Bosses grapple with challenge to find talent across the globe

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. In an environment of constant change the ability to mobilise people to deliver change is essential. CEOs say they are confident that their leadership teams are competent to drive change, but they do not see these efforts reflected in the results their companies achieve.

A considerable part of the blame for failing to realise the benefits of major change programs lies with middle and senior management, but organisational barriers, poor communications and internal politics are problems as well. A substantial 50% of respondents say that lack of motivation on the part of middle managers is a major obstacle, while 48% say that lack of change-management skills and experience at more senior levels are serious barriers.

Not good for HR
The news for human resource managers is not great. The ability to compete for talent is critical and the sort of skills that come with experience are particularly hard to find, but few human resources functions are perceived to be sufficiently effective in their approach. Only 43% of CEOs believe that their HR teams are equipped to handle any changes required to compete for talent. Four out of ten CEOs were unable to answer this question at all, which perhaps indicates a perception that the HR function is seen by them as a service delivery function, and not a driver of strategy.

Hardest to find
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.

Mark Carter, Partner, HR Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers Ireland 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.”

“In a competitive and uncertain environment - the right talent can mean the difference between a business that fails and one that thrives. Businesses must be able to identify the right talent with the agility needed to drive value in challenging conditions”.

New strategy needed
More than six out of ten CEOs believe they need to change their current talent strategy. CEOs are recognising that existing and new generations of employees needs and demands are evolving, and employers must work hard to earn their loyalty. CEOs are looking to various methods within their organizations to both attract and retain. Many CEOs (73%) are also increasing the remuneration they offer, but they are equally ready to use more imaginative methods, which reflect the dynamism and complexity of modern working life. These include:
creating a more flexible working environment (76%),
hiring and developing people from more diverse pools of talent (67%),
and collaborating with networks of external specialists (66%).

The overwhelming majority of CEOs believe that the answer is in training and development of the people within their organisation. However, in the organisations that were surveyed, only 39% of the executive-level jobs were awarded to the internal successors who had previously been designated to fill them when those jobs fell vacant. All CEOs recognize the importance of getting their people strategy right and the majority are looking at internal methods to do this, but very few are measuring the direct impact that people are having on their business objectives or measuring the success of these internal programs.

The greatest challenge

While CEO’s from many countries believe that taxation is one of the major regulatory challenges facing business, an even greater number (42%) feel that labour laws are the greatest challenge and an area in need of improvement.

“People represent the biggest expense in most organisations so any reduction in unnecessary labour costs or ‘red tape’ could generate significant economic benefits”, according to Carter.

While the degree of emphasis varies from country to country, many CEOs feel that businesses can benefit from taking more pro active involvement with governments, designing labour regulations and influencing the content of new regulation. Governments say that they would welcome more input from business before legislation is introduced, but that business is not taking advantage of the opportunity.

For more information on the PwC survey: www.pwc.com/ceosurvey