• The availability of key skills (61%)
• A downturn in major economies (57%)
• Over–regulation (55%)

The interesting point from a Get Driven perspective are CEOs concerns about lack of key skills.

What key skills need improving upon?

The points highlighted in the survey include:

• there is a high premium for individuals who have the courage to challenge
• improving customer service, attracting and retaining talent are key for competitive advantage
• shortages in technical AND business skills
• shortages in the ability to lead others
• difficulty in finding people who are creative and innovative
• crucial changes need to be made in recruiting, motivating and developing their people
• flexible working would play an important role in their business
• investing in training and development was also be considered key
• 43% of CEOs have mergers or acquisitions on the cards, yet poor management of HR is considered one of the top obstacles/concerns.

Not surprising…

There are some interesting points here, though not all that surprising. We recently attended a talk by Sir Ken Robinson called ‘The War on Talent’. Many of the points mentioned above were highlighted by Sir Ken Robinson, where he believes serious lack of creativity and innovation will become a ‘crisis’ in its own right.

There doesn’t have to be a skills shortage. We don’t need more people in the world. We need to nurture what we have in a better way. Encourage people to learn, to discover themselves, to experiment, to create new ideas…better ideas.

There is a better way.

(To be continued…)