CCI Corporate Communication Practices & Trends Study 2019 ... · 3. Communication officer profile 4. Impact of changing reporting structures 5. Key corporate communication function

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION INTERNATIONAL

CCI Corporate Communication Practices & Trends Study 2019

Final Report

Dr. Michael B. GoodmanDr. Allison Hahn & Dr. Minna Logemann

Erica Yakobzon & Sabatini DanielsBaruch College/CUNY

CCI Corporate Communication International3 October 2019

www.corporatecomm.org

www.corporatecomm.org 2

Session Overview

1. Findings from the CCI Practices and Trends Study 2019

2. Company profile

3. Communication officer profile

4. Impact of changing reporting structures

5. Key corporate communication function & budget responsibilities

6. The communication officer’s perceived role of corporate communication

7. Internal communication [employee engagement]

8. External communication -- social media use, channels, policies

9. Use of agencies and other service providers

10. Open-ended questions & Interviews


1. Findings from the CCI Practices and Trends Study 2019


Findings from the CCI Practices and Trends Study 2019

• Intranet and employee engagement increase in impact and importance

• “Manager of the Company’s Reputation” continues as the primary role of the communication officer, with “Counsel to the CEO and Corp.” second

• Change and the transformation of the discipline reach a plateau

• Importance of the speed of reaction continues

• Consequences of changing reporting structures abate from 2017 levels

• Core functions that define corporate communication practice remain constant

• Budget and staff levels remain constant

• Integrity – primary competency for corporate communicators

• Other core competencies of corporate communicators focus on the ability to drive enterprise value

• Agencies continue to provide important services: Advertising, Annual Report , Crisis Communication, Public Relations, Media Relations, Social Media, Brand Strategy, Corporate Identity


2. Company profile


Company’s Main Business (Q3)

Consumer (Automobiles & components: Consumer durables

& apparel; Consumer services)14.3%

Consumer staples (Food & staples retailing; Food, beverage &

tobacco; Household & personal products)16.3%

Energy 4.1%

Financials (Banks; Diversified financials; Insurance; Real

estate)22.4%

Healthcare (Healthcare equipment & services; Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology) 12.2%

Industrials (Capital goods Commercial & professional services; Transportation) 10.2%

Information technology (Software & services; Technology hardware & 6.1%

Equipment; Semiconductors & semiconductor equipment) 2.0%

Materials 4.1%

Telecommunication services 2.0%

Utilities 2.0%


Where is your company listed? (Q4)


Total Revenue in 2018 (Q5)


Market Capitalization as of 1 January 2019 (Q6)


Number of employees (worldwide) 2019 (Q7)


Full-time corporate communication staff (Q8)


Part-time corporate communication staff (Q9)


Representatives of the following groups in your corporate communication department

(Q10)

• Women 55%

• African-American 12%

• Hispanic 10%

• American Indian or Alaska Native 0

• Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 0

• Asian 12%

• Non-U.S. nationals 50%

• People with disabilities 2%

• Openly LGBT 3%

• Veterans >1%


3. Communication officer profile


Company title (Q12)


Company title (Q12)

Chief Communication Officer (CCO) 26.8%

Executive Vice President (EVP) 2.4%

Senior Vice President 9.8%

Vice President 31.7%

Senior Director 9.8%

Senior Manager 2.4%

Director 4.9%

Manager 2.4%

Other, please specify 9.8%


Gender (Q13)


Age (Q14)


Education (Q15)


Undergraduate major (Q16)

Business administration 1.9%

Communication 14.8%

Computer Science 0%

English 7.4%

History 1.9%

Journalism 24.1%

Marketing 1.9%

Political Science 14.8%

Public Relations 7.4%

Psychology 3.7%

Statistics / Mathematics 0%

Other major in the arts or humanities ( Philosophy,

French lit., Humanities, Speech, Art Hist., Writing)

11.1%

Other major in the sciences (Biology, Agriculture,

Biochemistry, Anthropology)

9.3%


Salary (Q17)

under $100,000 0%

$100,000 to $199,999 19.5%

$200,000 to 299,999 26.8%

$300,000 to 399,999 14.6%

$400,000 to 499,999 4.9%

$500,000 or more 34.1%


4. Impact of changing reporting structures


Top communication officer’s title (Q18)


