The third annual ‘Professional Development in Internal Communications’ study by the VMA Group, highlights the core skills and qualities that managers look for when recruiting IC professionals today.
According to the report, the top five skills are:
- Influencing
- Coaching Senior Leaders
- Strategy Setting
- Writing – Specific Corporate Messages
- Writing – Online/Publications
Interestingly, the first three points highlight the continuing evolution of internal communications from a function that churns out news, to one that has a real impact on the success of a company. While the last two points highlight that traditional communication skills still have an important place in the function.
By contrast, the top five skills as perceived by the IC community are:
- Coaching Senior Leaders
- Social Media Development
- Influencing
- Public Affairs
- External Communications
While survey respondents felt that they are an integral part of the senior leadership team, disappointingly the results showed that advocacy for internal communications amonsgst senior leaders remained unchanged from 2010.
On a more encouraging note, the results did testify to the resilience of the discipline despite the economic climate, with 74% of internal communications functions remaining the same or increased in size over the last year.
You can download a copy of the full report via the VMA website >
Melitta
