A recent survey from Gartner of over 400 CEOs found that most of these executives rank “workforce as their third most important business priority for 2024 to 2025, behind growth and technology.” What does this mean and how does it reflect changing business trends?  

In this issue of the Pulse, we take a look.  

What were Gartner’s findings?  

The results of Gartner’s recently published survey indicated that: 

• 57% of CEOs are planning to increase investment in people and culture. 
• 46% plan to increase investments in hiring.  

However, these numbers are slightly down from a similar survey taken in 2022, about the year ahead. The 2023 numbers suggested that:  

• 69% of CEOs planned to increase investment in people and culture. 
• 54% planned to increase investments in hiring 

What does this mean? Companies are investing more in AI and other technology to foster growth, meaning the post-pandemic trend of focusing on talent acquisition and retention is cooling down somewhat. However, its place as third most important priority says that finding and maintaining talent is still a concern.  

Leaders must balance these priorities.  

Investing in technology and growth is only doable if you have the workforce to sustain it. While new innovations and developments change the way we work, and change our reliance on technology, it’s important to never let investing in people fall by the wayside.  

This is especially important, as according to a new McKinsey report, “87% of executives have or expect skill gaps within their workforce over the next few years.” 

Luckily, there are ways companies can invest in their workforce to align with their other priorities. These include: 

• ‘Upskilling’ or investing in employee skill development and ongoing learning.  
• Fostering collaboration between teams with different skill sets and knowledge.  
• Encouraging the development of soft skills, through mentorship and training opportunities. 
• Thinking outside the box and looking at larger, more diverse pools of applicants when hiring.  

The worst thing leaders can do is neglect their workforce at this critical juncture, when integrating new tech with workers is so crucial to achieve that desired growth.  

In conclusion… 

While the workforce overall might not be CEOs’ number one priority in the coming year, it’s still a big one. And there are strategies companies can take to integrate investment in all their priorities for success.