Questions remain over East of England organisations' ability to cope in uncertain times - News - Infrastructure - Business Weekly

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Questions remain over East of England organisations' ability to cope in uncertain times

Written by Ben Fountain
Friday, 01 February 2008
Data released by the Chartered Management Institute suggests that organisations in the East of England have a misplaced confidence about their ability to cope with uncertainty and change. The findings also identify the key challenge currently facing employers, but suggest that little is being done to address it. Demonstrating a worrying level of over-confidence, the survey shows that, of the top concerns raised, only 46 per cent of organisations in East Anglia believe that ‘managing risks’ is most important. Just 35 per cent suggest that ‘developing talent’ is a significant issue, despite two-thirds (68 per cent) admitting that skills and talent management is the key challenge currently facing UK employers. And although evidence exists to show that the proportion of failed IT projects (74 per cent) is as high as in 1980* these latest findings reveal that only 20 per cent in the region think it is a priority to ‘keep abreast of technological change’. Worse still, just 4 per cent believe effective use of ‘IT and communications’ is one of the biggest challenges for the UK. 49 per cent in East Anglia also think that ‘prioritising the reputation’ of their organisation is important for long-term business success. Only 29 per cent view ‘managing the impact of regulation’ as a necessity – a surprising response given the importance of corporate governance. Commenting on the findings, Jo Causon, director, marketing and corporate affairs at the Chartered Management Institute, says: “Questions need to be asked about how UK organisations will be able to manage in the future, if they fail to address key operational issues. Rather than simply focusing on ‘what should be done today’ the inability to plan properly might lead to questions of a more critical nature; ‘what opportunities have I missed?’ or worse, ‘how did the organisation not see that coming?’.” The survey also shows that innovation is a low priority amongst organisations in the region. Less than 1 in 5 (18 per cent) believe the creativity and inventiveness is a top challenge and just 22 per cent argue that it is important in today’s working environment. Although this figure increases when respondents look at business priorities in 2013, at 28 per cent it is still worryingly low. The research does, however, uncover some encouraging news. Asked how effective individuals felt their organisation is at ‘monitoring the competition’ 70 per cent responded positively. Reflecting the belief that UK organisations are in touch with their customer base, 65 per cent also claimed their employer is effective when it comes to ‘scanning changes in society for its impact on the business.’ There were also some positive signs for individuals in East Anglia, with 87 per cent saying they ‘can’t wait to get up in the morning’, 78 per cent claiming it is easy to ‘keep positive’ and 47 per cent suggesting that, despite heavy workloads, ‘taking time for lunch is no longer a challenge’. Causon adds: “In the current economic environment the need for high levels of efficiency are all too apparent, so it is encouraging to see some positive signs for employers and individuals. However, it is not an excuse to become too comfortable with the situation as success depends on the ‘principle of preparation’ – namely the ability to juggle tasks, manage change and meet market expectations.” Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 684 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Show/Hide comments Write comment Show/Hide comment form This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.