Slovak CEO Survey 2020

In addition to optimism and good management, we will also need the ability to see new opportunities and higher-quality education

Věra Výtvarová, Country Managing Partner, PwC Slovensko

I am very pleased that business leaders in Slovakia view the development of their companies over the next 12 months so positively, as shown by the Slovak CEO Survey conducted in September. Seven months have already passed since the start of the epidemic in March, which was enough time for us to verify how our employees and customers are able to work with technologies and to what extent we are all adaptable to new conditions. CEOs have plans in place within their companies and are confident that they can ensure a safe working environment, retain talent, manage employee well-being and morale, and align the needs of all stakeholders. Almost two thirds of them do not even plan to cancel or reassess planned investments.

We have become accustomed to the new normal, but do we know how to develop and build relationships with clients and employees digitally in the long term? Do we know how this period will change our relationships and employee loyalty? Do we know how to find completely new sources of revenue? Business leaders trust their companies and strongly believe that they will be able to manage the challenges in the near future, but they doubt the emergence of new opportunities for generating revenue. We will all need to be able to do much more than just cope with the new normal, because entirely new needs are emerging among our customers, employees, and society as a whole.

When asked where Slovakia should invest billions from the EU, business leaders clearly agreed that most of it should go toward measures supporting an intelligent society, such as increasing teachers’ salaries, reviewing spending on groups at risk of poverty and social exclusion, supporting compulsory pre-primary education, aligning education with the labor market at secondary vocational schools, supporting professionally oriented bachelor’s programs, and implementing a system for verifying skills acquired outside the formal education system. Their response fully corresponds with survey results from previous years, when business leaders in Slovakia identified the quality of education as one of the greatest threats to doing business in the country.

People and their ability to move forward, to educate themselves more, to better perceive our customers, colleagues, and suppliers, and to invest more in education, science, and research, as well as in the implementation of technologies—these are the only things that will successfully move us from the new normal into the future. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is certainly that knowledge, expertise, respect for facts, and respect for the quality of education are the only things that will help move our companies and society as a whole successfully forward.

Věra Výtvarová
Country Managing Partner

Country Managing Partner

What will people appreciate? New management

The pandemic has disrupted traditional bonds between companies and their employees. Some people were left to work from home. Some lost their jobs. Others had to go to work, because home office was not an option. They all stepped out of their comfort zone.

At the same time, the pandemic has accelerated the technological changes that have been going on for a number of years. It has changed the behaviour of customers. It has changed business models in several industries. Here too, many had to leave their comfort zone to meet new demands.

The optimism that emerges from the current survey of Slovak CEOs is based on the expectation of economic recovery and continuing demand from customers, who evidently have money left over from their holidays and entertainment plans.

However, the real question remains - what impact will labour market changes have on these optimistic plans and expectations? Everyone is aware that the lack of quality, qualified and passionate people will be the biggest challenge for the growth of their businesses.

Because if companies have so far had to solve how to attract new young talents, educate their people and keep the best ones, several new aspects will be added to each task - How to reconcile new technologies with people? How to combine home office and work at the office? How to create new communication channels? How to replace chance encounters in the kitchen? How to put those who want to work flexibly on an equal footing with those working at the office? But most importantly - how to prepare managers for all this?

It has been said that people do not leave bad work, but rather bad bosses. The new era has also pulled managers out of their comfort zone. For many of them, it is natural to go back to old ways. However, in an era of intense competition for talent, combined with a huge change in work routines, old ways could lead to a very different destination than companies and their bosses would like.

Juraj Porubský
Editor-in-chief, Forbes Slovakia

Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Slovakia

Survey conclusions

CEOs in Slovakia were much more optimistic in September 2020 than before the pandemic
CEOs trust their firms and strongly believe they will be able to manage the challenges in the near future, but they have doubts about new opportunities to generate revenue
Up to 62% of CEOs are not considering deferring or cancelling planned investments due to COVID-19 and intend to invest in IT, operations, and digital transformation
In January 2020, CEOs worldwide stated that increasing the digital skills of their employees had a very positive impact on company results and optimism
Climate change is seen as an opportunity by CEOs globally more often than by CEOs in Slovakia

CEOs in Slovakia were much more optimistic in September 2020 than before the pandemic

One third of CEOs expected a crisis, but not as big as in 2009. In autumn 2019 and January 2020, their expectations regarding the development of the global economy were the most pessimistic for the last eight years. In January 2020, before the pandemic, 10 times more CEOs than two years ago stated they believed the global economy would slow down. Recession was just ahead, but it was not clear to them what it would be like and what would set it off.

CEOs trust their firms and strongly believe they will be able to manage the challenges in the near future, but they have doubts about new opportunities to generate revenue

In September 2020, CEOs were also more optimistic as regards their companies’ revenue growth, as 84% of them were very or somewhat confident that their companies would grow. At the beginning of this year, this figure was 71%. CEOs in Slovakia believe their companies will be able to provide a safe and secure working environment, retain talent, manage employees’ well-being and morale, and balance the needs of all stakeholders. But fewer of them (37%) are confident about finding new opportunities to generate revenue.

Up to 62% of CEOs are not considering deferring or cancelling planned investments due to COVID-19 and intend to invest in IT, operations, and digital transformation

Almost two-thirds of CEOs are not considering deferring or cancelling planned investments. CEOs in Slovakia mostly plan to speed up automation and implement new working methods, change security measures and requirements at the workplace, and improve remote work. Of the 38% of CEOs in Slovakia who intend to postpone or cancel investments, most of them are considering deferring or cancelling capital expenditures, freezing headcount, and postponing or cancelling investments in operations.

In January 2020, CEOs worldwide stated that increasing the digital skills of their employees had a very positive impact on company results and optimism

Less than one in five CEOs worldwide (18%) believed their company had made significant progress in implementing upskilling programmes. In Slovakia, this was stated by 21% of the business leaders. Companies that have made the most progress in upgrading the skills of their employees are achieving better business results, including better corporate culture, higher labour productivity, higher revenue growth, easier acquisition and retention of talent, greater innovation and smaller differences between desired and achieved employee skills.

Climate change is seen as an opportunity by CEOs globally more often than by CEOs in Slovakia

CEOs worldwide were more than twice as likely as 10 years ago to believe their activities focused on averting climate change will improve their reputation and bring significant opportunities for new products and services. In the world’s largest economies where the need to reduce carbon emissions is the greatest, CEOs are generally aware of the opportunities brought by these changes. CEOs in Slovakia see more risks than opportunities in climate change than CEOs globally, and more of them have assessed potential material risks as a result of future climatic events, and have also addressed more potential risks associated with the transition to a greener economy (e.g. CO2 emission regulation or technological changes). Unfortunately, progress towards a greener economy is the slowest in the Middle East, although economies here are over-dependent on oil revenues.

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