It’s hard to find anyone more aware of the shocks and jolts of the economy than the CEO, who is often the highest-ranking, best-paid and most visible executive in a company. As skipper of the company, the CEO is responsible for leading the company towards increased productivity and profitability through the winds of an ever-changing economy.
The 175 CEOs surveyed in the latest Fortune/Deloitte survey, released earlier this week, show “cautious optimism” but also “definite optimism” for 2022, despite the continuing ills of the economy. inflation and the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Deloitte’s press release issued earlier this week, CEOs express cautious optimism that their organizations have adjusted and adapted to the challenges faced in 2021, including the lingering pandemic. “A new normal seems to be taking hold: business leaders simply expect new challenges to continually arise and are confident that they can manage them to achieve positive business results while making a real difference in society,” explains Joe Ucuzoglu, CEO of Deloitte.
Among the highlights of the survey:
- About two-thirds of CEOs expect their company’s growth to be “very strong” or “strong” in 2022.
- 36% of CEOs expressed heightened concerns about inflation and the potential for instability in financial markets as reasons that could disrupt their business strategy for this year.
- 78% of CEOs attribute increased business costs and margin impacts to supply chain disruptions in 2021, while 45% said supply chain caused revenue loss and service issues to customers.
- Just under half of CEOs surveyed consider the lack of recruiting talented staff to be the biggest challenge they face.
- 60% expect the effects of the pandemic on businesses to diminish this year: 20% this summer, 40% by the end of the year. Yet nearly a third see no end in sight, at least not in the foreseeable future.
The Fortune/Deloitte CEO Survey was conducted between January 4 and January 12, 2022. The 175 CEOs surveyed include Fortune 500 CEOs and Global 500 CEOs across 15 industries. According to Deloitte’s press release, leaders were asked to share their thoughts, outlook, priorities and expectations for 2022.
When it comes to assessing the overall global economy for 2022, CEOs are mildly optimistic about their own sector’s performance outlook. For the global economy, for example, just under half say they are “neutral” in their outlook, while 40% say they are “optimistic” and 12% “pessimistic”. Compare that to your industry’s performance: nearly 80% say they’re “optimistic” or “very optimistic” about their industry’s performance, and more than 90% say the same about their company’s performance – a third of CEOs saying they are “very optimistic” about their company’s performance, according to the report.
For CEOs based outside the US, the pandemic remains the most important issue (58%), followed by supply chain issues (54%) and labor shortage and skills (50%).
Another question asked in the survey concerned how CEOs lean on their leadership teams. CEOs were asked to rank in order of importance the people they rely on most in these times of economic uncertainty. Two-thirds of U.S. CEOs said their CFO was most important, 55% said business unit/regional leaders were most important, while COO and CFO/talent human resources followed closely. Interestingly, non-US CEOs place business unit/regional leaders above the CFO. According to Deloitte’s statement, these CEOs also place greater emphasis on the Director of Talent/Human Resources, Directors, Director of Strategy and Chief Legal Counsel, while the Director of Operations and Director of information/technology are less important.
The next Fortune/Deloitte CEO survey is expected to be released this summer.
Source: ZDNet.com