A new report from The Worldcom Public Relations Group, the world’s leading partnership of independently owned public relations firms, reveals that global CEOs and CMOs are expecting a battle for talent in 2018. Driven by concerns over government and legislative changes, cybercrime and a lack of available talent, employers the survey revealed an increased focus on attracting, retaining and energizing employees in 2018.
The comprehensive survey of business leaders uncovered what they see as their biggest threats to achieving their plans. It also revealed a 43% increase in the number of business leaders planning to give employees the most attention in 2018 than did so in 2017.
This leap in attention for employees – the only audience to see an increase – seems to be driven by concerns over three main threats: government or legislative changes (#1 threat), lack of available talent (#2 threat) and cyber crime (#3 threat). It may also be a response to very low confidence levels when it comes to their ability to attract (2nd lowest CI Score) and retain (4thlowest CI Score) the best talent.
Employees have a crucial role in ensuring compliance with regulations and with essential cyber protection practices. As a result, the Report’s findings are a clear signal that leaders see employees as a vital ingredient for success. In fact, attracting the best talent ranked highest as the criteria that will have the most influence on success in 2018 – just ahead of the strength of the global economy. It was three times higher than disruptive competition, which declined to almost half its 2017 score.
The Worldcom Confidence Index also highlights key issues and trends, and uncovers interesting differences in the confidence levels of respondents across 18 demographic categories, including business roles, ages, gender, business size, geographic presence and more. Highlights of the 2018 Confidence Index include:
Available in its entirety at https://worldcomgroup.com/confidence-index, the report also includes an analysis of the issues and key recommendations that business leaders can implement to increase their probability of success in 2018.