Five things CEOs can do to help achieve their growth goals in 2019

The best part of my job is getting to speak to CEOs and business leaders from a variety of sectors, industries and countries. Through our conversations, I’m able to get a good sense of CEO sentiment as well as identify the macro trends impacting all types of businesses and industries. 

Overall, I believe CEO sentiment is positive. But when you drill down, that positive outlook is pointed at the things that executives can control. On the things that can’t be controlled -- the economy, trade, regulation, etc. -- the outlook isn’t as optimistic. With that said, businesses aren’t standing still. If business executives have demonstrated anything over the last few years, it is that worrying about what you can’t control is not productive and energy is best focused on the things that can be controlled. As a result, most executives would classify the environment as “glass is half full.”

Here are five key business trends that CEOs should keep in mind as they focus on what they can control:  

1. Despite market uncertainty, organic growth goals remain high

Even though CEOs can clearly see the economic headwinds that are on the horizon -- with growing trade tensions and market uncertainty -- most of the ones I’ve spoken to remain optimistic about their own companies’ growth potential. In fact, many have very aggressive organic growth targets despite knowing that supply in many cases is outstripping demand and that competition has become more cutthroat than ever.

CEOs are realistic and know they’re going to have to fight for market share. And with 91% of US CEOs confident that their companies will grow organically in the next 12 months (according to the most recent PwC CEO Survey), we’ll likely see more battles for market share, where companies with the lowest cost and best value will win.

As a result, CEOs and C-Suite leaders are laser-focused on improving the cost of their products and services, increasing their value proposition and improving their customer experience. This will be especially important if the economy turns and companies may no longer have the pricing power they once had.

2. Be nimble and move quickly: To win market share, CEOs must lead change efforts with intensity and urgency

 There is a wide range in intensity when it comes to how different companies and their respective leaders are responding to this more challenging business environment. Some companies are quickly adapting and changing, while others are moving much slower than expected. But the common trait among those companies moving quickly is the engagement and focus of the CEO. As one CEO said to me recently, “Let’s face it -- what people really want to do is get to their office and simply do their work the same way they did it yesterday.” This insight perfectly illustrates how behavior gets entrenched and how change often has to be driven from the top down. Indeed, CEOs need to be a “force of nature” in shifting the organizational and cultural behaviors responsible for preventing change from taking hold.

I personally believe that this is a big opportunity for CEOs. They can take charge and be even more forceful in driving change within and across their company. This is especially true in a tougher economic climate, where greater reward will go to the CEOs and companies which achieve better execution versus the ones that just design the perfect strategy.

Speed is the name of the game. As leaders, CEOs need to not only be able to drive change with intensity, but also do it fast. The world is only going to continue to throw us curveballs, whether they be tariffs and trade conflicts, regulatory uncertainty, or market volatility. The key to overcoming these challenges is to build your organization’s ability to be nimble and to adapt quickly.

3. Are you getting the right return for your IT and technology spend?

We are seeing a continued high level of spending on IT and emerging technology at most companies. New CRM, human capital and finance systems along with AI and data analytic platforms provide great promise of efficiencies, quicker data for making better and faster business decisions, more collaboration to better serve customers, and increased employee productivity. But unfortunately in many cases these aspirations are not being fully realized.

Why? Many companies are implementing large-scale technology solutions but underestimating the behavioral and cultural changes that need to be managed with new technology. What do I mean? One CEO said to me that they invested in a new CRM system but underestimated the desire of middle and line personnel to simply do work the way they always did (meaning they did not embrace the new technology, but rather simply continued to use their legacy practices, spreadsheets and communications). The CEO surmised “we bought and paid for world class technology, but didn’t show our people how to work and manage differently” and therefore, “we didn’t achieve the benefits and ROI that was expected.”

Major IT projects need active involvement by the C-Suite as well as the right amount of time invested in the change management around the system or technology being implemented.

4. Invest in “citizen-led” innovation and change

We are seeing some companies invest in digital upskilling and teaching their employees, by the thousands, new skills such as data wrangling, data visualization, bot building and data automation to name a few. What companies are discovering is that by teaching their employees in sales, finance, accounting, human capital and the back office these new skills, the workforce can then apply those skills to automating and reimagining their day-to-day work tasks. This can help create capacity for growth without adding headcount.

Based on what we have seen from our own experiences, we are of the view that there are billions of dollars of cost savings to be achieved in corporate America if employees are given new skills. Similarly, we have seen that teaching these skills to large percentages of the entire employee base builds loyalty and can serve both to help attract and retain talent in what is only going to be a continuing tight labor market.

5. Investors are closely watching management’s ability to execute

Most importantly, the investor community sees all the challenges and opportunities that companies and CEOs are facing -- and they’re making their investment decisions accordingly. While some companies will survive and thrive, others companies that are not able to remain competitive will become targets of activist investors and M&A. And of course a major root cause of not being able to stay competitive is the effectiveness and speed of change that CEOs are responsible for leading.

Investors are looking to invest in companies where the CEOs have the skills to lead change and transformation. They are looking closely at the quality and speed with which company management is transforming the business. One major investor shared with me that he is not looking to invest in companies with management teams that have the highest external profiles. Instead, he is looking to invest in companies with CEOs who are focused on the guts of the business because that is what matters. Companies that are going to be rewarded by investors are the ones that have CEOs and management teams who roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty in the change and transformation agenda.

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We’re in a highly competitive and unpredictable business environment right now; and it’s likely only going to get more difficult for businesses to win market share. As a result, businesses are going to be continually challenged to adapt and change in order to stay relevant. Those companies that are able to build a competency around adaptability and agility are the ones that are going to survive and thrive. And, unfortunately, if an organization isn’t able to change and pivot on a dime then its long-term viability will probably be in doubt.