'Talent' single largest priority in a CEO's agenda: Survey

There is an uptrend in time spent by CEOs on talent initiatives, as more than half of chief executives surveyed said they personally drove such steps in their organisations in the last 12 months, says a study.
According to online career and recruitment solutions provider Monster.Com's annual study on 'CEO as Chief Talent Officer 2014' which was put out in collaboration with People Matters, around 91 per cent of CEOs believe in direct participation in talent endeavors.
This study, in its third year, noted that there is an uptrend in the time spent by CEOs on talent initiatives, with the 54 CEOs assessed stating that they have personally driven talent initiatives in their organisations in the last 12 months.

As many as 88 per cent of CEOs agree that time spent on talent has either increased since last year.
The survey also revealed that a major theme for CEOs in the next 12 months will be to tap the rich pool of women and differentially-abled talent. Additionally, 68 per cent reveal that they plan to spend the most amount of time in developing leaders and connecting with key talent.
"Organisational diversity will be a key area of CEO focus in Indian organisations in the coming months. Moreover, over the past three years we have noticed that CEOs are the ones driving innovation and creative thinking," Monster.Com Managing Director (India, Middle-East, Hong Kong, South East Asia) Sanjay Modi said.

CEOs are expected to personally oversee specific initiatives, such as connecting with employees, focusing on diversity and CSR, and driving positive energy.
As per the report, Indian CEOs track their scorecards on employee engagement (62 per cent), succession planning (53 per cent), and workforce costs (47 per cent).