Each year, CEOs face new and different challenges in order to keep their companies running smoothly. From adapting to new technological advances and political changes to recruiting top talent in a changing job market, CEOs have a lot to deal with.
Now that 2016 is in full force, we asked CEOs and business experts to share their predictions on the challenges CEOs will face throughout the rest of the year. Whether you’re already running a business or starting one soon, brace yourself for these hurdles.
1.Offering flexibility
“CEOs will be challenged by an increasingly mobile and transient workforce. Young professionals are increasingly demanding greater flexibility in their work and personal lives. If CEOs aren’t willing or able to meet this demand, these younger professionals will look elsewhere for work. Similarly, these professionals are going to look for greater development opportunities within the company. CEOs need to focus on engagement, development and fostering a flexible environment for people to work optimally. Instead of dictating the culture, CEOs should enable their staff to build it.” – Carl Seidman, business strategist and CFO adviser
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2. Expanding employee benefits
“Hiring and retaining employees and staff without giving away all of your profit. The demands of this workforce seem bloated. The perks add up and affect the bottom line. There is a sense of entitlement that is driven by the lead of some large companies’ benefit packages. Most SME businesses cannot afford such perks.” – Jennifer Garcia, pCEOs face new and different challenges in order to keep their companies running smoothly. From adapting to new technological advances and political changes to recruiting top talent in a changing job market, CEOs have a lot to deal with.
artner and CEO, Red Bamboo Marketing
3.The presidential election
“The biggest challenge CEOs will face in 2016 is predicting how the 2017 election will affect their business. What if Trump becomes POTUS? Without political [change], I can say it would be a very different time for businesses than today. Between immigration reform, foreign relations affecting the global economy, education budgets affecting talent and innovation, and changing health care plans and tax codes— CEOs are left to ponder and plan for potential impacts on their business. It’s not easy.” – Mike Oeth, co-founder and CEO, OnSIP
4.Obtaining capital
“For emerging company CEOs, this year will be a difficult year to get capital. Markets are tightening and becoming more constrained, and are already overflowing with far too many speculative models. There’s still plenty of investment money in the market for substantial business models, who can back up an idea with great unit economics that serve an unmet need, but it may require more patience in 2016.” – Rich Razgaitis, co-founder and CEO, FloWater [See Related Story: Crowdfunding for Startups: 10 Kickstarter Alternatives ]
5.Reputation management
“Reputation management is a concern in today’s world where social media channels are becoming crowded spaces. How to touch on [the] reach of social media and connecting to your correct target audience will continue to be concerns for the remainder of 2016.” – Randy Stocklin, co-founder and CEO, Sunglass Warehouse
6.Moving fast enough
“Speed is becoming the biggest challenge in business — whether it’s execution of ideas, changes in the market and consumer behavior, or the 24-hour cycle of news and social media. Those that are fast to respond increase their chance of growth and success exponentially.” – Tobias Wilhelm, business consultant and coach
7. Finding new employee
“The biggest challenge for CEOs in 2016 is to find and hire talent for our businesses. During the recession, talented people were plentiful and it was easier to find exceptional leaders to upgrade our incumbents. In the last six months, the reservoir has dried up. We have rising wages, competitive expansion and an improved business climate that will continue to make sourcing of qualified candidates much more difficult. We need to remember what worked best during the boom years and redeploy those tactics once again.” – Dave Schoenbeck, business and executive coach
8.Genuinely connecting with customers
“One of the biggest challenges I see, among other things, is staying focused on the customer and serving their needs. To do this, CEOs must continue fighting the urge to be lured by the latest and greatest shiny new thing and navigating through a myriad of ways to connect, engage and communicate with our customers. There’s so much available at our fingertips that it’s easy for small businesses to get lost in a sea of tweets, periscopes, Facebook ads, podcasts, webinars, press releases, and on and on.” – Joel Kessel, president, Kessel Communications
9. Cybersecurity and hackers
“Information security will continue to be a major concern for CEOs in 2016. We’ve all seen a rise in increasingly sophisticated methods that hackers use to gain login credentials, sensitive data or — worse yet — money from their victims. Cyber security is no longer a concern solely for the IT department — everyone in an organization, right up to the CEO, must remain vigilant to protect against breaches.” – BC Krishna, CEO, MineralTree
10. Managing growth expectations
“Managing growth expectations will be the biggest challenge for CEOs in 2016. CEOs should watch for signs of market weakness and be wary that normal business perturbations may actually mean a slide into a lower growth period.” – Bonnie Crater, CEO, Full Circle Insights
