Worldcom Confidence Index 2019 Africa Report

Summary and Comparisons with
the Global Results
The Worldcom
Confidence
Index
2019 Africa Report
THIS DOCUMENT SHOULD BE READ AS A
COMPANION DOCUMENT TO THE GLOBAL STUDY
REPORT. IT DRAWS OUT DIFFERENCES TO THE
GLOBAL RESULTS AND HIGHLIGHTS KEY TRENDS
FROM THE AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE.

Index
African leaders concerned about issues around
global warming and extreme weather 23
Part 1
The African Confidence 6 | 2019 5
African topic engagement - 2019 6
African leaders have the highest Confidence Index
score for dealing with influencers – three times
the level for Europe 10
Africa’s top five CI scores are all above global values 11
Employee-related topics dominate leaders’agenda 12
African leaders have low confidence in dealing
with a crisis 21
The media matters and confidence in dealing
with them is very high 22
Part 3
Methodology – a
new, breakthrough
AI-fuelled approach 31
Using a new method to enable
robust comparisons 32
Part 4
Worldcom’s seven communications
recommendations to increase
the probability of success 35
The need for Purpose driven communications 36
Part 2
The anatomy of confidence
and concern in Europe 24
African CEOs and CMOs are closer in confidence
than the global average 25
Contrary to global results, Africa’s CMOs and CEOs
have the same top five topics of confidence 26
Significant confidence gap between very large
and very small organisations 27
African leaders experience mid-life confidence crisis 28
Male leaders more confident than female 29
African leaders have slightly below
average confidence – but higher than
North American leaders 30

Artificial Intelligence provides unrivalled view of trending
topics and leaders’confidence and concern in addressing them
In 2018 we created the first Worldcom Confidence Index – an
invaluable benchmark for the confidence levels of business leaders.
The report captured feedback from 540 business leaders in seven
of the world’s largest economies and across three regions – Asia,
Europe and America.
In this year’s report, we adopted a new and breakthrough way of
understanding the issues that concern leaders. We commissioned
Advanced Symbolics Inc. (ASI), a research company that uses artificial
intelligence (AI) to create a fully representative understanding of the
issues that concern leaders – and their confidence levels in addressing
them. By using ASI’s AI tool, and patented methodology, we have
produced a truly global perspective of 58,374 business leaders
from seven regions and 15 countries, on the issues of the moment
and where they rank in terms of leadership attention. We’ve also
calculated the confidence levels for every topic and audience and
identify how these change around the world. This global perspective
is captured in the 2019 Global Worldcom Confidence Index.
Stephen Forbes,
Chair of Worldcom Africa
THE WORLDCOM CONFIDENCE INDEX 2019 | AFRICA REPORT
3

The top 6 findings for Africa are:
#1 African leaders have the highest Confidence Index score for
dealing with influencers – three times the level for Europe
#2 Africa’s top five CI scores are all above global values
#3
Employee-related topics dominate leaders’agenda
• Upskilling and reskilling the most discussed topic but CI score
is lower than global result
• Employee-related topics take six out of top ten topics
• African leaders 50 per cent more confident about connecting with
employees than the global score
#4 African leaders have low confidence in dealing with a crisis
#5 The media matters and confidence in dealing with them
is very high
#6 Africa concerned about issues around global warming
and extreme weather
How are African leaders responding to an increasingly uncertain world?
This is the first time we have produced a Confidence Index report for
Africa (including the Middle East). We captured and analysed the online
contributions of 753 business leaders from 22 countries. This enabled us to
identify which topics are highest on the African leaders’ agenda, and how
confident or concerned are they about the topic.
Since we published our first Confidence Index, world events such as:
the US/China trade war, Brexit, Amazon forest fires, the Hong Kong crisis,
the increasing pace of global warming and the resurgence of diseases such
as Measles, have continued to create a more uncertain world. Our second
Confidence Index shows exactly how confident or concerned business leaders
are about dealing with these challenges.
We encourage you to review the results globally, regionally and locally to
inform your plans and guide your actions for 2020.
Our recommendations for communications action - in the Global Report -
are a direct consequence of what our study uncovered. They will enable you
to focus your communications effort where it will deliver the most value. We
hope you find them helpful.
4

