ONE OF THE top priorities for CEOs around the world is having a workforce with the right skills to meet future organisational changes, according to a recent study conducted by IBM Business Consulting Services
ONE OF THE top priorities for CEOs around the world is having a workforce with the right skills to meet future organisational changes, according to a recent study conducted by IBM Business Consulting Services.
The Global CEO Study 2004, which consisted of 456 face-to-face interviews with CEOs, found that people skills are now considered more important than perennial factors as technology, globalisation, regulatory concerns and socio-economic issues.
Three-quarters of CEOs believe the need for education/reeducation will have the greatest impact on their organisation over the next three years, while more than 50 per cent cite a lack of qualified candidates as a top people and skill issue.
The survey, which took in 59 CEOs across Australia and New Zealand, found that a focus on high performing people and the having the right leadership candidates in the business was a top priority in the region.
“There was a strong emphasis on leadership and performance cultures coming through,” said Richard Dunston, IBM human capital management leader – Asia Pacific.
CEOs recognise that if they’re going to be successful, they need a high performing workforce to carry them through, he said.
CEOs also feel ill-prepared to meet future changes, with less than 10 per cent rating their company’s change management record as having been very successful. Furthermore, more than half believe that they lack the requisite skills to capture emerging growth opportunities.
“CEOs are thinking, ‘Maybe I need to be doing something here. Maybe I need to be responding and maybe I need some interventions to make sure that the people dimension is going to support other priorities,’” said Dunston.
While he said this was good news for HR professionals, he said it did demand a response from them as well.
“This is bringing into focus what I would call the human capital value chain, and that is all the processes that work between HR and the various parts of the business to improve the value of human capital to the organisation,” he said.
There is currently a disconnect between HR’s priorities and business priorities, and Dunston said HR professionals should be proactive about how they add value to their organisation.
“Look at this positively, as people are on the CEO agenda fairly and squarely, and the business needs help to maximise human capital value It’s a great opportunity for HR,” he said.