Communication officer reports to (Q19)

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) 31.0%

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) 7.1%

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) 7.1%

Chief Operating Officer (COO) 4.8%

Chief Information Officer (CIO) 0%

Corporate Counsel 14.3%

Other [Chief of staff; CAO; Vice president; EVP of HR; Chief Administrative Officer; Chief HR Officer; CHRO; Chief of staff, CEO; SVP Corporate Affairs; Chief HR Officer; EVP Strategic planning and corporate affairs; President; Chief Corporate Responsibility and Reputation Officer; Chief Human Resources Officer]

35.7%


Reporting Structure (an example from 2017)

Other [Chief of staff; CAO; Vice president; EVP of HR; Chief Administrative Officer; Chief HR Officer; CHRO;Chief of staff, CEO; SVP Corporate Affairs; Chief HR Officer; EVP Strategic planning and corporate affairs; President; Chief Corporate Responsibility and Reputation Officer; Chief Human Resources Officer]

For Example:CHICAGO, Jan. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines (NYSE: UAL) today appointed James T. Olson as senior vice president of Corporate Communications, bringing to the airline 25 years of public relations and employee engagement experience from several of the world's most admired and innovative companies, including

Starbucks, US Airways and Nissan. He will join United on Feb. 1, reporting to Michael Bonds, executive vice president of Human Resources and Labor Relations.

40.54%

http://www.prnewswire.com/


Communication officer on executive committee (Q20)


5. Key corporate communication function & budget responsibilities


• Communication Strategy 100 %*

• Media Relations 97.3 %*

• Crisis Communication 97.3 %*

• Reputation Management 94.6 %*

• Communication Policy 91.9 %*

• Public Relations 89.3 %*

• Employee (Internal) Comm 89.2 %*

• Executive Communication 89.2 %*

• Intranet Communication 81.1 %*

• Issues Management 73.2 %

• Social Media 70.3 %

• Internet Communication 67.6 %

• Corporate Identity 64.9 %

• Annual Report 59.5 %* Almost ubiquitous

• Community Relations 56.8 %

• Philanthropy (Citizenship) 54.0 %

• Sustainability (CSR Reporting 51.4 %

• Mission Statement 40.5 %

• Corporate Culture 37.8 %

• Marketing Communication 32.4 %

• Brand Strategy 29.7 %

• Government Relations 24.3 %

• Advertising 18.9 %

• Investor Relations 10.8 %

• Technical Communication 8.1 %

• Ethics 5.4 %

• Training & Development 5.4 %

• Other 10.8 %[corporate history/archives; visual communication; enterprise emergency response; business continuity; recruiting; events]


Responsibility for Corporate Communication Includes (Q21)


• Media Relations 95.1 %*

• Crisis Communication 92.7 %*

• Communication Strategy 90.2 %*

• Executive Communication 92.7 %*

• Employee (Internal) Comm 87.8 %*

• Public Relations 80.5 %*

• Reputation Management 78.0 %*

• Communication Policy 78.0 %*

• Intranet Communication 75.6 %*






• Sustainability (CSR) Reporting 53.7 %

* Almost ubiquitous

• Annual Report 48.8 %











• Ethics 2.4 %

• Other 7.3 %[events; business continuity; emergency response; employee grassroots; dealer comm]


Budget for Corporate Communication Covers (Q28)


6. The communication officer’s perceived role of corporate

communication


Function [rank] that BEST describes the role of corporate communication (Q36)

1st 2nd 3rd

Manager of the company’s reputation

41.67% 11.11% 2.78%

Counsel to the CEO and the Corporation

19.44% 8.33% 11.11%

Advocate or “engineer of public opinion,” in support of the company's policies

11.11% 13.89% 13.89%

Source of public information about the company

8.33% 5.56% 5.56%

Manager of employee relations (internal communication)

5.56% 8.33% 13.89%

Manager of the company’s image

5.56% 8.33% 8.33%

Driver of company publicity

2.78% 13.89% 16.67%


Communication staff changes (Q22)


Percentage increase in staff (Q23)


Percentage decrease in staff (Q24)


Communication budget changes (Q25)