PART1
The AFRICAN
Confidence 6 | 2019
+50%The Confidence Index (CI)
for Africa for upskilling and
reskilling is 50% higher than
the global score
+101%African leaders have twice
the confidence level for giving
influencers attention than the
global score
-21%African leaders have lowest CI
score of all regions for dealing
with a crisis – 21% lower than
the global average

African topic engagement - 2019
In the 2019 report we have identified the topics with the highest levels of engagement across 753 leaders from Africa. We’ve focused on the top 22. Chart 1
shows which topics were discussed most by leaders across the region. The most frequently discussed topic was upskilling and reskilling. This was discussed by
2% fewer leaders than the global average.
CHART 1
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14%
Government and legislative change
Global trade agreements tariffs
Global warming and extreme weather events
Sexual harassment and other bad behaviour
Global instability and the threat of war
Crisis management
Use of technology to collaborate and innovate
Data privacy and protection
Good leaders influence success
Corporate image and brand reputation
Financial /economic influences on success
Cybercrime
Family mentorship influences success
Competition influences success
Employee engagement to improve productivity
Economic migration
Attracting talent
Customer satisfaction
Impact and role of media
Employment benefits influence on success
Retaining talent
Upskilling and reskilling 13.52%
12.50%
11.76%
9.26%
6.76%
6.02%
5.74%
5.28%
5.28%
4.54%
4.26%
3.98%
3.52%
2.96%
1.76%
0.74%
0.74%
0.46%
0.46%
0.00%
0.46%
0.00%
African Leaders’engagement level for topics
6

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Government and legislative change
Crisis management
Global trade agreements tariffs
Use of technology to collaborate and innovate
Sexual harassment and other bad behaviour
Global instability and the threat of war
Employment benefits influence on success
Global warming and extreme weather events
Good leaders influence success
Corporate image and brand reputation
Financial /economic influences on success
Data privacy and protection
Attracting talent
Cybercrime
Global CI average
Retaining talent
Economic migration
Upskilling and reskilling 28.80
24.82
23.52
23.01
22.24
20.16
19.92
18.42
18.39
17.53
17.25
16.91
16.53
16.50
16.45
15.88
15.68
14.34
14.30
13.93
14.81
13.71
13.62
2019 African Confidence Index by topics
CHART 2
Confidence by topics
Each of these topics has a Confidence Index (CI) score which identifies the average level of confidence or concern in that topic across the entire sample of topics and
demographics. Chart 2 ranks these topics by the level of confidence the leaders have in the topic. The scores below the Global CI average indicate levels of concern.
African leaders only have confidence in six topics. The other 17 topics have increasing levels of concern.
7

Leaders’engagement level for audiences – Europe v Global
CHART 3
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Suppliers need the most attention
Shareholders need the most attention
Government and legislators need the most attention
Employees need the most attention
Customers need the most attention
Influencers need the most attention
26.35%
23.35%
18.72%
13.90%
13.59%
4.09%
25.06%
22.91%
17.08%
15.72%
15.32%
3.91%
AFRICA GLOBAL
Engagement by audience
In addition to the 22 topics, we have identified the six audiences demanding the most attention from leaders. For each audience we have identified the level of leader
engagement and provided a CI score. Chart 3 ranks these audiences, with influencers getting the most attention and suppliers the least. One in four African leaders
plan to give attention to influencers – slightly lower than the global average.
8

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Global CI average
17.91
19.71
17.75
19.88
18.34
19.21
19.92
36.04
33.80
30.38
22.06
20.58
17.29
AFRICA GLOBAL
2019 Worldcom Confidence Index by audiences – Africa v Global
CHART 4
Confidence or Concern by Audience
Chart 4 ranks these audiences by the level of confidence or concern African leaders have in handling the audience. The scores below the Global CI average
indicate levels of concern. Five of the audiences are above global CI average. Leaders are most confident/least concerned about influencers with a CI score
more than double the global average. This is contrary to other regions where influencers are the audience leaders are most concerned about. African leaders
only have a lower score than their global peers for one audience – suppliers.
9

