, 30 countries and more than 50 practice specialties. Boards and leaders consistently turn to Spencer Stuart to help address their evolving leadership needs in areas such as senior-level executive search, board recruitment, board effectiveness, succession planning, in-depth senior management assessment and many other facets of organizational effectiveness. For more information on Spencer Stuart, please visit www.spencerstuart.com.

About Weber Shandwick

Weber Shandwick is a leading global communications and engagement firm in 79 cities across 34 countries with a network extending to 127 cities in 81 countries. The firm's diverse team of strategists, analysts, producers, designers, developers and campaign activators has won the most prestigious awards in the world for innovative, creative approaches and impactful work, including being honored as PRWeek's Global Agency of the Year in 2015 and 2016, an Ad Age A-List Agency in 2014 and 2015, and The Holmes Report's Global Agency of the Year in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015. Weber Shandwick and its Prime unit have won a combined 31 Cannes Lions since 2009 and are credited as PR agency on an additional 25 Lions. Weber Shandwick was also named a Best Place to Work by Ad Age in 2014 and 2015 and PRWeek in 2013 and 2014. The firm deploys deep expertise across sectors and specialty areas, including consumer marketing, corporate reputation, healthcare, technology, public affairs, financial services, corporate social responsibility, financial communications and crisis management, using proprietary social, digital and analytics methodologies. Weber Shandwick is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). For more information, visit http://www.webershandwick.com.

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SOURCE Weber Shandwick