15th Annual Global CEO Survey
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92%
UK CEOs have confidence in economic growth over the next 3 years.
15th Annual CEO Survey
UK focus
UK focus
UK CEOs are more confident than their Eurozone counterparts but economic volatility remains their leading concern. Despite varying confidence levels and continued uncertainty, UK CEOs are continuing to invest and 60% of UK CEOs have increased headcount globally in the past 12 months.
CEOs want more comprehensive reporting on their people
UK Partner, Jon Andrews, discusses the importance of better understanding the risks and returns from investing in talent.
View transcript
UK Partner, Jon Andrews, discusses the importance of better understanding the risks and returns from investing in talent.
View transcript
Confidence disrupted
Continued volatility and uncertainty have taken a toll on CEO confidence in the prospects for the business environment in 2012, with over half of UK CEOs predicting global economic decline in the next 12 months. Although confidence has been disrupted, companies aren’t on the defensive, and almost 80% of UK CEOs have confidence in their own company’s prospects, especially in the medium term.
CEOs are planning further cost-cutting initiatives in the next 12 months.Talent in mind
Despite 85% of CEOs taking steps to continue to reduce costs, 60% of UK organisations have increased headcount in the past 12 months, with 25% expanding by more than 8%. Further, over half UK CEOs surveyed expect to increase their global headcount in the next 12 months. It is encouraging that 85% of CEOs in the UK feel that they have access to the talent they need to deliver their company’s strategy over the next three years.
Talent constraints have impacted profitability globally.Growing close to home
Globally, CEOs are looking to grow business beyond their home base and are simultaneously building local capabilities in each of their important markets. Conversely, UK CEOs intend to stick with what they know, saying their best chance for growth in the next 12 months is more likely to come from increasing their share in existing markets, with less than a quarter (22%) looking to achieve growth from new products or services, and 18% from new geographic markets.
For UK CEOs the majority of their key business outside the domestic market is in Western Europe and North America. China is still perceived as an important territory for growth, but this has waned since last year with just 26% of CEO’s seeing the most important growth opportunities in China compared with 42% in 2011. Interest from UK CEOs in Brazil and India has also dropped.
For UK CEOs the majority of their key business outside the domestic market is in Western Europe and North America. China is still perceived as an important territory for growth, but this has waned since last year with just 26% of CEO’s seeing the most important growth opportunities in China compared with 42% in 2011. Interest from UK CEOs in Brazil and India has also dropped.
CEOs are changing their innovation portfolios.Interview quotes from CEOs
Tom Albanese
Chief Executive, Rio Tinto
Chief Executive, Rio Tinto
To give you one example, the training budget for our Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia is more than the entire education budget for the country. A project which is big on the world stage is particularly large from an emerging country’s perspective. These are big numbers, amounting to perhaps 30% of a country’s GDP, and this means we have to have regular engagement with that country and put more effort into it.
Marijn Dekkers
Chairman, Bayer AG
Chairman, Bayer AG
But what is interesting and what is changing is that among Western companies, the ability to hire, develop and retain talent in the developing economies has become a major point of competitive differentiation.
Tidjane Thiam
Group Chief Executive, Prudential Plc
Group Chief Executive, Prudential Plc
Culturally, we are a company focused on growth. For me cost is hygiene. It is necessary in the same way that breathing is, but breathing has never been your life strategy. It’s a necessary condition to be alive, no more. That’s how I look at cost management. You don’t cut your costs into greatness. You achieve greatness by generating more profits, being a winning company in your market. So the culture is very front-end driven.
Andy Green
CEO, Logica Plc
CEO, Logica Plc
We’ve definitely grown less fast than we would have liked to in some places, particularly in some of these new skill areas – business intelligence or future IT skills – because we haven’t been able to recruit and attract and train enough people fast enough.
Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala
Chairman and CEO, Ayala Corporation
Chairman and CEO, Ayala Corporation
We had to reinvent the technology of pre-charging our phones to accommodate much smaller denominations. We had to come up with over-the-air technology that would transfer funds as needed, bring the cost down and allow people to just have the minutes in their phone that they needed for a specific period of time.
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
President and CEO, TIAA-CREF
President and CEO, TIAA-CREF
Certainly we’ve seen generational differences, particularly around social networking and the use of technology, so there are many ways in which we are listening to clients and adapting our practices to respond to the unique needs of different groups.