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Europe
Australasia
North America
Global
Asia
South America
Latin America and Caribbean
Africa 36.04
34.02
27.63
19.94
17.91
16.99
15.27
12.09
Influencers need the most attention - CI scores by Region
CHART 6
Africa has the highest CI score for confidence
in dealing with influencers.This is almost three
times higher than Europe’s score of 12.09. The
African score is double the Global score for
the topic.
African leaders have the highest Confidence Index score for dealing
with influencers – three times the level for Europe
10

CHART 7
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Global CI average
Retaining talent
Economic migration
Upskilling and reskilling
19.55
19.67
18.83
21.56
21.36
28.80
24.82
23.52
23.01
22.24
19.92
AFRICA GLOBAL
Top 5 Topics of confidence Africa v Global Average All the top five topics discussed by African
leaders have higher CI scores than the
equivalent global score.
Africa’s top five scores are also higher than the
global CI average of 19.92. The highest CI score
for a topic in Africa is upskilling and reskilling.
This is almost 50% higher than the global
average. The impact and role of the media is the
lowest scoring topic - #23 - globally but appears
at #3 in Africa’s Confidence Index.
Africa’s top five CI scores are all above global values
11

Three employee related topics are discussed
more in Africa than they are globally – retaining
talent, employment benefits and attracting talent.
Leaders have developed a three-pronged strategy to
attract and retain the best talent:
• Invest in upskilling and reskilling current employees
– the #1 topic
• Invest in employee benefits – the #3 topic
• Invest in employee engagement – the #9 topic.
This is a trend confirmed by Matt Manners, CEO
of the Employee Engagement Awards: “In the
last five years we have seen the area of employee
engagement become more strategic, with
much greater support from business leaders.
The entries to our most recent North American
awards clearly demonstrate the business value
delivered by making employee engagement part
of the DNA of a business.”
CHART 8
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18%
Employee engagement
to improve productivity
Economic migration
Attracting talent
Employment benefits
influence on success
Retaining talent
Upskilling and reskilling 15.23%
11.06%
9.19%
10.47%
6.17%
6.02%
8.34%
3.33%
6.48%
3.34%
13.52%
12.50%
11.76%
9.26%
6.76%
5.14%
5.28%
5.28%
4.54%
5.74%
AFRICA GLOBAL AFRICA - EMPLOYEE RELATED GLOBAL - EMPLOYEE RELATED
Employee-related topics dominate leader discussions
Employee-related topics dominate leaders’agenda
• Upskilling and reskilling the most discussed topic but CI score is lower than global result
• Employee-related topics take six out of top ten topics
• African leaders 50 per cent more confident about connecting with employees than the global score
12

African leaders 50% more confident about connecting with employees than the global score
CHART 9
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Global CI Average
33.80
30.38
22.06
20.58
19.92
17.29
36.04
CI score for audiences - Africa
Leaders in Africa are more confident in their ability to connect with employees. This is as highlighted by a high CI score of 30.38. This is over 50 per cent higher
than the Global CI average score.
13

CHART 10
Engagement levels by region for upskilling and reskilling Upskilling and reskilling is the #1 topic for African
leaders (see Chart #8). Africa is ranked fifth when
it comes to engagement with this topic, only
higher than Latin America and Caribbean and
South America.
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18%
South America
Africa
Asia
Global
Europe
Australasia
North America 16.00%
15.89%
15.81%
15.23%
14.27%
13.52%
12.26%
6.88%
Although upskilling and reskilling is the #1 topic in Africa, it has less engagement than four other regions
14

African leaders confident about their ability to upskill and reskill
CHART 11
Confidence about upskilling and reskilling by region
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Australasia
Europe
North America
Global
Asia
Latin America and Carribean
Africa
South America 36.15
28.80
26.18
23.66
19.55
16.17
15.95
14.91
African leaders are confident about their ability
to upskill and reskill. The African score of 28.8
is significantly higher than the global score. It
is the second highest of all regions and almost
50per cent higher than the global value.
LinkedIn’s report on workplace learning shows
that upskilling and reskilling will be centre
stage in the battle for talent. CEOs in Africa
obviously agree.
15

African leaders are confident about their
ability to retain talent. Africa’s CI score is above
the global value and is the third highest score
of the seven regions. Africa’s score is 45 per
cent higher than the North American result.
CHART 12
Confidence about retaining talent by region
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
North America
Australasia
Europe
Global
Africa
South America
Asia 24.36
23.49
22.24
21.36
20.94
16.80
15.47
15.31
Retaining talent is a topic of confidence for African leaders
16

