The Daunting CEO Agenda: What it Means for Communications

PwC recently published an article (“What’s important to CEOs in 2024”) on the five topics shaping the chief executive agenda in 2024. They call out the many factors of global and business instability: inflation, war, civil unrest, devastating storms, virtual worlds, board expertise, and artificial intelligence, all of which can pose huge challenges as CEOs manage organizations into the future. While PwC focused on opportunities for new ways to grow and ways to manage risk, I’d like to address each aspect of this agenda from the perspective of communications.

• How to foster stability in your organization
  For quite a while we’ve lived in a society where change is the most anticipated constant. Today we are experiencing change at the speed of AI, which means that real-time has just gone to warp speed. So, how can one lead an organization with so much uncertainty?

  Communicate. Communicate more often, through more channels and about things employees, customers and partners may not be aware of. For many in the C-Suite (and with legal’s advice), we have held back on sharing updates within our own organizations until we know we have done deals and absolute certainty. This has been to avoid litigation, avoid confusion, avoid motivating our most valued employees to leave, etc. But things are different now. Market negotiations are noted on social media, the employee rumor mill is much more efficient, and if you’re second to make your voice heard, you might as well be last.

  There is a need for speed, but that only works if there is a communications strategy in place and a firm grasp on how ideas will be received by target audiences. Having systems in place can expedite communications and improve results. Moves that are too fast or ill-considered can cause backlash, and negative feedback can cause executives to withdraw and go underground…which can cause more confusion or discord.

  “Because I said so” no longer flies. Our stakeholders no longer accept that the C-Suite’s rationale is the gospel. People need and want to understand the thinking behind changes. What are the driving business objectives, what are the assumptions factored in, what are the outcomes sought? At the end of the day, each individual receiving a communication wants to know “What’s In It For Me?” (WIIFM).

  Too many executives rely on their midlevel managers to handle communications. People want to hear from those they report to AND from those at the top.

• How to adapt to a climate of extremes
  We live in a divided society…with people having strong opinions and less tolerance for hearing from others with different views. At work, this means that we need to create a shared set of values and be clear about the behaviors and communications that are considered “in” and “out”.

  Your corporate culture, from the bottom up and top down, needs to live its values and hold everyone accountable for them. It starts with the recruiting and hiring process, so be sure your Talent staff and hiring managers are clear about expectations.

  With an uptick of bullying and ensuing quiet quitting in the workplace, it is important to have training, mediation, and clear employee review processes in place. Social media listening is necessary to monitor the first signs of controversy or discord reaching external ears; even just one negative comment or posting can immediately be shared, copied and amplified 100 times, 1,000 times.

  Have messages ready to respond to objections and external critics that aim to tarnish your brand, product or people.

  Essentially, keeping your ear to the ground and communicating in ways that reflect your brand and your values can help navigate a challenging environment. This includes not getting involved in conversations that don’t involve you (as a company).

• Communicating in a virtual and hybrid environment… where many get their news from social media
  The workweek has shifted. Many of your team members now work from home or at least outside the office two or more days each week. That means that communication is more dispersed, and negative sentiments and rumors can run rampant without the necessary internal correctives. What you don’t know can hurt you.

  The audience for “traditional” news outlets has shrunk, and in fact, many get their news from friends, social media posts and other sources that may not be researched or backed up with facts. And travel lightning fast.

  It is essential to establish a deliberate and well-organized platform for providing news and information you want your team to have. Establishing news sources and professional resources that the organization considers to be reliable is a good start. It is wise to push ideas, data and facts that support your work, so your stakeholders can become familiar with the sources and content that are legitimate and tied to the business. That can help people figure out when to question information — really, dis- and misinformation — that may work at cross purposes to what you’re trying to communicate.

  It is helpful to determine which channels make the most sense for communicating with your key stakeholders. You should establish ongoing communications via the same channels so that people learn when and where to expect your updates and perspective.

• Wars and unrest outside organizations impacting the psyche, attitudes and productivity of employees, purchasing plans for customers, etc.
  Life is filled with distractions. Our personal lives and world events occupy mind-space that can distract us or reduce the energy and emotional capacity we bring to work. Pretending that everyone starts their workday focused on the organization’s agenda is not realistic. Managers need to acknowledge challenges and societal events that may reduce capacity and focus.

  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have deadlines and high expectations for your employees. It means that you need to show empathy, compassion and support so that employees feel seen, heard, even understood. It means that you may need to be flexible on occasion to help someone regather their momentum and get their eye back on the ball at work.

  You may want to create ways for employees to help colleagues and communities in need, or volunteer activities to enable those interested to help a cause that addresses timely social justice or charitable concerns. In addition, establishing a process for rewarding people for excellence may help people feel valued at work, even when there is chaos externally. Recognition of specific actions and behaviors that support company values and priorities is a good way to reinforce expectations and support the role of potential internal influencers.

All in all, PwC’s recent global survey of CEOs, and the topics currently shaping the CEO agenda, provides a timely and thought-provoking window into the mindsets of leaders shaping American commerce today. What I’m suggesting here is that the CEO agenda cannot be effectively addressed without a framework for communications, a business essential that CEOs ignore at their own peril.

Written by Ivy Cohen.

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