After one other whirlwind yr of world crises, advancing AI and continued workforce upheaval, the communications perform stays at an inflection level. How communications leaders work with the C-suite, and talk the worth of comms, stays of essential significance.
Ragan Communications partnered with analysis consultancy HarrisX to grasp how CEOs and communications leaders view one another’s roles and tasks, what they worth most, and the way they really feel concerning the rising affect of AI
The survey was performed by Ragan and HarrisX from August 11 – September 11 and surveyed 370 CEOs and high-ranking communications professionals.
Listed below are three issues that caught out.
1. As stakes rise, CEOs really feel a heightened accountability to steer communications for his or her group.
CEOs more and more see themselves as chargeable for each exterior and inner communications, with this sense of accountability practically doubling since 2021.
Unprecedented occasions have compelled CEOs to take the lead of their group’s communications. Be conscious that this could swing too far within the fallacious route and depart comms out of the decision-making course of. This was the case with many communications professionals within the Ragan group who thought they’d earned that seat on the desk had been typically neglected of the room when statements about Israel/Hamas had been drafted.
2. CEOs and different communications leaders are getting ready for a recession.
Regardless of elevated stress on manufacturers from exterior audiences and staff alike, a looming recession has organizations bracing for change.
Almost all CEOs and different communications leaders say their group is getting ready for a recession, and as they achieve this, making an attempt to attenuate the influence on workers, specializing in cost-cutting measures, notably in journey and operations. Regardless of this, layoffs have occurred for roughly 1 / 4 of those leaders’ organizations. Most leaders from medium and huge organizations are again within the workplace, although they are saying that they endorse a hybrid work coverage for workers.
Comms will help put together groups throughout the org and construct cross-functional relationships by codifying their worth. This will occur by unpacking the org-chart cross-functionally, creating effectivity by advocacy of recent instruments and commtech (assume AI, challenge administration software program) and taking an early-adopter method to speaking how these instruments assist groups do extra with much less, placing flexibility on the forefront.
3. Communications leaders are able to embrace synthetic intelligence.
CEOs and communications leaders are keenly centered on and optimistic about AI.
Three in 5 imagine AI may have a major influence on their group within the coming years, and much more see it as a software to boost how they carry out in their very own function.
Obtain the complete research outcomes right here.
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