Worldcom Confidence Index 2019 Australasia Report

Summary and Comparisons
with the Global Results
The Worldcom
Confidence
Index
2019
Australasia 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 AUSTRALASIAN PERSPECTIVE.

Index
Australasia second most confident about issues
around global warming and extreme weather 25
Australasia most confident about how political
leaders communicate on social media 26
Part 1
The Australasian Confidence 8 | 2019 5
Australasian topic engagement - 2019 6
Australasia has highest confidence rating alongside
Europe and Asia 10
Influencers become top audience for leader attention,
but they are concerned about their impact 12
Employee-related topics dominate leaders’agenda 13
Leaders have confidence in dealing with a crisis 22
The media matters but confidence about the
media’s impact is a concern for Australasia 23
Leaders are concerned about global instability
and the threat of war 24
Part 3
Methodology – A new, breakthrough
AI-fuelled approach 34
Using a new method to enable
robust comparisons 35
Part 4
Worldcom’s seven communications
recommendations to increase
the probability of success 38
The need for Purpose driven communications 39
Part 2
VERDE
The anatomy of confidence and
concern in Australasia 27
CEOs more confident than CMOs 28
CMOs more confident than CEOs for their
top five topics. Family advice seems
to breed confidence 29
Unlike other regions, small and medium businesses
most confident in Australasia 30
Generation Z leaders much less confident
than their ’baby boomer’peers 31
Female leaders less confident than males 32
Latin American and Caribbean leaders have
Australasian leaders share the confidence lead
with Europe and Asia 33

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 report shows the Australasian
summary and comparisons with the global result. It draws out differences to the global
results and highlights key trends from the Australasian perspective and should be read
in companion with the 2019 Global Worldcom Confidence Index.
Stephanie Paul,
Chair of Worldcom Australasia
THE WORLDCOM CONFIDENCE INDEX 2019 | AUSTRALASIA REPORT
3

The top eight findings for Australasia are:
#1 Australasia has highest confidence rating alongside Europe and Asia
#2 Influencers become top audience for leader attention, but they are
concerned about their impact
#3
Employee-related topics dominate leaders’agenda
• Upskilling and reskilling the most discussed topic but has the lowest CI score
• Employee-related topics take four out of top five topics
• Employees have the second lowest CI score of all audiences
#4 Leaders have confidence in their ability to protect their brand in a crisis
#5 The media matters but confidence about the media’s impact
is a concern for Australasia
#6 Australasia most confident about global trade agreements and tariffs
#7 Australasia second most confident about issues around global warming
and extreme weather
#8 Australasia most confident about how political leaders communicate on
social media
How are Australasian leaders responding to an increasingly uncertain world?
This is the first time we have produced a Confidence Index report
for Australasia. We captured and analysed the online contributions of
1,838 business leaders from Australia and New Zealand. 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 AUSTRALASIAN
Confidence 8 | 2019
#1Australasia most
confident alongside
Europe and Asia
2.4xAfrican leaders 2.4
times more confident
about influencers
than Australasian
-58%Australasian leaders most
concerned about their ability
to upskill and reskill, 58% less
confident than South America

Australasian topic engagement - 2019
In the 2019 report we have identified the topics with the highest levels of engagement across 1,838 business leaders from Australia and New Zealand. We’ve
focused on the top 23. Chart 1 shows which topics were discussed most by leaders across the region. The most frequently discussed topic was upskilling and
reskilling, followed by retaining talent.
CHART 1
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18%
Government and legislative change
Use of technology to collaborate and innovate
Global trade agreements tariffs
Sexual harassment and other bad behaviour
Impact on business of the way political leaders communicate on social media
Crisis management
Global instability and the threat of war
Global warming and extreme weather events
Data privacy and protection
Good leaders influence success
Family mentorship influences success
Corporate image and brand reputation
Competition influences success
Cybercrime
Financial /economic influences on success
Attracting talent
Employee engagement to improve productivity
Customer satisfaction
Economic migration
Employment benefits influence on success
Impact and role of media
Retaining talent
Upskilling and reskilling 15.89%
12.67%
10.15%
9.30%
8.82%
6.00%
5.95%
5.15%
3.75%
3.67%
3.59%
3.21%
2.66%
2.66%
1.62%
1.62%
1.28%
0.40%
0.35%
0.35%
0.48%
0.27%
0.19%
Australasian Leaders’engagement level for topics
6

