This summary blog post appears courtesy of the European Communication Monitor. The full study can be here: http://www.communicationmonitor.eu/.
The world’s largest survey in strategic communication, the European Communication Monitor 2018, confirmed fake news and stress in the workplace are serious challenges for organizations. Unveiled at the European Communication Summit in Berlin, the survey included almost 3,100 respondents across 48 European countries.
Key Takeaways:
- Communications professionals are aware of fake news, how it influences the public, and how it can lead to mistrust. One quarter of professionals think it impacts them daily
- Government, public and political organizations are most affected by fake news in Europe — Russia, Serbia and Slovenia especially
- More than one quarter of European communication professionals experience issues with stress, and job satisfaction is slowly decreasing
Mistrust in times of fake news and a volatile environment
Communication professionals can help support organizations in times of uncertainty by managing fake news, protecting the company’s reputation and helping to regain trust. Regaining the public’s trust was rated the most important challenge the industry is facing in the future.
By the numbers:
- 4% of communication professionals feel fake news affects them daily
- 6% of government-owned, public sector and political organizations were affected at least once in 2017-2018
- 2% of professionals in Russia reported a strong impact
- 3% said social media is the source of fake news and misleading content
- 12% of affected organization have established a routine for dealing with fake news
Information insights for decision-makers
With so much information in circulation, organizations need algorithms for data processing and interpretations because it keeps decision-makers and clients in the know on important issues.
By the numbers:
- 7% said this is a core task
- 8% say this information offers great opportunities for positioning their unit
- 6% provide media monitoring regularly and 59.6% provide curated news briefing regularly
- 36% say they provide daily insights on what is going on with social networks, while 54.8% provide daily insights on print outlets
Job satisfaction and work stress in the communications profession
When compared with ECM results from 2010 and 2014, there has been a slow decline in overall job satisfaction Stress levels are increasing, driven by the demand for professionals to be available outside of work hours, too much workload, a lack of growth, being overwhelmed, and working long hours.
By the numbers:
- 9% revealed they would like to change their current employer within the next year
- 2% want to move out of the communications field
- 75% of practitioners are satisfied with their job
- 39% of professionals feel tense or stressed during their work day
- 25% of professionals don’t have the resources to manage their stress
Leadership makes a difference
A supportive work environment can make all the difference for communication professionals. This study examined organizational culture, trust in the organization, leader performance, overall job satisfaction and work engagement. Engagement is important because it can be influenced and taught by strong leaders. It is the leader’s responsibility to educate, mentor and promote leadership skills in their offices and in the communications field.
To read the full study, please visit: http://www.communicationmonitor.eu/. Comparable data for North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific will become available later this year.
Jordan McCrary is a communications assistant for the Institute for Public Relations and the president of the University of Florida chapter of PRSSA. She is a junior public relations major and leadership minor at UF. Follow her on Twitter @mccrary_jordan.
