'CEOs think good talents go for companies with social values'

Nearly 69% CEOs said their organisation's purpose is focused on societal value, and 24% changed their purpose in the last three years to make it so

Chief executive officers (CEOs) increasingly believe the best talent will only join and stay with organisations that have strong values and are focused on benefiting society, according to a survey.

“About 67 per cent of CEOs think that in five years, rather than going for the biggest pay cheque, talent will prefer to work for organisations with social values that match their own and they are making changes to their talent strategy accordingly,” PwC’s 19th Annual Global CEO survey reveals.

PwC interviewed 1,409 CEOs in 83 countries for this survey. “We have been increasingly seeing a trend among Indian workforce where ‘the purpose’ behind their roles and the contribution they make to society, is becoming important. They are willing to make trade-offs against pay for this aspect,” PwC India leader, - people and organisation, Padmaja Alaganandan said.

Nearly 69 per cent of CEOs said their organisation’s purpose is focused on societal value, and 24 per cent changed their purpose in the past three years to make it so, it added.

It revealed 75 per cent of CEOs are making changes to values, ethics and codes of conduct in response to wider stakeholder expectations.

According to the survey, while CEOs know it is imperative that they get talent strategy right and they have excellent strategic intentions, they are struggling to translate these intentions into tangible steps.

For instance, 72 per cent worry about the availability of key skills, but just 30 per cent are focused on upgrading the skills and adaptability of their people.

And despite CEOs agreeing that technology is important in responding to stakeholder expectations, only four per cent recognise the value of predictive people analytics in their talent strategy, it said.