Internal CEO communication becomes more important
In a survey of the 120 companies with the most employees in Switzerland, over 80 percent of the responding communications specialists state that internal CEO communications will become more important in the future. In particular, communicating corporate strategy and values will become even more relevant.
In 2019, the Perikom fact check will be accompanied for the first time by a scientific evaluation by the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich (Zurich School of Business) and will provide an accurate picture of the internal communications situation of large Swiss companies.
The communications and HR managers who took part in the study affirmed the increasing importance of internal CEO communications over the past five years (52 percent "tend to agree", 30 percent "completely agree"). When asked whether its importance will continue to increase in the future, the percentages of agreement are similarly high (56 percent "tend to agree", 31 percent "completely agree"). Only a minority disagrees with this assessment (4.5 percent "strongly disagree," 7.5 percent "strongly disagree").
What content will be more important in internal CEO communications in the future? Here, mainly strategy and goals as well as values and attitudes are mentioned. Content relating to facts and figures is considered less relevant.
As many as 63 percent of respondents agreed with the thesis that transparency as a sign of trust will become even more important in the future. It helps to promote trust in management. In contrast, only 13 percent of the company representatives surveyed agreed that their CEO also talks to employees about failures. Furthermore, 25 percent affirmed - without reservation - that a strategy for internal CEO communication existed in their companies. Further analysis of the study will also show which channels and instruments are mainly used for CEO communication.
Method Note
The survey on internal CEO communication aims to gain insights into how the communication of the managing directors vis-à-vis the employees in connection with digitization in the 120 companies with the largest number of employees in Switzerland presents itself today and how it is perceived to develop in the future. Against the backdrop of this insight interest, the items of the survey were derived theory-based as well as on the basis of a group interview with five relevant communication experts from Switzerland (oriented on the Delphi method). A qualitative content analysis was conducted on the expert group interview. The questionnaire was subjected to a pretest. Communications and HR managers from the 120 companies with the largest number of employees in Switzerland were asked to take part in the survey. The completion rate of the questionnaire was 55.8 percent; of the 120 experts requested, 67 completed the questionnaire in full. The descriptive statistical analyses are based on the completed questionnaires.
To the pericom fact check
The basis of the study is the list of the largest companies measured by the number of employees in Switzerland. Since this list is no longer published by the Handelszeitung, this list is exclusively available again with the Perikom fact check. Employers in public administration are not included. Last year's fact checks asked about the prevalence of the mobile intranet (2018) as well as the lead channels of internal communication and the existence of printed employee magazines (2017) and are available at Perikom.ch The full study on internal CEO communication is currently being prepared. The results will be presented for the first time at the annual Perikom conference on May 23 at the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft.
About Perikom
Founded in 2011 at the HWZ Hochschule Wirtschaft Zürich, the professional association aims to improve collaboration between HR and communications departments. For effective internal communication in particular, it is imperative that human resources and organizational communicators work closely together. Perikom focuses its activities on holding a series of events for experts in internal communications and HR professionals, as well as organizing the annual Swiss HR/Internal Communications Conference.
Perikom Fact Check 2019 on Internal Communication in Switzerland