0 5 10 15 20 25
Upskilling and reskilling
Retaining talent
Economic migration
Global CI average
Global warming and extreme weather events
Competition influences success
Global instability and the threat of war
Global trade agreements tariffs
Government and legislative change
Crisis management
Corporate image and brand reputation
Attracting talent
Good leaders influence success
Impact on business of the way political leaders communicate on social media
Cybercrime
Data privacy and protection 23.75
23.51
23.09
23.09
22.63
22.47
22.46
22.37
22.08
21.93
21.75
21.54
21.37
21.32
21.24
21.14
20.98
20.64
19.92
18.48
20.73
17.79
15.47
14.91
2019 Australasian Confidence Index by topics
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.
Australasian leaders are most confident about data privacy and protection and most concerned about upskilling and reskilling.
CHART 2
7

Leaders’engagement level for audiences – Australasia 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%
24.92%
23.24%
19.13%
15.09%
12.98%
4.64%
AUSTRALASIA GLOBAL
Engagement by audience
In addition to the 23 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
Australasian leaders plan to give attention to influencers – slightly lower than the global average.
8

0 5 10 15 20 25
Global CI Average
19.88
19.21
17.91
19.71
17.75
18.34
19.19
18.30
15.27
14.04
12.14
11.98
19.92
AUSTRALASIA GLOBAL
2019 Worldcom Confidence Index by audiences – Australasia v Global
CHART 4
Confidence or Concern by Audience
Chart 4 ranks these audiences by the level of confidence or concern Australasian leaders have in handling the audience. The scores below the Global CI average
indicate levels of concern. All the audiences have a below global CI average score. Leaders are least concerned about shareholders with a CI score 3.5 per cent
below the global average. Leaders are most concerned about government and legislators. This audience has a CI score 35 per cent lower than the global value.
Australasian leaders score lower than their global peers for all audiences.
9

The CI score in Australasia is above the Global CI average score of 19.92. It shares first place with Europe and Asia. These are the only regions above the global
average. North America has seen it’s CI score fall by a massive 44 per cent. Asia’s score improved slightly by 4.7 per cent.
CHART 5
Confidence Index by Region
Australasia has highest confidence rating alongside Europe and Asia
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Latin America and Caribbean
South America
North America
Africa
Average
Asia
Europe
Australasia 20.00
20.00
20.00
19.92
19.90
19.68
19.67
19.10
34.90
25.31
19.11
21.89
CONFIDENCE 2018 CONFIDENCE 2019 CONFIDENCE 2018 CONFIDENCE 2019
10

0 5 10 15 20 25
Global CI Average
Cybercrime
22.02
20.49
20.93
21.56
19.47
23.75
23.51
23.09
23.09
22.63
19.92
AUSTRALASIA GLOBAL
Top 5 Topics of confidence Australasia v Global Average
CHART 6
All the top five topics in Australasia have a CI score above global values
All the top five topics discussed by Australasian
leadershavehigherCIscoresthantheequivalent
global score.
Australasia’s top five have scores that are also
higher than the global CI average of 19.92. The
highest CI score for a topic in Australasia is for
data privacy and protection.
11

Influencers are the top audience (Chart #3)
but Australasian leaders are concerned about
dealing with them. Australasia has the second
lowest score for influencers of all regions
(15.27). Africa, the number one ranked region
for this topic, has a CI score 2.4 times higher at
36.04. Europe is most concerned, with a score
of just 12.09.
CHART 7
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Europe
Australasia
North America
Global
Asia
South America
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
Influencers become top audience for leader attention,
but they are concerned about their impact
12

Employee-related topics dominate leaders’agenda
• Upskilling and reskilling the most discussed topic but has the lowest CI score
• Employee-related topics take four out of top five topics
• Employees has the second lowest CI score of all audiences
CHART 8
Employee-related topics dominate leader discussions Five employee related topics are discussed more in
Australasia than they are globally – upskilling and reskilling,
retaining talent, employment benefits, economic
migration 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 employment benefits – the #4 topic
• Invest in employee engagement – the #7 topic.
This is a trend confirmed by Matt Manners, CEO of
the Employee Engagement Awards: “In the last five
yearswehaveseentheareaofemployeeengagement
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.”
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18%
Cybercrime
Attracting talent
Economic migration
Retaining talent
Upskilling and reskilling 15.23%
11.06%
10.47%
9.19%
8.34%
6.17%
6.48%
5.14%
3.91%
4.14%
15.89%
12.67%
10.15%
9.30%
8.82%
6.00%
5.15%
3.75%
3.67%
5.95%
AUSTRALASIA GLOBAL AUSTRALASIA GLOBAL
13