African leaders least confident about their ability to get employment benefits right of all regions
Employment benefits are #15 in the African CI table (Chart #2). This shows that leaders are concerned about using benefits correctly in the battle for talent. The
CI score is 21 per cent lower than the global value for this topic and is the lowest of all regions.
CHART 13
Confidence about employment benefits influence on success by region
0 5 10 15 20 25
Africa
South America
Asia
North America
Global
Australasia
Europe 22.51
22.08
21.00
20.87
19.78
18.33
17.82
16.45
17

Economic migration is a topic of confidence for African leaders
Economic migration has the seventh highest
topic engagement for African leaders (Chart #1)
and the second highest CI score for topics in the
region – at 24.92 (Chart #2).
This is 26% higher than the global score for the
topic – making Africa the most confident region
when it comes to economic migration.
CHART 14
Confidence in economic migration by region
0 5 10 15 20 25
Australasia
North America
Europe
Global
South America
Asia
Africa 24.82
20.91
20.80
19.67
18.92
18.16
17.79
17.43
18

African leaders confident about using employee engagement to improve productivity
CHART 15
Confidence in employee engagement to improve productivity by region
0 5 10 15 20 25
South America
North America
Asia
Global
Europe
Africa
Australasia 23.09
23.01
21.79
21.56
21.52
20.52
17.86
16.22
African leaders are confident about using employee engagement to improve productivity. This ranked #4 in the region’s CI league table (Chart #2). The score is 42 per
cent higher than the lowest ranked region – Latin America and Caribbean and significantly higher than North America. Focusing on employee engagement could
give African organisations a competitive edge.
The benefits of doing so are now clear
according to Ruth Dance, managing director
of the Employee Engagement Alliance the
membership organisation for engagement
professionals around the world. She believes
there is a fundamental shift taking place.
Organisations are proving that
focusing on the employee experience for
each individual is having an incredibly
beneficial impact. Always on, continuous
listening, consistent feedback and
purpose-driven teams, are rapidly replacing
traditional ways of working.
19

African leaders more concerned than many of their global peers about attracting talent
CHART 16
Confidence about attracting talent by region
0 5 10 15 20 25
South America
Africa
North America
Global
Europe
Australasia
Asia 22.07
21.75
21.56
21.31
20.25
18.39
18.24
14.31
Attracting talent, which has the sixth highest
engagement level in Africa, has a below global
CI average score of 18.39. Only two regions
are more concerned about this topic – South
America and Latin America and Caribbean.
20

African leaders have confidence issues when it
comes to crisis management. This topic has the
second lowest CI score in Africa (see chart #2).
At 13.71 it is significantly below the Global
average score and 36% lower than the top
scoring region – Australasia.
CHART 17
Confidence in dealing with a crisis by region
0 5 10 15 20 25
Africa
Asia
Global
North America
Europe
Australasia 21.37
20.90
19.62
19.09
17.71
13.71
African leaders have low confidence in dealing with a crisis
21

0 5 10 15 20 25
South America
Europe
Australasia
Global
Asia
North America
Africa 23.52
20.00
19.21
18.83
18.48
18.23
16.36
15.30
The impact and role of the media was the #4
topic discussed among African leaders. It’s also
an area of confidence, producing the highest CI
score of all regions of 23.52. This is 25 per cent
above the global score for this topic. Africa’s
score is 54 per cent above the score (15.30) for
the lowest scoring region, South America.
CHART 18
Confidence about the impact and role of media by region
The media matters and confidence in dealing with them is very high
22

African leaders concerned about issues around global warming
and extreme weather
CHART 19
Confidence about global warming and extreme weather events by region Africa is concerned about this topic with a score
of 16.50.This is 24 per cent lower than the top
scoring region – Europe - and almost 20 per
cent lower than the global score for the topic.
Leaders in Latin America and South America are
even more concerned.
0 5 10 15 20 25
South America
Africa
Asia
Global
North America
Australasia
Europe 21.49
20.64
20.56
20.20
20.14
16.50
13.82
12.69
23

