The importance of communication

Only 3 out of 10 professionals surveyed say they have a comprehensive communication strategy in place for talent, finds a global survey conducted by Universum

Personality and communication skills are considered most important in new hires. However, only three out of 10 professionals surveyed say they have a comprehensive communication strategy in place for talent, finds a global survey of more than 2,000 CEOs and HR professionals, conducted by Universum. In fact, personality and communication skills came in as the second and third most important qualifications - placing well before grades and academic pedigree.

According to the survey, the most in-demand career type is 'leader', both today and in the next five years. Interestingly, while most functions agree that they need leaders, CEOs have different expectations of what 'leaders' mean. The survey finds that 26 per cent CEOs believe leaders empower their employees, 31 per cent say they are goal-oriented, and 26 per cent say they have high levels of responsibility.

Despite employer branding being such a high priority for many organisations, only about 30 per cent of companies surveyed have a comprehensive communication strategy in place. Social media is seen as the most important channel for communicating an employer brand, and the majority of respondents expect their social media budget to increase in the next five years. That said, only about 20 per cent of companies currently have a fulltime employee responsible for employer branding on social media.