Employees has the second lowest CI score for audiences
Leaders in Australasia are concerned about their ability to connect with employees. This is as highlighted by a low CI score of 12.14. This is 39 per cent lower than
the Global CI average score.
CHART 9
CI score for audiences – Australasia
0 5 10 15 20 25
Global CI average
19.19
18.30
15.27
14.04
12.14
11.98
19.92
14

Upskilling and reskilling is the #1 topic for
Australasian leaders (see Chart #8). Australasia is
ranked second when it comes to engagement
with this topic, marginally behind North
America. Over two and a third more Australasian
leaders engaged with this topic than their peers
in South America.
CHART 10
Engagement levels by region for upskilling and reskilling
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%
Upskilling and reskilling tops the leader agenda in Australasia
15

Australasia’s leaders are very concerned about their ability to upskill and reskill
Australasian leaders are the most concerned of all regions when it comes to their ability to upskill and reskill. The Australasian score of 14.91 is significantly lower
than the global score. The score for the #1 region for this topic – South America - is almost two and a half times higher at 36.15.
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
16

Retaining talent is a cause for concern for Australasian leaders
Australasian leaders are concerned about their
ability to retain talent. Australasia’s CI score is
below the global value and is the second lowest
score of the seven regions – just above North
America, the most concerned region.
Asia has the highest CI score for this topic - 57%
higher than Australasia at 24.36.
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
17

Australasian leaders confident about their ability to get employment benefits right
Employment benefits are #9 in the
Australasian CI table (Chart #2) with an above
average score of 22.08.This shows that leaders
are confident about using benefits correctly
in the battle for talent.
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
18

Economic migration is a concern for Australasian leaders
CHART 14
Confidence about 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
Economic migration has the fifth highest topic
engagement for Australasian leaders (Chart #1).
However,ithasthethirdlowestCIscorefortopics
in the region – at 17.79 (Chart #2) and has the
second lowest score for the topic of the seven
regions. This shows that leaders are concerned
about the impact of economic migration.
Australasia’s score 28 per cent lower than the
score of the #1 region, Africa.
19

Australasian leaders the most confident about using employee engagement to improve productivity
Australasian leaders are the most confident about using employee engagement to improve productivity. This ranked #4 in the region’s CI league table (Chart #2).
And, the region ranked #1 for the topic globally. The score of 23.09 is 42 per cent higher than the lowest ranked region – Latin America and the Caribbean. Continuing
to focus on employee engagement could give Australasian organisations a competitive edge.
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
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.
20

Australasian leaders more confident than most of their global peers about attracting talent
Attracting talent, which has the 8th highest
engagement level in Australasia (Chart #8), has
an above Global CI average score of 21.75.
Only one region is slightly more confident
about this topic –Asia. North America, Africa,
South America and Latin America and the
Caribbean are concerned about this topic.
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
21

Australasian leaders are more confident about
handling a crisis than leaders in all other regions.
The CI score for the topic is 56 per cent higher
than the lowest scoring region – Africa.
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
Leaders have confidence in dealing with a crisis
22

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
While the impact and role of the media was the
#3 topic discussed among Australasian leaders,
it’s also an area of concern, producing the fourth
lowest CI score for the region.
It is also the only non-employee related
topic below the Global CI Average of 19.92.
Australasia’s score is 21 per cent below the score
(23.52) for the #1 region, Africa.
CHART 18
Confidence about the impact and role of media by region
The media matters but confidence about the media’s impact
is a concern for Australasia
23

Australasia most confident about global trade agreements and tariffs
CHART 19
Confidence about global trade agreements tariffsAustralasia has the highest confidence score for
this topic of all regions at 21.14. This is double
the score for South America (10.58) and 10 per
cent higher than the global result.
0 5 10 15 20 25
South America
Africa
Asia
Global
North America
Europe
Australasia
10.58
13.93
18.29
19.13
19.88
20.64
21.14
24

