Canadian CEOs confident about outlook

Canadian CEOs are more confident about their revenue prospects and the economy in the short and longer term compared to their global peers, according to PwC’s 16th Annual Global CEO Survey released in Davos, Switzerland.

The survey interviewed over 1,300 of the world’s chief executives in 68 countries, including 120 Canadian CEOs.

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Highlights include:

• Canadian CEOs say they are very confident about their company’s prospects over the next three years and have a higher confidence level than their global counterparts (60% vs. 46% globally).
• Canadian CEOs are less likely to provide global mobility and international experience opportunities to develop their leadership pipeline than in other countries. Only 39% of Canadian CEOs are focused on mobility opportunities, compared to the global average (61%).
• About half of Canadian CEOs say they expect the economy to stay the same in 2013 (49%), while more than a quarter expect some improvement (26%); Last year nearly half of leaders said things would get worse in 2012 (48%), and few were expecting an improvement (15%).

Canadian CEOs take a more inclusive approach to decision making. Half of Canadian CEOs said that all of their staff are encouraged to get involved in strategic decision making (compared to 31% globally).

Canadian CEOs also said that involving staff below board level in strategic decision making was effective in engaging their people and developing their pipeline of future leaders (88% vs. 79% globally). CEOs also stay active in succession planning, with 85% saying they are identifying multiple successors for their jobs.

Whereas the majority of CEOs around the world cited policy concerns over taxes as their top threat to growth (62%), Canadian CEOs say they are more concerned about finding key skills in their workforce (63%), the speed of technological change (45%) and their ability to finance growth (43%).

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Canadian CEOs feel the government should focus its efforts on creating and supporting a skilled workforce, with 72% saying this should be the Government’s top priority. Over three-quarters of Canadian respondents said they will be increasing their investment in developing a skilled workforce (76%) and more than half expect to increase their headcount in 2013 (52%).

Another key theme in this year’s survey is that CEOs around the world are recognizing the need to rebuild trust with the public by having a stronger social mandate, which starts within their own organizations and covers their relationship with all stakeholders. Globally, more than half of CEOs said they are focusing on promoting a more ethical corporate culture over the coming year. In Canada, this is reflected by almost a third of CEOs saying they sense that a “lack of trust” in their industry is a threat to their growth.

Read: CFA releases global sentiment survey

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.