What priorities are true priorities?

When so many pressing business issues are critical to an organisation all at once, prioritising a few can be challenging

“The top two barriers to achieving expected outcomes from innovation and customer centricity are changing expectations and conflicting priorities, according to survey responses.”

The modern C-suite agenda is full of important, sometimes urgent challenges. Global issues like climate, trust, the future of work, and well-being are reshaping business. Critical transformation projects like digital, business model, and customer centricity are under way.

What’s more, organisations face ongoing challenges stemming from a volatile business environment, including inflation, supply chain disruption, and geopolitical unrest. Add to the list the importance of earnings and stakeholder trust.

Facing so many critical issues simultaneously, how are C-suite executives truly prioritising? A Deloitte survey entitled: “Contending with the impossibility of deprioritisation: The reality of modern-day leadership” surveyed over 1000 C-suite executives in Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America to see how they’re allocating their corporate investments and found corporate agendas driven by urgent and often conflicting demands. The survey outcome indicates that many are struggling to identify any one or two priorities as more important than others. The survey asked C-suite leaders to choose their most important current focus areas from among 10 core business priorities involving growth, purpose, people, process, and technology. More than 60% of respondents chose seven of the 10, and 25% chose all 10.

Even further, respondents see no reprieve from this burgeoning agenda. When asked what they’ll likely prioritise over the next three years, 30% chose all 10 core priorities.

Innovation, Customer Centricity Emerge

Amid high rankings across the 10 core business priorities, one issue edged out the others in the analysis – driving innovation – followed closely by maximising and protecting customer data. C-suite leaders in the analysis are focusing on customer experience, new market or product expansion, and existing market or product growth as the expected outcomes from corporate investments.

The top two barriers to achieving expected outcomes from innovation and customer centricity are changing expectations and conflicting priorities, according to survey responses. They outranked other significant barriers such as lack of talent or budget and macroeconomic trends.

The survey findings suggest organisations that can build trust and resilience may be better equipped to manage persistent challenges that are accompanied by rapidly moving and conflicting targets. The level of trust that organisations build among board members, investors, employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders is integral to many challenging areas: cyber; environmental, social, and governance issues; compliance; product and service quality; and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The way in which leaders can manage competing priorities could become a differentiator that shapes how organisations evolve. In an environment where C-suite leaders are facing so many critical, sometimes conflicting priorities, a focus on fostering resilience may help organisations thrive amid complexity.