CEOs see employee retention as key to success

CEOs of the fastest-growing US companies believe recovery is at hand, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' latest Trendsetter Barometer. They also say retention of key workers is the most critical factor they can plan for in the year ahead. Still, more than three in four continue to fear the return of weak demand.

Asked about the most important issue their business must deal with over the next 12 months, most CEOs cited sales growth (36%), followed by managing growth (16%) and managing financials (15%). "These CEOs have a solid history of growth, but like most, their companies' momentum was interrupted by the recession," says Rich Calzaretta of PricewaterhouseCoopers. "These leaders are looking to get back to business as they once knew it, and to assuming an offensive rather than a defensive posture."

Planning for success
Asked what factors will be most critical for success over the next 12 months – factors they can plan for – an overwhelming 78% pointed to retention of key workers. Next in line was commitment to flexible business strategies, partnering with others and getting more from IT.

Partnering with others was especially important to service sector (35%) and technology (37%) companies, while for product sector companies, risk management (23%) and expansion to markets outside the US (20% ) were on the top of the list.

As for the "wild card" factors that could be most harmful to "Trendsetter" businesses in the year ahead, re-emergence of weak market demand was at the top of the list for 77%. New government regulations (45%) and rising interest rates (34%) were also among the top concerns for many.

"These CEOs continue to be concerned about a possible return of weak market demand for their products and services," said Calzaretta. "This would suggest that many are still in the early stages of recovery. These worries should abate as a steady pattern of customer re-orders is established."

For more information, go to http://www.barometersurveys.com/.