4 CCO trends internal communicators should watch
What are CEOs looking for in chief communications officers now?
Jessica Bayer, managing partner for the corporate affairs and communications executive search practice at DHR Global, hears the same complaint from executives hiring their next communications chief all the time. Every candidate’s interview answers sound like AI. So does the employee newsletter, and so do the executive memos.
She told Ragan those complaints reflect how much CEOs’ expectations of their top communicators have changed.
“It was a lot of, ‘This is what we’re doing — how do you make it sound good?’” she said. “Now, what’s changed is the communicators who are getting these top jobs are setting that strategy. They’re being asked, ‘What do you think of this strategy?’ And then they’re influencing that strategy and telling the story.”
She added that when her clients are looking for a new chief communications officer, they still want someone who can guide their organization’s story. But they also want the CCO involved early in the company’s decision-making.
“I’m going to bring you into these conversations about what’s going to happen,” Bayer said, referring to the mindset of a CEO. “But I need to make sure you have the right judgment and can see around corners. Let me know what the risks are if we do this, and let me know some other options.”
Those shifts matter for internal communicators, too, since the CCO relies on them to know what employees are thinking. Here are the trends Bayer is seeing and what they mean for internal comms pros.
1. Measurement is moving past inbox metrics
As CCOs take on a bigger strategic role within their organizations, Bayer sees changes in how communicators are showing their value. For internal comms pros, that begins with what gets reported up to the CCO and beyond.
“It’s not about owning channels anymore or click rates,” she said. “Who cares if an employee opens a document and reads it if they don’t understand what it means?”
After an announcement, internal communicators can run a pulse survey asking what the change means for employees’ work. Then they can tell the CCO which groups understood it and which didn’t. That’s a finding the CCO can take to the CEO.
2. CEOs want CCOs who can challenge them
Bayer said her clients want CCOs with the courage and credibility to push back. She added that how communications leaders advise other executives on how a return-to-office process is handled is a great example of this in action.
“Operators will answer the question that they’re asked, and advisors will tell you you’re asking the wrong question,” she said. “An advisor will have been listening to employees, will understand the implications and will ask, ‘Why are we returning to office? How is this going to impact people?’”
When a policy like RTO lands with the internal comms team, comms pros can ask their CCO which parts are final and which can still change before they start drafting the rollout messaging. That shows where internal communicators’ input can make a difference.
3. AI is raising the bar for CCOs
Bayer said that AI has altered what companies need out of a CCO.
“Before, if your job as a comms person was to write a first draft and that was it, that’s what AI can do for you now,” she said. “Now it’s more the strategy around what that first draft means and the impact it’s going to have on the story you’re telling.”
Bayer added that for senior roles, companies want someone who can take the whole function through the change.
“It’s not just thinking, ‘This is my job, this is what my job’s always been, I’m going to use AI to make it easier,’” she said. “That’s people who are just using AI. It’s, ‘This is what the job looks like today. This is what it’s going to look like in a year because of AI, and this is how we’re going to get there.’”
That means CCOs will need to rethink how their teams work. Internal comms pros can get ahead of it by mapping which recurring tasks AI could take over in the near future and bringing that plan to their CCO.
4. CEOs want CCOs who know the business
Bayer’s clients want a CCO who understands how the company makes money. She sees that expectation reaching internal comms pros as well.
“In the past, as an internal comms person, you needed to be an expert in your field,” she said. “What you need to be now is an expert in what the CEO cares about. Read what your CEO is reading.”
All of these trends point back to what CCOs and their teams bring to the C-suite. Knowing the business and knowing employees gets communicators invited in. According to Bayer, that’s only the beginning.
“If you’re in the room, you’re in the room,” she said. “But if you’re effective in the room, you’re changing the conversation.”
Sean Devlin is the senior internal communications editor at Ragan. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.