Communication budget increase (Q27)

up to 5% 45.5 %

up to 10% 36.4 %

up to 15% 0 %

15% or more 18.2 %


Communication budget decrease (Q26)

up to 5% 45.5 %

up to 10% 45.5 %

up to 15% 0 %

15% or more 9.1 %


Dollar value for corporate communication (Q29)

under $500,000 0 %

$500,000 to $999,999 7.9 %

$1,000,000 to $4,999,999 34.2 %

$5,000,000 to $7,499,999 15.8 %

$7,500,000 to $9,999,999 7.9 %

$10,000,000 to $19,999,999 18.4 %

$20,000,000 or more 15.8 %


Budget cut (Q30)

among the first to be cut 7.3 %

neither sooner nor later than other department budgets

78.0 %

among the last to be cut 14.6 %


7. Internal communication [employee engagement]


Communicate organizational decisionsto employees (Q31)

Ad hoc letter or written memorandum 22.0 %42%

Email 95.1 %

Enterprise Social Networks other than the company’s Intranet or blog

39.0 %

Face to face, at global staff meetings or town halls 85.4 %

Face to face, at team/line manager briefings 80.5 %

Internal blogIntranet

34.1 %87.8 %

Newsletter (print) 22.0 %

Newsletter (online) 34.1 %

Webcast (live or on-demand) 43.9 %

Other (Please specify: Video message from leadership)

2.4 %


Enterprise social used for internal (employee) communication (Q32)

Adobe Experience 2.4 %

Atlassian Confluence 0 %

Chatter 4.9 %

Employee-only LinkedIn Group 2.4 %

Employee-only Facebook page 9.8 %

Evoq Social 0 %

IBM Connections 9.8 %

Microsoft SharePoint 56.1 %

MindTouch 0 %

SAP StreamWork 0 %

Socialcast 0 %

Yammer 31.7 %

Zimbra 0 %

Other (SocialChorus, Slack, Google Groups, Google +, Symphony)

9.8 %


8. External communication --

social media use, channels, policies


Official channels of external communication (Q33)

Blog 46.3 %

Facebook 87.8 %

Google+ 22.0 %

Instagram 44.0 %

LinkedIn 75.6 %

Pinterest 24.4 %

Public website 95.1 %

Reddit 0 %

Tumblr 4.9 %

TwitterYouTube

87.8 %75.6 %

Investor relations website (or designated section in public website)

82.9 %

Other (Online newsroom, Business Wire) 9.8 %

None of the above 0 %


Access to and authorized to use such channels of communication (Q34)

Chief Executive Officer 17.0 %

Corporate communication officer 95.1 %

Finance officer 9.8 %

General counsel 7.3 %

Investor relations officer 46.3 %

Marketing officerPublic Affairs officer

29.2 %26.8 %

Other employees designated as official spokespersons

46.3 %

Other (Broader Corp Communications Team; all employees)

4.9 %


Policy on the personal use of social media by employees (Q35)


9. Use of agencies and other service providers



• Annual Report 48.8 %

• Crisis Communication 47.2 %

• Public Relations 46.3 %

• Media Relations 34.1 %





• Reputation Management 26.8 %



• Communication Strategy 19.5 %

• Sustainability (CSR Reporting) 17.0 %




• Employee (Internal) Comm 12.2 %

• Executive Communication 12.2 %



• Labor Relations 12.2 %


• Intranet Communication 7.3 %


• Communication Policy 2.4 %

• Ethics 2.4 %


• Other 2.4 %

[content creation; specialized financial communication]


Use of agencies and other service providers (in a substantial way) (Q37)


Procurement policy (Q38)


Pre-approved list of agencies or other service providers (Q39)


Total spent for these services (Q40)


10. Open-ended questions & Interviews


Uncertainty -- political, financial, technological -- influenced the practice of corporate communication (Q41)

“Many more stakeholders engage in defining our enterprise and product reputations. It is challenging to track all these key influencers; and many emerge without prior warning. This has caused us to create more sensitive antennae, tuned to create rapid-turnaround information on emerging and emerged issues.”

“We have beefed up our issues management budget and re-evaluated our plans.”

“Significant increase in attention spent on data analytics and social media presence.”

“Uncertainty has increased the frequency of communication and the more divisive and uncertain political environment has required that we provide more guidance to employees and managers.”


