Weber Shandwick and Spencer Stuart study shows 91% of global CCOs see digital and social media as their top priority and pros with skills in these areas are in demand.

Weber Shandwick/Spencer Stuart studyTop-rated positions CCOs expect to be hiring in the next 12-18 months:

• Digital Manager/Digital Communications/Digital Marketer
• Social Media Specialist
• PR Specialist/Media Relations Manager

Reputation management, both inside and outside the corporate structure, is a growing focus. 53 percent of global CCOs say their companies have been impacted by shareholder activism.

Data analytics was cited by 74% of CCOs as useful for stakeholder insights and almost 9 in 10 expect interest in this area to grow even though 58% of global CCOs said their own intuition trumps analytics.

Key internal communications positions expected to be in demand in the next year are:

• Global Head of Employee Engagement
• Head of Enterprise Communications (Internal and Leadership)
• Employee Engagement Specialist

These global issues are top on the minds of CCOs:

• Cyber security
• Shift in consumer spending and behaviors
• Financial crises

When asked if they could only focus on one thing, 28% of CCOs picked reputation. Media relations was next at 7%.

The Rising CCO survey is based on answers from 153 respondents at companies based in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. It was conducted online from April to July, 2016.

A PowerPoint of the survey can be viewed online.