Only one fifth (21%) of employees believe marketing will be crucial in helping CEOs bring their organisations out of the recession unscathed, according to a new survey from the European Leadership Programme (ELP).
In addition, only 28 per cent believe that sales and marketing skills are critical for the role of CEO. Despite this, respondents indicated that their CEO needs more support in marketing (37.7%) and sales (35.8%) within the senior management team.
“In times of economic crisis, there is more pressure than ever on CEOs to make the right changes,” said serial CEO and founder of ELP, Ashley Ward.
“But what business people often forget is that new initiatives will only be successful when CEOs can offer the skills to back up the programmes they put in place.
He added, “Implementing a new business drive is all about increasing revenue through marketing and sales. It’s astonishing that in this country, less than one third of employees recognise how important these skills are for their leaders.
“The only way a CEO can lead a company successfully through the storm is by keeping revenue generation at the forefront of the business plan. This means marketing and sales should feature at the very top of the crucial attributes list.”
Finance management was rated as the key attribute required for business survival by one third of all respondents (32%) and 75 per cent of those believe their CEO is on top of this part of the business.
Overall, ELP’s survey revealed that only one third of employees (33%) are confident that their CEO has the ability to bring their organisation out of the downturn.
Further, if the business were to run into financial difficulties, only 53 per cent think their CEO has the business acumen to proactively manage the situation.
The majority of CEOs (85%) have redefined their business plan, yet, almost half of employees (45%) are not confident the right changes have been made. Nearly three quarters (72%) of respondents recognise general cost cuttings as the most significant change.
In addition, CEOs have looked to implement an aggressive new business drive (57%), make redundancies (44%) and reduced social budget (41%). A shorter working week has only been introduced in four per cent of businesses.
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