In 2019, CEOs are Most Concerned about Talent and Recession

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

In addition to gauging concerns for 2019, the survey also asked CEOs and other C-Suite executives about what they think the organization of the future will look like and how they plan on succeeding. Key findings include:

CEOs seem confident about their organizations being able to thrive in 2025

• Globally: CEOs are most confident that they have the right culture in place to succeed in 2025.
• U.S: America’s CEOs have the highest confidence level in their culture of any region globally.
• China: Compared to peers globally, CEOs in China have the highest overall confidence. They’re most confident of any country or region regarding leaders and talent.

CEOs recognize the customer experience is starting to trump the actual product

• Worldwide, CEOs agree they need to address the shifting customer landscape. The customer of the future will place more value on the experience of using a product or service rather than the actual product or service.
• Globally, two-third of CEOs say they will need to emphasize servitization, providing services and solutions that supplement traditional product offerings.

“CEOs sense fundamental changes coming in the expectations and preferences of future customers,” said Chuck Mitchell, Executive Director of Knowledge, Content, and Quality at The Conference Board and an author of the report. “They see the importance of moving from a product-central approach to servitization to enhance the customer experience. This approach turns customers involved in one-time transactions into ‘users’ who seek continuous interaction with the firms they deal with. But that bar is high since they are now competing with the best experience a consumer has had with any company, regardless of product or service. It widens the field of competitors in unexpected ways.”

The extreme balancing act: long-term vision versus short-term performance

• As the economy starts slowing, the temptation will be to cut long-term investments to boost short-term results. If organizations pull back too much, they will be behind the curve when the economic downturn ends.
• CEOs see getting this balance right as the top, #1 hallmark of operational efficiency in the coming years.

CEOs globally see more regulation on the horizon, but less so among America’s CEOs

• Overall, CEOs globally expect more regulation. They expect the most in data privacy protection (84%), environmental impact (80%), unmanned aerial vehicles (72%), and autonomous vehicle technology (71%).

 Work redefined: The challenge of valuing and rewarding work done in teams

• Human Capital executives rank the development of agile project teams as their #1 approach to successfully managing future workforces. CEOs have it 3rd, and CFOs have it 5th.
• However, HR executives and CEOs not prioritizing a companion strategy to developing agile teams — effectively evaluating and rewarding work done in teams — is a possible red flag. As teams become a centerpiece of human capital strategy, companies need to emphasize the collaborative aspect of culture.

When it comes to investing in leaders of the future, CEOs believe that “broader is better”

• Along with improving formal leadership development programs, CEOs want their organizations to provide more cross-functional rotational opportunities for high potentials.
• However, organizations may be missing a critical piece of the development puzzle: exposing leaders to digital experiences as part of their development. Less than one-third of CEOs globally rate this as one of their top three leadership development priorities and only about one in five in the U.S. do so.

About The Conference Board

The Conference Board is the member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what’s ahead. Founded in 1916, we are a non-partisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States.

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