PART 2
The anatomy of
confidence and
concern in Africa
-51%Leaders aged 45-54 have
half the confidence levels
of other age groups
CEOs
and CMOs
share the same top five
topics of confidence
+50%The confidence gap
between very large and
very small organisations
and Gen Z

African CEOs and CMOs are closer in confidence than the global average
Africa CEOs are more confident than CMOs.
However, the difference is about one third the
global gap – four per cent compared to 11 per
cent globally.
CHART 20
Confidence levels of CEOs and CMOs
CMOs more confident than CEOs
in Africa
19.90
CI Score for CEOs
19.13
CI Score for CMOs
25

CMOs and CEOs have the same top five topics of confidence
Africa is the only region to have the same top
five topics for CEOs and CMOs, although they
appear in a different order. CEOs have higher
Confidence Index scores than CMOs for all
their top five topics. However, CMOs are more
confident when it comes to retaining talent.
African leaders are confident when it comes to
employee related topics. Four of their top five
topics relate to employees. The highest score is
for upskilling and reskilling.
CHART 21
Top 5 topics of confidence for CEOs and CMOs
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Economic migration
Retaining talent
Upskilling and reskilling
Retaining talent
Economic migration
Upskilling and reskilling 29.29
24.29
23.71
23.29
22.23
27.59
23.34
22.95
22.33
20.98
CEOCMO
26

Significant confidence gap between very large and very small organisations
Leaders of very large organisations in Africa are
50% more confident than those who lead very
small organisations.
CHART 22
Confidence by Size
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Very LargeLargeMediumSmallVery Small
13.20
18.57
19.43
18.89
19.85
27

African leaders experience mid-life confidence crisis
African leaders seem to suffer a mid-life
confidence crisis. There is a 51% drop in
confidence from the 35-44 age group to those
aged 45 to 54. The other age groups have CI
scores at least double those of the leaders
aged 45 to 54.
CHART 23
Confidence by Age
0
5
10
15
20
25
6555-6445-5435-4425-34
19.49
18.47
9.00
18.86
19.62
28

Male leaders more confident than female
African male leaders are five per cent more
confident than their female peers but have a six
per cent lower CI score than the global average
for male leaders (21.25).
CHART 24
Confidence by Gender
Males are 5% more confident than
Females in Africa
19.90
CI Score for Males
18.98
CI Score for Females
29

The CI score for African leaders is slightly below
average at 19.90. However, it is higher than
leaders in North America, South America and
Latin America and Caribbean.
CHART 25
Confidence by Region
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Australasia
Asia
Europe
Average
Africa
North America
South America
25.31
21.89
19.11
34.90
19.10
19.67
19.68
19.90
19.92
20.00
20.00
20.00
CONFIDENCE 2018 CONFIDENCE 2019 CONFIDENCE 2018 CONFIDENCE 2019
African leaders have slightly below average confidence – but higher
than North American leaders
30

PART 3
Methodology
A new, breakthrough
AI-fuelled approach

Using the a new method to enable robust comparisons
In 2018, with the help of two respected independent research firms,
we captured feedback from 540 business leaders in seven of the
world’s largest economies and across the three main regions – Asia,
Europe and America. Their responses created the first Worldcom
Confidence Index.
The insight we gathered was invaluable in creating a benchmark for
the confidence levels of business leaders. However, it was based on
responses to questions we asked rather than on the topics that CEOs
and CMOs were talking about in online channels.
So,wedecidedtoadoptanewandbreakthroughwayofunderstanding
the issues than concerned leaders – and their confidence levels in
addressing them. As a result, we commissioned Advanced Symbolics
Inc. (ASI), a research company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to
create truly representative understanding of what audiences are saying.
By using ASI’s AI tool, Polly, we were able to capture and analyse the
online contributions, in nine languages, of 65,445 business leaders.
This enables us to identify which topics were highest on the leadership
agenda, and how confident or concerned leaders were about the topic.
32
THE WORLDCOM CONFIDENCE INDEX 2019 | GLOBAL REPORT

