Source: Business Daily
Local firms face new pressure to find, retain, and manage their talent effectively as chief executive officers (CEOs) angle for growth in the next 12 months.
According to an October CEOs survey by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the executives have listed talent management and developing reward strategies as the joint second driver for expansion within the period.
The focus on talent will likely see firms fighting to attract top talent while striving to retain the best in their employees. CEOs have nevertheless listed expansion into new markets as the top driver into the next year.
Other factors listed as drivers of expansion include the adoption of customer-centric approaches, reassessment of business models, technological innovation, development of more and new products, and additional financing.
The business leaders expect business activities to improve in the last quarter of the year with the majority of respondents projecting increased or unchanged volumes.
“Businesses in the manufacturing sector expect a marginal improvement in the business conditions. Firms expect increased demand due to seasonal factors, but price increases could dampen demand. Consequently, the priority for businesses will be sustained volume growth while keeping output prices largely at the same level,” notes the survey.
Firms in the services sector also expect increased activities from recovering demand while those in agriculture expect no change.
Despite improving optimism, CEOs have highlighted domestic factors constraining firms’ expansion including increased taxation, cost of doing business, reduced consumer demand, economic environment, exchange rate, political uncertainty, and weather conditions.
“The business environment and increased taxation were of greater concern for firms in the services and manufacturing sectors. Firms in the agriculture sector on the other hand were equally concerned about the business and economic environment,” the survey said.
Firms are equally faced with external threats impacting their expansion prospects such as energy prices, global inflation/recession, geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic volatility, and climate change.
CEOs have listed managing costs and risks, use of technology, diversification, increased sales and marketing, and lobbying as possible solutions.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: kmuiruri@ke.nationmedia.com