Australasia second most confident about issues around global warming
and extreme weather
CHART 20
Confidence about global warming and extreme weather events Australasianleadersareconfidentaboutextreme
weather and global warming.The region has the
second highest confidence score for this topic
at 20.64.This is 63 per cent higher than the score
for South America (12.69).
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
25

Australasia most confident about how political leaders communicate
on social media
CHART 21
Confidence about the way political leaders communicate on social media and how it
impacts the business
Australasia has the highest confidence score
for this topic at 23.09. This is over 40 times
more than the score for South America (0.55)
and 10 per cent higher than the global result.
0 5 10 15 20 25
South America
Africa
Global
North America
Europe
Asia
Australasia 23.09
22.19
21.21
21.02
20.93
18.42
14.79
0.55
26

PART 2
The anatomy of
confidence and
concern in Australasia
Small and
medium sized
organisations
most confident – unlike the
global result
Family advice
seems to breed confidence
– the only region where this
topic is in top five CI scores
for both CEOs and CMOs
+40%Baby boomers more
confident than Gen Z

CEOs more confident than CMOs
Australasian CEOs are slightly more confident
than CMOs. The CMO score is marginally lower
than the Global CI Average of 19.92.
CHART 22
Confidence levels of CEOs and CMOs
CEOs are more confident than
CMOs in Australasia
20.00
CI Score for CEOs
19.75
CI Score for CMOs
28

CMOs more confident than CEOs for their top five topics.
Family advice seems to breed confidence
Australasia’s CEOs and CMOs share three of
the same topics and differ on two. CMOs are
more confident than CEOs for all of their top
five topics, in contrast to the global results.
Australasia has a confidence crisis when it
comes to employees. Employee related topics
only show once in the CEOs’ top five CI scores
and twice for the CMOs’top five.
CEOs have higher confidence than their global
counterparts about topics like cybercrime,
bad behaviour such as sexual harassment, and
family mentorship influencing success. CMOs
are more confident with family mentorship
influencing success than their global
counterparts. Australasia is the only region
where this topic features in both the CEO and
CMO top five topics.
CHART 23
Top 5 topics of confidence for CEOs and CMOs
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Attracting talent
Cybercrime
Data privacy and protection 23.78
23.40
23.17
22.95
22.56
27.73
25.02
24.29
24.14
24.13
CEOCMO
29

Unlike other regions, small and medium businesses most confident in Australasia
Confidence levels differ from other regions such
as South America where confidence grows
with size. Small and medium sized businesses
in Australasia are the most confident. Very small
businesses are the least confident.
CHART 24
Confidence by Size of organisation
19.55
19.60
19.65
19.70
19.75
19.80
19.85
19.90
19.95
20.00
20.05
Very LargeLargeMediumSmallVery Small
19.70
20.00 20.00
19.85
19.95
30

Generation Z leaders much less confident than their ’baby boomer’peers
The score for under 25s is significantly below
average. It is also much lower than their ‘baby
boomer’ peers who are 40% more confident.
It’s a trend that is shared in most other regions.
Under 25s have low confidence for issues such
as cybercrime, attracting talent and employee
engagement to improve productivity.
CHART 25
Confidence by age
0
5
10
15
20
25
6555-6445-5435-4425-3425
14.05
20.00
19.00 19.00
19.95 19.90
31

Female leaders less confident than males
Female leaders are slightly less confident ( two
per cent) than males. But Australian leaders
show a smaller gap in confidence between
genders than the global result which is eight
times larger at 16 per cent.
CHART 26
Confidence by Gender
Males are more confident than
Females in Australasia
20.00
CI Score for Males
19.56
CI Score for Females
32

Australasian leaders share the top spot for
Confidence alongside Europe and Asia.
CHART 27
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
Australasian leaders share the confidence lead with Europe and Asia
33

PART 3
Methodology
A new, breakthrough
AI-fuelled approach

Using 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 58,374 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.
THE WORLDCOM CONFIDENCE INDEX 2019 | GLOBAL REPORT
35

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
36

Creating a representative sample and
comparative data
A sample of 58,374 individuals who fit the ‘global business leaders’
classification was constructed from publicly available social media
information using a patented process known as 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 / 58,374).
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 251 to 500
• Large 501 - 1000
• Very large Over 1000 employees
37

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
39
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.
40

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
41

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
42

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
43

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
moreattention.Thedefinitionof ‘influencer’willdepend
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
44

45
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
46

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
47

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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