Using the total sample size confidence, the expected number of
confident responders was extrapolated. For example, if the sample for
CEOs of very large (1000+) companies in Canada is 253 people, then
the expected confident responders is 53 people (253* 21per cent).
The actual number of confident respondents is compared against the
expected number and the difference is calculated.To further illustrate
the concept, if 41 CEOs of very large (1000+) companies in Canada
were confidently engaged on retaining talent, the difference is 12 less
people than expected (53 – 41).
The ratio of the difference is calculated and added to the average
confidence. Continuing the above example, 12 less Canadian CEOs
is a decrease of 5 per cent (12/253). Five per cent is subtracted from
the average confidence of 21 per cent giving a confidence for CEOs
of large Canadian companies as 16per cent. This is the differential
confidence method.
In most cases, the differential confidence is the same as the raw
confidence, which is the ratio of confident responders divided by
the number of people in the sample. In the above example, the raw
confidence is also 16per cent: 41 Confident responders / 253 CEOs in
the sample.
The differential confidence differs from the raw confidence when
the sample for a segment (i.e. Job title) is small or the confident
engagement is small. In these cases, the small denominator may
exaggerate the change in confidence. The differential confidence
minimizes the impact from small denominators, allowing accurate
comparison between segments no matter the size.
Using the differential confidence method to enable robust comparisons
33

Creating a representative sample and
comparative data
A sample of 65,445 individuals who fit the ‘global business leaders’
classification was constructed from publicly available social media
information using a patented process known ast Conditional
Independence Coupling. Polly (ASI’s AI) analysed the social history
ofthesamplefortheprevious12monthsanddeterminedifaperson
was engaged on a particular topic. If a person was engaged on the
topic, the AI measured if the engagement indicated confidence in
the topic (I am not worried about this area) or concern toward the
topic (I am worried about this area).
For each topic, the percentage of people in the sample who
engaged confidently on the topic was measured. For example, if
5,137 people were confidently engaged on“retaining talent”, this is
an 8 per cent confidence (5,137 / 65,445).
When changing methodologies, comparing against past numbers can be tricky. In many
cases the best approach is treating the new data independently from the old. Because
online data is persistent, the calculations run for 2019 can be repeated on 2018 data. The
2018 calculations are compared against the previous methodology. Model heuristics are
adjusted for the best match against the previous study. While not all numbers exactly
match, most agree within statistical significance.
• Demographic splits
The following demographic details were collected as part of
the methodology.
• Role
Only contributions from CEOs or CMOs/CCOs were captured.
• Gender
• Age
Participants were
grouped in six
age ranges:
• Under 25
• 25-34
• 35-44
• 45-54
• 55 - 64
• Over 65
• Business size
Four sizes groups were created:
• Very small 50 to 100 employees
• Small 101 to 250 employees
• Medium 250 to 500
• Large 501 - 1000
• Very large Over 1000 employees
34

PART 4
Worldcom’s seven
communications
recommendations
to increase the
probability
of success

Based on our findings, we offer the following communications
recommendations to address the issues identified and the
lower levels of confidence.
The study shows that leaders now see Influencers as an
audience they must give attention to, but that employee-
related topics dominate leadership thinking. It shows that
macro scale issues such as how an organisation manages
the impact of global trade agreements and tariffs need to be
taken into account. It also shows that leaders are concerned
about their ability to protect their brand in a crisis.
We believe that rigorously planned communications that
always connect to your Purpose will increase your ability to
succeed. As a result, you will see that Purpose runs through all
our recommendations.
The need for Purpose driven communications
36
THE WORLDCOM CONFIDENCE INDEX 2019 | GLOBAL REPORT

I’m not surprised employment benefits
features so highly on the leadership agenda.
If you want to win the war for talent and make
people more productive, you need to get
the total rewards mix right. This increasingly
includes some potentially surprising areas such
as providing employees advice for financial
wellbeing. Our own research shows that you can
undermine all your good work if you pay people
late or make mistakes with their payroll. This has
anincrediblydamagingimpactbothonemployee
productivity and your employer brand.
John Petter
CEO Zellis
Make your organisation’s Purpose a
magnet for the best talent
As we predicted last year, many organizations have
increased their investment and activity to compete
for the best talent. They are now investing in an array
of areas to improve the employee experience to keep
people loyal. Central to success in this area will be
how committed you are to enabling your people to
develop, and to link this personal development to the
achievement of the organisation’s Purpose.
37

