What do communication leaders see as the biggest issue now? Some insights from #WeLeadComms honorees

The first in a series of pieces based on a survey of participants in #WeLeadComms, an online effort to recognize leadership and initiative at all levels of the communication profession.

Is there a consensus about the biggest issue facing the communication profession??

Well, according to the 100 communication leaders who participated in last week’s survey of honorees of the #WeLeadComms initiative, the answer is a thunderous “no.”??

But inside that “no” is a sense that many of the issues facing the profession can be addressed by leaders taking initiative and taking action.?

Two open-ended questions were asked of survey participants with regard to the “macro issues” facing the communication profession:

• Looking broadly, what do you think is the biggest issue facing communication leaders today?
• Where are the biggest opportunities for communication leaders to make a difference in their organizations and communities in 2022?

In this piece, we’ll look at the first question - “the biggest issues”:

Here is how the participants perceive the top issues facing them as communication professionals:

Value & Credibility (how comms and comms leaders are perceived) 21%

Culture and Workplace Strategy (working style, values and location) 15%

Professional Development (how comms leaders prepare and train) 14%

Institutional Credibility/Trust (how organizations and leaders are seen) 7%

Measurement & Data (substantiating value of comms) 7%

Overload (proliferation of channels, volume of content) 7%

Landscape deterioration (general cynicism about broader society) 6%

Resources (budgets and tools) 6%

Sustainability, Climate and Diversity 5%

Professional leadership (the ability and willingness of the profession to stand up for itself) 4%

The #WeLeadComms population is quite diverse, so the lack of unanimity among participants, 57% of whom identify as internally focused and 36% as “public and external relations,” and who come from 31 different countries, is not in itself surprising.

The top concern - the perceived value and credibility of communication and the function, is also no big surprise, having topped out many of the survey exercises that have been done for decades.?

Where the research becomes interesting is in looking at whether comms leaders see the biggest issue as something that requires the support or permission of clients, bosses and stakeholders, or as something communication pros can take the initiative to shift independent of larger trends.?

The concept of communicator initiative was a major topic at the #WeLeadComms Open Conference events last fall. But what is most interesting is the extent to which communication leaders see the biggest issue as those they can potentially influence themselves.

Issues that communication professionals can “own” without permission

Professional development 14%

Measurement & data 7%

Overload 7%

Professional leadership (within the communication profession) 4%

Issues that communication professionals can directly influence and champion

Culture and workplace strategy 15%

Sustainability, Climate and Diversity 5%

Totalling the issues where today’s communication leaders have direct latitude to act, 52% of participants identified issues that they themselves can either solve or directly influence.

Here is some of what they are saying is on their agendas:

“Levelling up with the CEO and CFO, recognising importance of comms and engagement for and with people”

“The complete transformation of old working models - and putting the power in the hands of employees"

“Trying to figure out the new communication models for a dispersed workforce at a time when there is more user-generated content and less need for one-way, top-down driven messaging.”?

“Taking organisations through the journey of 'unlearning how business used to work' - particularly 'who holds the power?' Traditionally, employers hold the power and employees don't. That dynamic has shifted and will impact employees, customers, society and beyond.”

“The biggest issue facing communication leaders is overcoming the digital fatigue that we are all going through 2 years into the pandemic. Shorter attention spans means greater emphasis on pithy, impactful messaging which makes the job of communicating even more tough.”

“Keeping up with the communication trends in tools, methods and overall work trends”

“Change communications internally and externally that address fundamental and polarizing issues (like sustainability)”

“Ensuring and engaging stakeholders to generate the right outcome with the right information at the right time through the right channel.”

“Elevating the impact and leadership of communication professionals.”

This is not to dismiss the concerns expressed by communication leaders about being inadequately perceived by those we work for, or about the tremendous organizational and societal barriers to impact they see.?

These remain formidable challenges. At this point, they remain beyond the ability of most communication leaders to shift them directly.? But the answers from their peers about what they can do and what they can change offers some possibilities.

The next piece, looking at how communication leaders see emerging opportunities, will shed more light.? But the initial finding is that, even on many of the biggest issues, there is scope for communication leaders to take action now.??

Mike Klein is founder of #WeLeadComms and is an independent communication consultant and strategist based in Reykjavik, Iceland.