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Pedersen & Partners, the leading international executive search firm surveyed CEOs, CIO/CTOs and HR Directors of the Czech-based companies during the first six months of 2018 to gauge insights on current trends, and how the changing needs and structure of their businesses affect their role.

The answers in the surveys are taken directly from some of the interviewees and are intended to reflect similar answers from other interviewees. The surveys weren’t scientific, and we did not segment the market by sector or size of company/organization, instead we interviewed executives from a range of company sizes and sectors.

While the roles and responsibilities of the C-level executives we talked to are different, we found some common patterns in how they viewed the current situation and their anticipation of the future:

•    All companies are experiencing changes brought on by digitisation and strong need for innovation;
•    Most of the executives pointed out the importance of continuous learning in order to align their skills and competencies with the needs of their business;
•    Need for developing a good balance of soft skills and functional and market knowledge was also high on the executive agenda;
•    Future-thinking based on the good understanding of business and current environment was also a common thread that ran through the answers of the executives.

Diving more specifically in the results of each survey, for the CHROs we found particularly interesting that:

•    The role of HR is changing from pure execution to becoming a strategic partner for the management and other departments as well as acting as mediator between the managers and their teams,
•    HR is often asked to be the main driver of internal communication about all changes in the business,
•    These changes create the need for the HR professionals to strengthen and upgrade their competencies and skills, especially in areas such as business acumen, proactive approach, ability to adapt etc.,
•    HR’s biggest challenges are in leadership development at all levels, recruitment and increased levels of remuneration (not always fully justified).

From the CIO/CTO survey particularly interesting observations are:

•    Many CIOs are heavily impacted by digital transformation where internal IT is often the main driver of the transformation,
•    Penetration of new trends in IT is growing quickly hand-in-hand with the need to have IT specialists with relevant skills in these areas,
•    Most technology leaders are asked to focus on the business mindset of their headcount and upgrade knowledge of their specialists to consultancy level; and,
•    There is great hunger for IT specialists, mainly for SW developers.

The main findings of the Country CEOs survey were:

•    Some Country Managers have been asked to improve their skills in people management and overall leadership,
•    Most Country CEOs saw that there was an increasing demand for soft skills rather than hard skills both in terms of them performing their own role and for many of their staff to work effectively too,
•    The CEOs consider that there is a shortage of managers and staff with complex thinking, drive and enthusiasm, responsibility and autonomy,
•    In line with market changes, CEOs are also facing the need to gain experience and competencies connected with the ability to work in the virtual world.

“We received positive feedback and a lot of interest in the results of survey, as such data helps our clients and partners keep the pulse on the current market trends. We see that senior level executives in the Czech Republic - be it local companies or MNCs, small or large businesses - face a multitude of complexities in leading, innovating and transforming their companies, keeping up with the pace of change and attracting strong talent with the right mix of skills,” commented Paul Inman, Principal.

“At Pedersen & Partners we bring the combination of in-depth knowledge of the local market combined with global coverage and ability to draw on the expertise of our international team, thus helping out clients overcome the challenges they face,” added David Hruska, Principal, Technology Practice Group in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Pedersen & Partners is a leading international Executive Search firm. We operate 56 wholly owned offices in 52 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia & the Americas. Our values Trust, Relationship and Professionalism apply to our interaction with clients as well as executives. More information about Pedersen & Partners is available at www.pedersenandpartners.com

If you would like to conduct an interview with a representative of Pedersen & Partners, or have other media-related requests, please contact: Anastasia Alpaticova, Marketing and Communications Manager at: anastasia.alpaticova@pedersenandpartners.com