Business leaders need to take a be prepared to make a stance on social impact in the workplace, but, for many executives, this has not been a routine task in their education or previous job experience. This study looks into the importance of executives implicating social impact into their business practice, and the resources they are looking for along the way.
The 2021 Porter Novelli Executive Influence Study was fielded online via Directions Research between July 28-August 2, 2021 among a sample of 150 U.S. business executives at companies with $250M+ in revenue. All respondents have a title of executive vice president or above.
Key Findings:
- 95% of business executives say it is more important to them now than in the past to understand the needs and concerns of all their stakeholders
- 82% say it is challenging to know if, when and how to address hot-button societal issues with a further 87% insisting they need more resources or counsel to navigate the societal issues they face today
- 74% say shareholders are no longer their single most important stakeholder
- 95% say the social, cultural, and economic challenges of the last 18 months have made them more aware of how their role can impact society
- 97% believe that the Chief Communications Officer is more important to their organization than in the past
