‘Anywhere’ workforce now a top challenge for many Indian CEOs

With COVID-19 disrupting the world of work, "anywhere" workforce has now emerged as a top challenge until 2023 for many Indian CEOs, said an IBM study on Friday.

Half of outperforming company CEOs surveyed globally and 35 per cent in India said managing a remote "anywhere" workforce is a top leadership challenge over the next few years.

The majority of CEOs surveyed in India see technological factors, market factors and regulatory concerns among the most important external forces that will affect their business in the next few years, following the massive disruptions of 2020, according to the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) study.

The regulatory concerns reflect a rising assertiveness by governments around privacy, data, trade and -- amplified by Covid-19 -- health.

Global CEOs of outperforming organisations -- those who were in the top 20 per cent for revenue growth of those surveyed -- are prioritising talent, technology and partnerships to position their companies for success post-the Covid-19 pandemic.

Across the board, surveyed CEOs in India said Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning, robotic process automation and advanced analytics were the top technologies that they believe can deliver benefits for their business.

About 45 per cent of outperforming company CEOs in India expect AI/Machine Learning to deliver results in the next two-three years.

"We are living in an all-pervasive digital world and enterprises must transform with speed to remain relevant and win," Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India/South Asia, said in a statement.

Outperforming company CEOs are also more focused on partnerships, according to the IBV study.

In India, 55 per cent of outperforming CEOs surveyed said partnerships have become more important for driving business performance while only about half as many underperformers said the same.

In addition, 41 per cent of company CEOs in India report they plan to prioritise employee well-being even if it affects near-term profitability.

The study polled 3,000 CEOs across 26 industries and nearly 50 countries including India - 111 CEOs.