A worldwide survey of the opinions of chief executives finds that 89% believe that working on their organisation’s people management issues, (or ‘the people agenda’) is one of their top priorities - 67% say that this is where their time is best spent.
Yet, for the first time, an annual report from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows the extent to which CEOs believe these issues represent critical barriers to the execution of business strategy. Some 50% of the 1150 CEOs polled believe that lack of engagement or motivation of middle managers to drive change is an obstacle to progress. A similar number complain of lack of adequate change management skills and experience among senior managers. Lack of collaboration across functions was seen as a bigger barrier in North America, while effective communication of the benefits of change was reported as a bigger problem in Western Europe.
The news for human resource managers is not great. Only 43% of bosses believe their HR department is equipped to handle any changes required to compete for talent. A far higher proportion of bosses based in the Asia Pacific region believe their organisation needs to change the way it recruits, motivates and develops employees.
When it comes to finding the right skills, the people currently hardest to find globally are those with combined technical and business expertise, followed by those with adequate global experience, the ability to lead, creative skills and the ability to manage risk.
There are some clear regional differences. In Asia Pacific people with the courage to challenge, the ability to adjust to change quickly and the ability to be creative and innovative are the hardest to find. Central and Eastern European businesses leaders find it more difficult to recruit those with the ability to manage and anticipate risk and also those with global experience - a challenge they share with Latin American CEOs.
Michael Rendell, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, said:
“Economies at different stages of economic development have shortages of skills in different areas. We would expect to see a heavy increase in demand for management skills in the rapidly developing economies of China and India as markets there shift from manufacturing to a more service orientated model.”
Larger organisations (those worth over $10 billion) find it more difficult to address cross–cultural differences. They also find it harder to recruit those with creative skills.
To address skills gaps or talent shortages, CEOs still see investment in training and development as the primary solution. Larger US organisations are more likely to believe hiring from a more diverse talent pool will help here. Outsourcing is still seen as a major skills solution in Asia Pacific as are mergers, acquisitions and automating labour intensive processes.
North American CEOs are most likely to say their time is best spent on the people agenda (85%), but they also report struggling with internal politics more than any other region. A massive 62% cite internal politics as a barrier to change, compared to a global average of 32%.
ENDS
Contacts:
Michael Rendell, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Tel: +44 (0)20 72124945, Email: michael.g.rendell@uk.pwc.com
Andrew Smith, media relations, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Tel: +44 (0)20 78047119, Mobile: + 44 (0)7841 491180, mail: andrew.x.smith@uk.pwc.com
Note to Editor:
Survey information taken from the PricewaterhouseCoopers 11th global CEO survey. For more information go to www.pwc.com/ceosurvey
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