Worldcom Confidence Index Points to a ‘Progressive’ Approach to Recovering From The Pandemic

From technological advances to global trends, here's how to steadily recover from the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the global economy, industries, and everyday life as we know it. Everyone has felt its constantly changing ways, whether you work in the public or private sector, or in companies. In this new environment, learning new ways of preserving productivity, well-being, revenue, and operations is more crucial than ever before.

Effectively recovering from this collective trauma requires effective means of communication at every level. For example, the latest Worldcom Confidence Index results revealed that confidence in tech use increased by 6%, and trust in becoming purpose-driven rose to 3.01%. On the other hand, confidence in hybrid and flexible working declined by around 3.45%, and media confidence decreased by 2.24%.

Leaders' confidence has been growing exponentially in two areas: tech and employee retention. Worldcom states that: changes in confidence since November suggest that a 'progressive' shift may be underway. For example, trust in technology to collaborate and innovate has surged by 6% since November, and confidence in artificial intelligence (AI) has increased by 1.6% during the same period, indicating that leaders are adopting technology as a business solution to meet customer expectations.

Being purpose-driven

Since November, the sharp decline of 2.7% in employee retention suggests that leaders may view technology as the future of success rather than people. However, these leaders view being purpose-driven as another progressive response to a crisis. The topic has increased in confidence by 3.01% since November. The numbers suggest that leaders might focus on keeping only employees who believe in the organization's purpose and new operating ways.

Hybrid and flexible working plus media practices

Hybrid and flexible remote working has been declining by 3.45% since November. The pandemic has forced many organizations to adopt a more flexible approach; however, leaders do not feel that this new way of working is effective. The role and impact of media have also declined by 2.24% since November.

Global trends

Global trends vary from country to country, with noticeable differences both globally and locally. For example, Brazil has complete trust in the power behind diversity, equity, and inclusion, and as of January, the numbers have increased by 4.04%. However, that same trust declined in Poland by 1.23% in December. In Portugal, trust in adopting a hybrid and flexible approach to working has risen by 2.16%, but has decreased by 2.35% in Japan.

According to Todor Janev, chair of Worldcom, "The success of a 'progressive' approach to the recovery needs a very effective communications strategy to get buy-ins from all stakeholders. Hybrid working and utilizing technology to transform the way people operate are highly emotive topics. Unless these are handled as part of an integrated change program, organizations risk their best intentions being misunderstood."

Creating effective internal and external communications is an ongoing process that requires open dialogue from all parties. Successful business leaders will focus on relationships and connections based on clear communication and trust. A company's reputation can be put at risk when these factors fail. Stakeholders also need to be able to trust companies.

As members of the Worldcom network, we have quick and unfettered access to the resources of more than 80 global partners across 49 countries and six continents, enabling us to work together in designing and implementing effective communications strategies for all key stakeholders. Contact us to discover how our communications advisors can benefit your business.

This article was originally published by Worldcom. It is reprinted with permission.