CEOs’ Most Important Business Challenges In 2022

The Conference Board recently released the results of its 2022 survey of CEOs called Reset and Reimagine: Surviving and Thriving in a Uniquely Challenging Business Environment, and it is chock full of interesting perspectives about what CEOs think are important business challenges in the coming year. Topping the list were Covid-19 disruptions, rising inflation and labor shortages. 

While it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Covid-19 continues to concern business leaders, other worries such as rising inflation, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions and changing consumer behaviors were external factors that CEOs think will have the greatest impact on their businesses this year globally — although US-based CEOs were more concerned about labor shortages (ranking this issue number one) and cybersecurity (ranking it number five) than some of their counterparts around the world.

Low on their list of concerns were corporate debt levels, vaccine availability, the future of cities, cryptocurrencies and shareholder activism. Climate change ranked relatively low on the list of concerns (number 16 globally), but some believe that is because climate change is now viewed as more of a long-term risk rather than an immediate concern and mitigating climate risk is becoming part of the day-to-day operations of many businesses rather than something that CEOs see as a disrupting external issue.

When asked about the internal issues that their companies will focus on the coming year, areas of high focus included attracting and retaining talent, accelerating digital transformation, improving cash flow, developing the next generation of leaders and modifying their business models. 

Original article: (https://www.forbes.com/sites/timothyjmcclimon/2022/01/27/ceos-most-important-business-challenges-in-2022/?sh=58e83dc4ce13 )