Marketing specialists gaining credibility

THIRTY-EIGHT per cent of senior American executives believe that the most powerful C-level executive, after the CEO, is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), a survey of 496 managers has found. The other most dominant C-level executives include:

Chief Information Officers 28%

Chief Technology Officers 26%

Chief Knowledge Officers 25%

The survey found less powerful C-level executives were: Chief Restructuring Officers (24 per cent); Chief Talent Officers (23 per cent) and Chief Creative Officers (12 per cent).

Source: Association of Executive Search Consultants

Legal leads with flexible working hours

SIXTY-EIGHT per cent of Australian employees say their bosses allow them to run personal errands on company time, in exchange for being available to work outside normal hours. A survey of 1,000 people showed that some industries are more amenable to trading time, with the legal sector being the most likely to allow time exchanges. Eighty-three per cent of employees in this sector say their boss is happy for them to conduct personal errands on company time, if that time is made up.

Source: Talent2

Personal space tops office design wish list

FIFTY-EIGHT per cent of UK office workers believe their office has not been designed to help them do their job, while 19 per cent would actually be embarrassed to show customers where they work. A further 79 per cent of office workers consider quality of working environment very important to job satisfaction, and more than one third claim that working environment has been a factor in accepting or rejecting a job offer. Other factors that contribute to a good working environment include:

Daylight 21%

Personal space 39%

Climate control 24%

Source: Gensler Architects

We’re working harder than ever

ONE IN FIVE Australian workers puts in more than 50 hours a week at work as they try to cover the costs of an increasingly expensive consumer-driven lifestyle, a study has found. Around 22 per cent of employees work at least 50 hours a week. In about half of these cases, the people have been working extended hours for at least a year. Among those who work persistently long hours were teachers, academics, lawyers, broadcasters, actors, journalists and pilots.

Source: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research

US pensions are changing

SEVENTY-THREE per cent of large employers in the US with a defined benefit pension plan report that their number one concern with maintaining it is expense and funding volatility. A study of 147 CFOs also found that they felt pressure to sustain employee pension plans, while accounting requirements (30 per cent), competitors’ actions (18 per cent) and government regulations (18 per cent) motivated employers to revise their defined benefit plans.

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Female managers boost company ROIs

THIRTY-FOUR per cent of companies with high representations of women in upper management have a higher total shareholder return. A study of 353 companies that remained on the Fortune 500 list for four years between 1996 and 2000 found that those with more women in upper management also had a 35 per cent higher return on equity and higher financial returns overall.

Source: Diversity Inc

Succession planning ‘too hard’

SIXTY-EIGHT per cent of family business owners say they have not chosen a successor, despite 57 per cent of such owners indicating they plan to retire within the next 10 years. A further 34 per cent of family businesses have no formal succession plan and 27 per cent are undecided about their exit strategy.

Source: KPMG

Education/employment gap needs bridging

SIXTY-TWO per cent of employers say education has not kept up with the pace of industry, according to a survey of 750 companies. Sixty-seven per cent say technologies and techniques are evolving far too quickly for universities to provide support, while 96 per cent of employees have to drive their own learning but 92 per cent believe a highly dynamic workforce need workers who are continually learning.

Source: Talent2

What workers want

FOURTEEN per cent of Australian employees rate flexible working hours as their most preferred non-financial incentive. The results are based on feedback from a survey of 2,453 employers and 1,290 employees across six employment sectors. Other preferred incentives that rated highly include:

Extra leave 9%

Training 8%

Health benefits 7%

Provision of extra leave may involve increasing the amount of unpaid leave available to staff, or allowing employees to ‘buy’additional leave through salary sacrifice. Bonuses (15 per cent) and stock options (8 per cent) were the most popular financial incentives.

Source: Michael Page International

Financial health better than wellbeing

TWICE as many Australians have financial plans as have health or lifestyle plans for their retirement. A survey of 1,456 Australians found one third of people had not considered the health and lifestyle choices associated with effective retirement, but many have made the mistake of solely focusing on financial planning for their later years.

Source: The Jean Hailes Foundation

Risky business for boards

SIXTY-EIGHT per cent of Australian boards and executives are working together to agree acceptable attitudes to risk taking as part of the strategic and business planning process, according to a survey of company directors from Top 500 ASX companies. It also found that boards haven’t:

Employed a risk management expert 27%

Articulated their assurance expectations 20%

Increased their risk focus in the past year 13%

The survey suggested that companies have taken positive steps to formalising risk management practices and are implementing robust risk management frameworks.

Source: Ernst & Young