Workvivo’s Do’s And Don’ts of CEO Communication
Caitlin Kirwan
External Contributor - Internal Comms & Engagement Expert
17 Oct 2024
A CEO is responsible for setting the cultural tone of their organization and building a solid foundation of employee trust. They are often seen as the face of the company, and whether they’re aware of their influence or not, a CEO’s every move is often being watched and analyzed by their employees.
And while that all sounds a bit Big Brother, the good news is that us internal communicators have more of an impact than we may think on the way employees perceive the CEO. The IC Index 2024 revealed that the level of trust a workforce has in their senior leaders is significantly higher in organizations where employees rate internal communication as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
But we walk a fine line when it comes to CEO communication.
We need to support our CEOs in communicating the most important messaging via the best channels that engage the right target audiences, while still managing to maintain authenticity. And that authenticity goes a long way, because employees see straight through a ‘CEO update’ message that’s been written by a member of the IC team and barely glanced at by the CEO.
This blog post helps you strike the right balance by introducing the three pillars of CEO communication and setting out the ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ for each.
The 3 pillars of CEO communication
Let’s start by cutting straight to the chase – the CEO will always hold ultimate responsibility for their communications. Without this ownership, their messaging will not be authentic or genuine. But the role of their internal communications partner is also incredibly important, and includes the following responsibilities:
- Managing the structure and cadence of CEO communications
- Designing a content strategy that covers all key topics
- Coordinating with other stakeholders and senior leaders to ensure messaging alignment
- Drafting, editing or proofing company-wide CEO updates
Communication is a very specific – and actually quite difficult – discipline in the role of top leader. It's very much through my communication that I set a clear direction and engage and motivate internally
– Morten Bentzen, Managing Director of PureGym Denmark
There are three pillars of CEO communication that will help you to develop a top-notch strategy –
- Setting the cultural tone
- Communicating strategy and corporate goals
- Instilling confidence in the organization
1. Setting the cultural tone
The CEO often has the biggest impact when it comes to establishing a strong company culture and setting the tone. Whether the organization has a target-driven high-performance culture or a more informal and relaxed vibe that encourages innovation, the way the CEO acts and communicates will set the tone.
This is how company norms are created.
The CEO needs to talk the talk, but also walk the walk. So if they’re communicating a wellbeing-focused message that encourages employees to use their annual leave allowance, it’s important that they also demonstrate it by taking their own PTO, or perhaps by sharing a personal anecdote about a favorite holiday tradition or story from a recent break.
Do’s and Don’ts
- Do prioritize honesty in your CEO communications
- Don’t pretend to have an informal and relaxed working environment if your organization is actually all about sales, deadlines, and a high-performance mentality
- Do focus on consistency by aligning CEO messaging with broader internal communications and focus areas
- Don’t allow every communication from the CEO to feel like a random tangent that isn’t connected to your wider organizational messaging
2. Communicating strategy and corporate goals
The second pillar of CEO communications is effectively communicating strategy and corporate goals. This should be a fundamental objective of your CEO comms plan, as providing a clear and unified narrative about the strategic direction and goals will unite and engage employees around a common mission.
For CEOs to be trusted by their workforce, employees need to genuinely believe that the strategy they have developed is right for the success of the organization. So it’s super important for a clear, aligned, and confident message to come from the CEO regarding corporate strategy.
Do’s and Don’ts
- Do share CEO updates that talk about long and short-term corporate goals and objectives to make the messaging more digestible and relatable
- Don’t rely only on one communication channel to get the message across
- Do encourage feedback and two-way communication
- Don’t talk about the organization's strategy at the start of the year and then not mention it for 12 months
3. Instilling confidence in the organization
The final pillar is to use open, honest, and aligned communication to instill confidence in the organization. And this organizational confidence is worth its weight in gold, as it can result in increased motivation and engagement, and decreased employee turnover.
By demonstrating thought leadership, spotlighting innovations, recognizing success, and effectively navigating crises, CEOs can proactively build the confidence and therefore loyalty of their employees.
Do’s and Don’ts
- Do support a culture of recognition by amplifying success stories and employee achievements
- Don’t go silent during a crisis situation. Employees look to their CEO for leadership and guidance, even when it’s not always ‘good news’
- Do be honest about things that haven’t worked, and share key learnings to move forward
- Don’t shut out employee feedback and questions. Keep two-way channels open and encourage employee participation
Make your CEO communication a breeze with Workvivo
Workvivo is a natural home for your CEO to communicate with the wider organization. Schedule your free demo to learn more!