Mind the Gap

Jonathan Copulsky, a Principal at Deloitte Consulting, says "there is a high level of confidence among the group we spoke to about themselves, their ability to outpace the competition and confidence in their organizations," but they survey revealed a gap between confidence and actions. "While they all agree that growth was a high priority issue there was not a consistent investment in actions to help facilitate growth or remove any of the barriers to growth," Copulsky says.

One such area was cyber security and cyber risk, where most people agreed that was an important barrier to growth but yet "only a minority of the people we spoke to thought they were taking an adequate measures against cyber security," he says.

Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of the CXOs who say "cyber risk" is an obstacle to growth do not prioritize investments in both technology and incident response.

Another key finding, Copulsky says, centered around the future and the pipeline of future leaders. A majority of CXOs surveyed (52 percent) and CXOWs (59 percent) do not think that their direct reports have the skills to assume greater leadership roles in the organization.

Meanwhile, when asked about the obstacles to greater leadership among employees, nearly half (44 percent) of CXOs cite lack of personal ambition and motivation, while half (50 percent) of CXOWs, who have expressed the ambition to become part of the C-suite, cite lack of access to leadership training. Other survey findings, support that sentiment, Copulsky says. Of the CXOs who cite "shortage of skilled workers" as an obstacle to growth, more than one third (35 percent) do not prioritize investments in employees, such as advanced recruiting and training programs.

When it comes to innovation, America's top executives are confident in their ability to innovate, but are divided on how to drive innovation. Findings indicate that 73 percent of CXOs and 75 percent of CXOWs believe in the ability of their organization to innovate faster than the competition. Yet, they are divided as to the nature of innovation: 53 percent of CXOs and 50 percent of CXOWs say innovation is learned and repeatable, while 47 percent of CXOs and 49 percent of CXOWs say it is spontaneous and random.

When asked about how they foster innovation, CXOs have difficulty pinpointing a specific factor, as they use a variety of methods such as: allowing time for employees to innovate (45 percent), building a culture that embraces innovation (43 percent), adopting new technologies (42 percent), and encouraging team work and collaboration (42 percent).

Meanwhile, some of the more structural and process-oriented methods used to drive innovation are preferred by fewer CXOs: Only 36 percent of CXOs say they are incorporating contributions to innovation in performance reviews, and 33 percent say they are applying innovation processes and practices to fuel innovation.

The inaugural Deloitte Business Confidence Report, conducted between July 7 and Aug. 4, 2014, explores America's top leaders' confidence in the overall direction of their businesses, how they are addressing obstacles to growth, their outlook on talent and leadership, and their views on innovation.

The survey was conducted among two groups: 1) 300 U.S. "CXOs," defined as U.S. adults employed full-time with C-level titles at companies with 1,000 or more employees, and 2) 300 U.S. "CXOs-in-Waiting," defined as U.S. adults ages 33- to 48, employed full-time, with a professional title of SVP, executive VP, or equivalent, at companies with 1,000 or more employees. All survey respondents also had a college degree or advanced degree.