Differentiate your employer brand by promoting how
you engage employees to deliver the organisation’s
Purpose. Show how your employee benefits reinforce
your values and behaviours.
In our 2018 report we recommended all organizations involve
employees in defining the values and behaviours. This year we
recommend companies build on that by promoting how they
involve their people in delivering the Purpose for the company.
Setting up a careers channel on YouTube, which highlights the role
and contribution of employees, is a very simple way to do this.
The 2019 Confidence Index shows that getting employment benefits
right is vital to attracting and retaining the best talent. But employee
benefits have evolved well beyond including things like free coffee,
or quirky benefits like duvet days. Consequently, we recommend
companies take a holistic approach to benefits that ties them to the
Purpose and core values.
For example, if your core values say that you want to create a strong
sense of community in the workplace, then the way you provide
coffee needs to help build that sense of community. The Leesman
Index identifies how the workplace drives employee sentiment. Their
report shows that coffee is more important than you may think.
If your values say you want to create a happy and healthy workplace,
then we recommend your review all your internal processes – with
the involvement of your people – to make sure that you don’t do
things that undermine that goal. For example, research by Zellis
shows that making mistakes with payroll or paying it late – can have
a very negative impact on mental wellbeing, financial wellbeing,
employee retention and your employer brand.
1
38

Link personal development to
your Purpose so that employees
recognise how their development
adds value to the organisation.
Use this to drive your upskilling
and reskilling decisions.
We recommend that organisations make it very
explicit how personal development contributes
to the achievement of the Purpose. Too often we
have seen a disconnected approach to learning and
development that confuses employees about how
their daily performance adds value. By making these
connections stronger, you will not only reinforce the
reasons why people joined the company but also
create tighter emotional bonds that aid the retention
and attraction of talent.
Support your Employee
Engagement program by
training all managers to operate
by the tenets of the SCARF
neuroscience framework.
The 2019 Confidence Index demonstrates that many
leaders now see employee engagement as part of
the DNA of a business. For engagement programs to
be effective, however, every line manager needs to
understand how to energise and involve each individual
in their team. We recommend training all managers to
operate according to a neuroscience framework called
SCARF. This provides each employee with the five
innate needs their brain has for them to feel a valued
and connected part of the organisation. The impact on
productivity,innovation,businesschange,andemployee
happiness can be transformational.
2 3
39

Behave like a confident organisation by making it clear to all audiences
that the organisation has a very clear Purpose and a plan to achieve it.
This includes explaining how the organisation will respond to the macro
level challenges it may face.
Macro level issues such as global trade tariffs, extreme weather events, the threat of war etc., have increasing
influence on success. Employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers and influencers want to understand
how an organisation will respond to those challenges.
If you make the approach you plan to take very clear, it will satisfy one of the key tenets of SCARF – providing
certainty. By explaining what will happen next, you will build confidence and eliminate the anxiety caused
by the unknown. We recommend that the way you describe your Purpose explains how you will operate
effectively in a changing and increasingly challenging world. This level of foresight and forward planning
will demonstrate a high level of confident leadership.
Make sure you actively influence the achievement of your Purpose
The 2019 Index identifies the increasing importance of influencers and the need to make sure that the reputation of your business and brand is not only
protected but grows in power and influence.
4
40

Carry out regular risk/threat
assessments and crisis response tests
to protect your brand and reputation.
The same recommendation was in last year’s report.The
2019 Index shows that challenges never go away and
nor do the expectations that leaders will rise to them
to enable the organisation to succeed. However, this
year’s Index shows that leaders are much less confident
about their ability to protect a brand in a crisis. It is
therefore essential that frequent risks assessments are
carried out.
The conclusions of these risk assessments should
then inform updates to crisis and issues policies and
procedures. By demonstrating that an organisation is
prepared for the worst, it will further demonstrate the
leadership’s confidence in the ability to achieve the
organisation’s goals.
Identify who will have the most
influence over the success of your
organisation and build programmes
to develop effective relationships
with them.
Business leaders have identified that influencers need
more attention.The definition of‘influencer’will depend
on what your organisation is trying to achieve. It could
include traditional influencers such as journalists and
bloggers, as well as other business leaders, activists,
academics, researchers and analysts.
We recommend that you review your Purpose and
the barriers to achieving it. Armed with the clarity
this provides, we recommend you identify and
communicate with the influencers that can help you to
lessen or remove barriers to action, and those that can
help to accelerate your success.
5 6
41