Crises – responsibility; budget; planning (Q42)

“Corp Communications participates as part of a formal, company-wide crisis response process. That includes formal exercises and updates to crisis plans every year.”

“We have a dedicated financial and issues management manager responsible for this. they have a dedicated budget and agency support.”

“Corporate Communications is responsible for crisis communications and preparation. The budgets for preparation is part of our annual budget. Events are budgeted as required.”

“We have a robust "Special Situations Management Team" at global, regional and market levels with playbooks and best practices.”

“Comms. is part of the core crisis preparedness team.”

“Legal is the head of incident management/crisis team, comms feeds into that team/process”

“Our VP of Security plans drills and is the point person for Business Continuity.”


Time spent day to day; changes over the last 12 – 24 months (Q43)

“Focused currently on strategic alignment of work efforts in comms to areas of greatest business value...… proactively defining, measuring and managing Corp Reputation. …streamlining messages to key stakeholders (consistency, quality, channel) and building a strong employee advocacy network…

Reframing strategy for CSR … I was not in this role 6 months ago, so all of this is new.”

“40% as part of CEO strat planning/leadership team25% media relations incl crisis/opportunity assessments25% direct support for CEO external and internal engagements5% planning and execution work in Foundation and philanthropy programs5% running global Corporate Affairs team, including functional planning and execution”


10. Interviews


Top Critical Issues(Interview Q1)

1. … the choices that you have in getting a message out… big change from … even five years ago

2. … the distrust that the public has towards institutions like ours and other big corporations… the fact that you're operating … against a very skeptical audience

3. … the backdrop of populism in the political sphere and [impact on] companies like ours that are big and successful.

1. … Change management / fatigue;

2. … taking public stances on social issues;

3. …integration across marketing, comms and government affairs

1. Digital first mindset and removing friction for Employees to do their best work.

2. Speed of misinformation and ensuring we can course correct quickly as needed.

3. Equipping frontline leaders with what they need to be effective communicators and cascade messages and priorities.


Strategic Importance of Corporate Communication (Interview Q2)

… the most important thing at this firm is its reputation. And … in the … noisy social media driven world, reputation is at risk every day…

… for us, communication function sits as a strategic partner… responsible for the communication strategies associated with the business, but also for providing advice on business decision-making by bringing in the perspectives of both outside and inside stakeholders.

…

Brings to life our purpose … aligns employees and external stakeholders with our mission; same for the CEO while also educating and aligning with the Board of Directors

…

Opened everyone’s eyes to better value and respect the function…

…

Extraordinarily important; we are the tip of the spear for all reputational challenges as well as how our Employees are equipped to know what’s going on so they can be resources for our Customers…


Top Trends(Interview Q3 & Q4)

The ability to self broadcast to go around the media … use of social ... All of the messaging needs to be integrated …

… financial industries faces a difficult, particularly challenging environment … even though it's 10 years on, the financial crisis continues to have … a trust deficit … severe trust deficit and … complicated and intrusive regulatory environment.…Navigating the regulatory challenges associated with engaging internal stakeholders …Driving dialogue on social issues; … communicating corporate purpose to employees, prospective employees and customers…• Using technology/digital first mindset to reach a highly distributed workforce.• Refreshing the corporate narrative and purpose/values to keep Employees focused…… … speed of information because our industry is “sexy” to media and any operational glitch on a daily basis can become big headlines; correcting misinformation … equipping … internal audiences with talking points quickly to serve the public appetite for information…


How Corporate Communication Contributes to Overall Success of the Organization (Interview Q5)

… participates as a strategic partner with the senior-most leadership teams. … brings insights to those teams from the stakeholders and executes communication strategies … relevant to the business strategies and the business priorities.

…

Aligns employees to mission; advocates for customers and communities; leads reputation management and measurement with superior issues management, connects dots in highly matrixed environment

…

… drive clarity, help keep the main things prioritized across work groups, help employees feel engaged and informed … and help create consistency across all our messaging, internally and externally.


Success Factors of Reputation Management (Interview Q6)

… deep understanding of the company strategy and tactics and ability to create content that to which the original stakeholders are responsive.

