Global Business Leaders Are Putting Employee Issues First To Recover From The Pandemic

Global Business Leaders Are Putting Employee Issues First To Recover From The Pandemic According To Worldcom Confidence Index

• Employee-related Issues Fill Seven Of The Top 13 Business Issues
• The Economy, Technology, The Environment, Media And Customer Satisfaction Complete The Top 10 

NEW YORK (March 23, 2022) – The results for February 2022 for the Worldcom Confidence Index show that employee issues are top of the agenda for business leaders around the world. The Top 10 topics show that attention is focused across six different areas: employees; the economy; technology; the environment; media; customer satisfaction, with people-related issues taking the lion’s share of attention. The role of the media – both traditional and social is also front of mind.

Employee issues have the lion’s share of attention

February’s results[i] confirm the depth and breadth of the people-related challenges faced by today’s leaders. Four of the Top 10, and seven of the Top 13 topics, are employee related. These include the top two, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and retaining talent. The other five are: economic migration; hybrid and flexible working; upskilling and reskilling; attracting talent; employee experience. These seven topics point to the steps organizations need to take to protect against the ’Great Resignation’.

The age of ‘ultra-transparency’ keeps the media front of mind

Leaders seem to recognize that they now live in the age of ultra-transparency which demands that they stay focused on the role and impact of both traditional and social media. These topics appear at 6^th and 9^th place on the Worldcom Engagement Index respectively. The combination of the two is particularly important for how organizations communicate around complex issues such as DEI and sustainability (1^st and 5^th on the Index respectively).

Changes in the Top10 since 2021

Since February 2021, three business topics have moved up the Top 10, three have fallen and there have been four non-movers. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) remains the most talked about topic in the Index. The three other non-movers show leaders consider these topics to be consistent priorities: ESG, sustainability and reducing plastics remains in 5^th place; the impact and role of social media in 9^th and, customer satisfaction in 10^th.

Three topics slipped down the Top 10: the economy fell one place from 2^nd to 3^rd; the impact and role of the media fell two places to 6^th and, hybrid and flexible working dropped one place to 8^th on the Index.

There are three risers in the Top 10: retaining talent moved up one place to 2^nd; artificial intelligence (AI) rose two places to 4^th and, economic migration moved up one place to 7^th.

Relative stability of the Top 10 masks significant increases in attention for other topics

While the Top 10 topics in the Index remained the same, six business topics outside the Top 10 saw a surge in the number of business leaders engaging with them – all increasing by over 50% since February 2021[ii]. Unsurprisingly, with the various government responses to the pandemic, the topic of government and legislative change has the biggest increase in attention – up 82% from February 2021.

The other five topics reinforce the main areas of focus in the Top 10 identified above. The surge in interest in the use of technology to collaborate and innovate – up by 78%, is indicative of how leaders may be turning to technology to provide solutions to new challenges. The need to be trusted by both customers and employees sees the focus on corporate image and brand reputation rise by 57%. The next two topics relate to giving employees sustainable reasons to remain loyal – purpose-driven leadership (up by 52%) and upskilling and reskilling (up by 51%). To further demonstrate how employees have become center stage, the next two biggest increases in attention (both rising 46%) are for attracting talent and employee engagement and experience.

Todor Janev, chair of The Worldcom Public Relations Group, said: “The significant increases in engagement with various topics over the last 12 months speak volumes about where business leaders have set their priorities. These changes underscore the importance of consistent and transparent communications with key stakeholders through all appropriate communications channels.

“The results show that leaders are thinking about an inclusive and holistic approach to their people-centered challenges. It is very encouraging to see the heightened interest in adopting purpose-driven leadership that embraces long term issues such as how to contribute to the sustainability of the planet.”

Todd Lynch, managing director of Worldcom, said: “Because the Worldcom Confidence Index is a ‘living’ tracker of what CEOs and their C suite colleagues see as most important, it acts like a bellwether for where business leaders should be focusing their attention. As the WCI tracks this at both a global and local level, we encourage leaders from all around the world to engage with our local partners to see which business issues are trending in their country or region.

The insight the WCI provides is also used by our Partners to create expert services designed to meet the priority areas of focus, such as how be a purpose-driven and fully inclusive organization.”  

The Worldcom Confidence Index is the world’s largest monthly study of what the C Suite is talking about. And it is the only global study that shows the change in confidence across a range of important business topics.

View the WCI Global Results for the month of February

Watch the video summary of the WCI Global Findings.

[i]

[ii]

About the Worldcom Confidence Index

The Worldcom Confidence Index (WCI) is the first AI-driven ‘living’ global market research, tracking the topics that over 80,000 CEOs and CMOs are commenting on online. The AI-fuelled tracker is updated monthly and is drawn from an active sample of over 100,000 C-Suite executives. It tracks data for two roles, six regions, 42 countries and 11 industry sectors. It identifies the levels of engagement with business topics and how much the level of confidence for each topic has changed. It is the first global study of this type to use AI supported data capture.

About The Worldcom Public Relations Group 

The Worldcom Public Relations Group is the world’s leading partnership of independently owned public relations firms, with 143 offices employing some 2,000 staff in 115 cities across six continents. In total, Worldcom partners reported combined revenue of US$300+ million last year from 3,034 clients. Established in 1988, the group was formed so that the strongest, most capable independent firms could deliver immediate impact and sustained value through the intelligent use of communications – wherever in the world a client needs support. Partners serve national, international, and multinational clients, while retaining the flexibility and client-service focus inherent in independent agencies. Through Worldcom, clients have on-demand access to in-depth communications expertise from professionals who understand the language, culture and customs of the geographic areas in which they operate.  Learn more about Worldcom at www.worldcomgroup.com or by calling 1-800-955-9675.

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Learn more about Worldcom at www.worldcomgroup.com or call Todd Lynch at 1-800-955-9675.