The 8th Slovak CEO Survey 2017
The consulting company, PwC, and Forbes magazine looked at what business leaders think about the influence of technologies and talent on business, and what it means to run a business in Slovakia. 163 CEOs shared their views.
Even in good times, courage is needed to change a company from the inside
The quality of HR and its ability to accept and implement new technologies is the most important factor of market success. This is also the biggest challenge for global leaders and in Slovakia particularly. In the future, companies will need, more than ever, to attract talent and retain them. The dissatisfaction of Slovak leaders with the quality of education has been evident for several years, and it is becoming more and more obvious due to the lack of progress made in this field. Similarly, increasing the tax burden, which is already one of the highest in the region, remains a key concern of CEOs.
Companies are experiencing good times, but new challenges are appearing and their solutions will be more and more difficult.
Todd Bradshaw
Country Managing Partner
PwC
The empires of the future will be empires of the mind
Even though business is ever more impacted by automation, digitalization, AI and machine learning, the human factor is still important. This is a situation where leadership will be at a premium.
In fast-growing companies, HR is often just considered a way of employing new people. But HR can also change the company environment, to make it more attractive so people want to work there.
Juraj Porubský
Editor–in-chief
Forbes
Slovak CEOs are significantly more confident about their companies. 58% of CEOs are very confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months, compared to 33% last year and 38% of global leaders. This is the highest level of confidence measured by the CEO Survey in the last six years. The Slovak leaders were the least confident about revenue growth last year due to the migration crisis, the possible collapse of Schengen and imminent Brexit.
More than half of the companies expect to increase the number of employees in Slovakia and globally
Strong confidence in company growth was reflected in Slovakia and globally in an increasing number of employees. Half of the CEOs expect to increase staff numbers and one third of CEOs expect no change. Compared to last year, the share of companies planning to reduce staff numbers fell from 21% to 14% and half of the leaders stated that automation and new technologies is not the reason for this reduction.
There are fewer CEOs expect cost reduction
Organic growth is the basis for the growth of companies in Slovakia and globally. Positive expectations were reflected in cost reduction plans. Last year, 68% of CEOs expected cost reductions, compared with 40% this year. This year´s survey reconfirmed that global companies believe much more in other forms of growth – new strategic alliances and joint ventures, fusions and acquisitions, outsourcing or company sales and market exit.
“There are fewer companies now planning cost reduction because the leaders expect a positive development of their companies, and quite the opposite, they are planning to increase the number of their employees. At the same time, though, 78% of CEOs expect that within five years, the technologies will completely and significantly change the economic competition in their industries. The companies are having good days, but only those that are now providing for investments in new technologies and education of their employees, will be successful also after that period of five years.”
Alex Šrank
Partner, Advisory Leader
Slovak leaders are clearly far more aware than global CEOs that innovations and human capital are undoubtedly the most important areas for consideration. However, Slovak CEOs do not consider digital and technological skills and customer experience to be as important as their global colleagues.
Emergence of new technologies is accelerating, but Slovak CEOs are self-confident
78% of CEOs expect that within five years technologies will significantly change economic competition in their industries
Two thirds of CEOs claim that in the last five years, technologies have significantly changed economic competition in the industries in which they operate. It is no surprise that in the last 20 years, this was claimed by 79% of CEOs, and the same is expected in the next five years by 78% of CEOs. The innovation cycle is accelerating, and CEOs must prepare their companies for even greater digitalization. The introduction of new technologies, however, requires continual preparation of the company for constant changes, and a sufficient number of qualified and adaptable people able to carry out the technological changes. Digitalization brings about transparency, and this is undoubtedly something positive for a company, but it also increases demands on winning and maintaining trust, and on managing risks in the company.
The business environment in Slovakia is still facing the same challenges
There are no changes in the order of the biggest threats to business in Slovakia for the last year. Across the whole survey, responses to a number of the questions confirm that a qualified workforce and talent are the major challenges for Slovak companies. Law enforcement continues to be the most important perceived threat, and there were no changes with regard to Slovak leaders in this respect.
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