"Emotionality is the decisive factor in communication".

The HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich celebrates 20 years of Bachelor Business Communications. Together with former students who for once found their way back to the HWZ, the university looks back. Among them Renato Auer, who is now Chief Communication & Marketing Officer at Pure Holding, and Natalija Ivanovic, who works as Business Project Manager for Client Communication at Credit Suisse. In conversation with them, the tasks, challenges and visions were discussed in relation to the discipline of Business Communications, which is becoming increasingly relevant for companies and in which real worlds are merging ever more closely with virtual ones to form a single world of experience.

Renato Auer, in 2003 you were in the first group of students at the HWZ to take the diploma course in Communications, which has since evolved into a Bachelor Business Communications, and successfully completed it. Why did you take the Communications diploma course at the HWZ in 2003?

Renato Auer: At the age of 25, I already wanted to go into marketing, without having a precise idea at the time of what that meant in practical terms. I wanted to learn different communication strategies and be prepared for the professional world and my career challenges at UBS. The personal relationships that can be forged in the degree program were also essential for me, both professionally and privately, and still are today. I met my closest friend at the HWZ in my study group at the time.

What motivated you at the time to start training at the HWZ for the first time?

The decision in favor of the HWZ was made quickly and was very simple: For me, only part-time continuing education was an option. I needed motivational pressure from outside and I wanted to take a visible step in my career without having to restrict my connection to professional practice. I also wanted to prove to myself that I could handle this double burden. It was a personal and professional maturation process from which I still benefit today. The central location of the HWZ near Zurich main station was also an important criterion for me. You can get there quickly by train and bike.

Why not go to university?

A university was not an issue for me. I had a 100 percent workload and always wanted to stay connected to practice during my studies. For me, theory and practice have to combine in real-life contexts during continuing education courses so that they become career-relevant. Flexibility was important to me, also in terms of working hours. My focus was always on learning, not primarily on possible top grades.

How did the diploma program at the time influence your later career plans?

The bachelor's degree was certainly relevant for my later career. Today, this further education is the basic prerequisite for a professional career when I observe the job market. A master's degree is not absolutely necessary. But the practical relevance of the HWZ is career-relevant and I still benefit from it today.

For around 15 years, you have been professionally responsible for communication issues in various companies. Do you need different communication skills today than you did in 2003?

In the area of communication and consumer behavior, a profound change has taken place since 2003. Social media and smartphones are now part of everyday life. Digital skills have become much more important, including the efficient handling of the flood of customer data we are now confronted with every day. In the past, there was print media, people printed brochures and posters and did sponsorship. Digital media has completely changed that landscape. Social media are now an indispensable communication tool. They massively simplify and accelerate communication and offer the company a direct and dialogic communication channel between the company, consumers and the public. Direct and immediate feedbacks are possible, fast, direct and effective. Each channel, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, requires its own communication strategy in a specific rhythm, which also affects the choice of images and words. You have to become more creative in a flood of messages in order to arrive and be remembered, at least in the short term.

Are there disruptive changes?

Today, communication is increasingly taking place in a sensitive cultural environment. How do I address whom, where and how? The relevance of crisis communication is increasing markedly. You have to know your own clientele extremely well in order to find the right language, the right image. A well-intentioned idea can quickly fail if it is not fully thought through. The intercultural element should be increased and trained by means of simulations. In this context, human emotionality in communication will certainly remain central, also with regard to the use of practical crisis communication, which, in my view, is not yet sufficiently weighted in further training.

Then there's digital transformation....

AI will also occupy us much more intensively in the future. ChatGPT is certainly an enrichment, a technical support. Everything takes much less time. Initial ideas can be formulated quickly, which of course must subsequently undergo qualitative elaboration. At the push of a button, nothing is yet possible with AI. The security issue is also still unresolved in the case of sensitive data. Language-based supports are a great help for me, especially in the intercultural context. ChatGPT can certainly pose a threat to good journalism if quality is replaced by monetary considerations.

Natalija Ivanovic, you are currently in your 6th semester of the Bachelor Business Communications at the HWZ and will graduate in about a year. What made you choose the part-time Bachelor's program at the HWZ?

Natalija Ivanovic: I already knew during my apprenticeship as a bank clerk that I wanted to specialize further in the field of communication. This wish became concrete after the BMS during an information event at the HWZ. It was always clear to me that further education had to be part-time. I wanted to earn money, continue my education at the same time, get a start in communications and maintain active networking. The creative side of communications excites me. For me, this further education is a career booster for professional focuses in which communication is to play an even more important role. I work 90 percent of the time and stress is something I never experience. I know exactly what to expect. Conscious career planning includes these methodical and social skills, which also include resilience.

What do you hope this bachelor's degree will do for your professional career?

The bachelor's degree is absolutely central to my career. This further education is a springboard, both professionally and in terms of my professional network. Relationships are absolutely relevant. What's important for me is that the skills I've acquired at the HWZ can be applied very directly in practice via pitches, because they show a high level of relevance to real-life requirements.

You have been working in the banking sector for several years and are currently a project manager for Client
Communications at CS. How do you assess the importance of communications in companies today?

Internal communication is something very important and is often underestimated. This also includes crisis communication, which must secure trust internally and externally. External communication is responsible for the image that a company wants to present to the outside world. It is necessary to show which values a company stands for and with which messages. Credibility is at the center here, open, transparent and honest. In addition, credible emotionality is the trend in communication, also in the banking business: personal addresses, customer wishes must be taken seriously. Needs must be met and understood. This creates security that can be built upon.

Your generation moves between real and virtual worlds, both of which are becoming a reality of life. What does that mean for communication? How and where does a company address young people in the future?

Today, virtual and real worlds belong very closely together. People communicate more briefly, directly and precisely. The attention span between individual messages is massively shortened. In terms of content and appearance, everything must be immediately appealing in order to capture curiosity. Crisp keywords are certainly crucial. There's an art to communicating in a way that resonates well. We love to hear when companies ask us how we're doing: surveys and livestreams are particularly well received in this regard. You have to be picked up by companies on social media, which is not always easy. You can feel how individuals are withdrawing more and more into digital bubbles. So it's all a question of how to attract attention.

How can companies implement this today?

Often, the best way to do this is through word-of-mouth in one's own network. Influencers are especially relevant for teenagers who play the role of a big sister or big brother. ChatGPT is again brilliant if you want to know something quickly. However, it is purely a tool for me and provides important information, but it is filtered in an unknown way. A review of the content is thus always necessary. The emotional is of course something I miss a lot with AI. It is and remains the key in real communication and cannot be replaced by anything - not even in the future.