…

Superior tracking and measurement tools that are actively tracked, managed with association insights and actions taken

…

… quality management, clear decision making, ethical standards, transparency, and owning mistakes quickly. When the various publics see an organization discussing the good and the bad with equal effort and transparency, it can enhance a corporation’s reputation AND help recover a reputation when something bad happens.


Core Competencies for Corporate Communication (Interview Q7)

... thorough understanding of … legacy media and how they operate … a thorough understanding of modern social media. And at the same time, an ability to be … a reporter within your own enterprise an … to find interesting stories and the answers to questions ……… for the individual practitioners … competency with creating content for multiple audiences in multiple formats. A deep understanding of the business of the company that they're involved in, and the ability to understand the different functions that interplay within the business.…

individual -- writing, strategic thinking, leadership; corporation as a whole -- message alignment, integration, program/project management, measurement

…

… access to the C-suite as a trusted advisor; and freedom to move quickly to address issues and maintain reputation.

For individuals … ability to link comms efforts to the corporate strategy; … excellent verbal and written communications skills that can scale to all audiences and levels within the organization; ability to take complex issues and break them down in understandable concepts …


What Keeps You Up at Night? (Interview Q8)

… 30,000 people and a lot of different clients operating in the very high profile. … the potential for things to go wrong, … if somebody makes a mistake, it tends to get pretty dramatic.

…

Calls from the CEO typically. … challenges associated with the industry's perception … in the face of a difficult overall perceptual environment … Traditional media, particularly, as an opposition point to us. …the emergence of noisy, oppositional stakeholders from unexpected places. … it could be a key opinion leader … who all of a sudden begins publishing opposition to the way one of your products works … they just show up and they have a large public oppositional voice. That's a particularly challenging …

…

The team’s work-life balance, CEO counsel, internal politics

…

… that we balance speed with quality … to get good information to the right folks; and consistency. … We can’t make many mistakes without harming our credibility so we have that pressure to be great and fast.


Influence of Uncertainty – political, financial technological (Interview Q9)

… people have to be nimble and fluid and, and able to, adapt quickly. … nimbleness is important.…

… the uncertainties of … politic[s]have made it more difficult to do reasonable scenario planning …

…

Enhanced our scenario and crisis management planning, expanded our issues management playbook, required us to create decision trees during times of calm

…

We have had to get our executive team comfortable with operating “in the gray.” … It means we have to have the right trust relationships built in advance so that when we need to move quickly, we have the permission to engage.


Challenges or Opportunities Ahead for Corporate Communication (Interview Q10)

… the media has … continued to get polarized … staying fresh and relevant … in a complex legal regulatory environment where … the lawyers and compliance people would like us to be safe, but being safe isn't always interesting … trying to figure out how to be interesting and provocative in an environment where you have to deal with intense regulation that is complicated.…

… become an increasingly valuable partner. .. by bringing the stakeholder voices into the company ... keep a steady focus on your communication strategy and business objectives in the context of a rapidly [changing] external communication landscape …

…

Too much, too many channels, busting through the communication-rich, overloaded society

…

With internal social capabilities, we have a wonderful opportunity to create greater engagement and connection with our employees …


Anything to Add? (Interview Q11)

Best function on the planet!


Preliminary findings from the CCI Practices and Trends Study 2019

• Intranet and employee engagement increase in impact and importance

• “Manager of the Company’s Reputation” continues as the primary role of the communication officer, with “Counsel to the CEO and Corp.” second

• Change and the transformation of the discipline reach a plateau

• Importance of the speed of reaction continues

• Consequences of changing reporting structures abate from 2017 levels

• Core functions that define corporate communication practice remain constant

• Budget and staff levels remain constant

• Integrity – primary competency for corporate communicators

• Other core competencies of corporate communicators focus on the ability to drive enterprise value

• Agencies continue to provide important services: Advertising, Annual Report , Crisis Communication, Public Relations, Media Relations, Social Media, Brand Strategy, Corporate Identity

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION INTERNATIONAL

THANKS!

Final Report – October 2019 at Baruch College/CUNY

www.corporatecomm.org

Documents

CCI Corporate Communication Practices & Trends Study 2019 ... · 3. Communication officer profile 4. Impact of changing reporting structures 5. Key corporate communication function