42
Help your customers to buy-in to your Purpose
and show how it will satisfy their needs.
Our study shows that confidence in the ability to satisfy customers has fallen since 2018. One of the
possible explanations may be that customers are very uncertain about how macro scale changes
may impact an organisation’s ability to meet their needs. For example, the British Government
published its Yellowhammer Factsheet to explain how the Government is preparing to mitigate
the potential reasonable worst case scenario impacts of Brexit, if the UK leaves the EU without a
deal. As a result, millions of UK consumers may now have doubts about the ability of their chosen
supermarket to meet their daily shopping requirements. In this case, it would make sense for UK
supermarkets to make it clear what steps they are taking to protect supplies. This will not only
inspire confidence that the supermarket is prepared to meet the challenge, but also show that it
cares about meeting consumer needs.
We recommend that every organisation creates communications programmes designed to build
confidence in the ability to meet customer needs. These programmes should use well-publicised
challenges to accentuate the value that is delivered to customers. The old adage,‘out of adversity
comes opportunity’, is a neat summary of how organisations can use responses to challenges as a
smart way to accentuate their difference and give customers more reasons to stay loyal.
7

Useful links
If you would like more information on the topics raised in this Report, you may find the links below helpful.
https://advancedsymbolics.com
https://www.ee-awards.com/blog/
https://www.ee-awards.com/engagement-101/
https://ee-awards.com/content/ebooks/ebook-the-future-of-work-insights-from-global-
engagement-101-influencers/
https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report-2018
https://the-eea.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_Too_movement
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-13/nobody-benefits-from-a-u-s-china-
trade-war-with-no-end-in-sight
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-09/the-massive-cost-of-not-adapting-
to-climate-change
https://www.wired.com/story/ios-hacks-apple-response/
https://www.advancedsymbolics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CIC-Whitepaper.pdf
https://www.zellis.com/blog/research-one-in-five-employees-has-quit-job-over-poor-
payroll-experience/
https://www.leesmanindex.com/research/
http://worldcomgroup.com/scarf-framework
https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/2019/09/12/yellowhammer-factsheet/
https://worldcomgroup.com/resources/confidence-index
https://worldcomgroup.com/resources/confidence-index-regional-country
43

Group’s Board
Chair - Roger Hurni
Past Chair - Patrik Schober
Americas Region Chair - Brad Fishman
EMEA Region Chair - Andras Nagy
Treasurer - Errol Chapman
Marketing - Stefan Pollack
Business Development - Crispin Manners
Membership/Recruitment - Stephanie Paul
Partner Engagement - Serge Beckers
Knowledge Sharing/Practice Groups - Angélica Consiglio
Asia Pacific At Large - Tom Van Blarcom
Americas’ Board
Chair - Brad Fishman
Chair Elect - Monty Hagler
Past Chair - Sean Rossall
Treasurer - Leah Mussay
US Recruitment - Scott Willyerd
LATAM Recruitment - Luis Avellanedo Ulloa
Partner Engagement - William Beutler
Meetings - Deb Vilchis
Professional Development - Jessica Phelan
Partnerships - Cory Stewart
At Large - Rhiannon Ruff
Emea’s Board
Chair - Todor Ianev
Past Chair - Andras R. Nagy
Treasurer - Hans Karperien
Business Development - Crispin Manners
Peer Review - Caroline Prince
New Membership - Corinna Voss
New Membership - Bjorn Mogensen
Retention - Serge Beckers
Young Consultants - Andras R. Nagy
Marketing - Frederic Bolhorst
Worldcom’s Board of Directors
44

Contact us
If you would to inspire direct action from your
stakeholders in a way that delivers immediate
results and lasting outcomes – or discuss the
contentofthisdocument,oritsrecommendations
- please contact:
Todd Lynch
toddlynch@worldcomgroup.com
Crispin Manners
crispinmanners@worldcomgroup.com
If you would like to receive helpful insights and other white papers and reports,
just sign up by using this LINK
For regular updates and insights, why not follow us on
©2019TheWORLDCOMGroup,Inc.

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