“Information is power. Particularly when the competition ignores the opportunity to do the same.” US billionaire Mark Cuban.
At Rialto, we pride ourselves on staying abreast of current and emerging market trends with one eye on the present and another into the future. This is one of the ways in which we support our clients from c-suite and senior leadership level to stay ahead of the competition, whether seeking career progression or career transition.
We share some of the most relevant, timely insights our executive career coaches and other colleagues through our regular articles and blogs, and our quarterly programme of webinar events
Here, we review what we believe to have been the top five themes of 2023, largely aligned with our predictions from the end of last year, linked back to some of our previous insights and articles of the year.
Without doubt, Generative AI was the biggest business trend of 2023 and, barring any unanticipated seismic disruptions, most likely to hold its place into 2024 and beyond. This time last year, ChatGPT was a bit of a novelty. People were using it to write poems to their dogs and test its joke-telling ability. Two months later, it had broken all records by acquiring 100 million active users. In May 2023, a Gartner poll of 2,500 executive leaders found that publicity around ChatGPT had driven almost half of them to increase AI investments with 70% in exploration mode and 19% piloting or using the technologies.
As we head into 2024, the breadth and scope of generative AI and its more analytical technological sibling, large language models (LLMs), is almost limitless, affecting every single sector and function of work with a market expected to grow from $6.2 billion in 2023 to $58.5 billion in 2028.
Over the last year, Rialto insights, articles and webinar events have reported on the dazzling potential of GenAI applications in areas including, but not limited to: intelligent recruitment, training tailored to current and anticipated skills needs, market trend analysis and response, enhanced employee engagement, resource optimisation, supply chain management, sales and marketing, personalised customer experiences, report writing, content generation, sentiment analysis and insights, data management and analysis, internal communications, real time reviews of diversity, equality and inclusion policies and sentiment.
We also looked at research into which areas were expected to see the biggest productivity gains from AI while this article looked at how c-suite executives should be forming a strategic relationship with technology to drive impact. Here we looked at key areas where HR leaders can harness AI to revolutionise recruitment processes, enhance employee experiences, and provide data-driven insights to inform strategic decision-making HR.
Rialto has been ahead of this sharp curve in raising awareness with many senior level clients on how to become proficient in these technologies, building the confidence and expertise needed to oversee transformation strategies to integrate appropriate applications seamlessly and safely across the business. We have supported others seeking new opportunities to learn the language and capitalise on the capabilities of AI or pivot towards emerging technology-based C-suite roles such as chief data officer, chief information security officer or chief digital officer.
A central role played by these new positions is to safeguard organisations from reputational and AI financial risks.
Highly-trained co-pilots will be essential in managing ethics and compliance, monitoring accuracy and, of course, ensuring all AI-driven objectives and outcomes are imbued with human sensitivity. Here Rialto explored five skills needed for an AI-enabled executive workforce.
Disruption and unpredictability have become the new normal. Today’s business leaders need to be able to absorb the shocks, endure adversity and adapt their business models, cultures, systems and workforces to respond and adapt fluently, with resilience no longer being a “Nice-to-Have”.
Executives have had another tumultuous 12 months, dealing with the legacy of 2022’s UK leadership chaos, sky-high inflation, rocketing costs and energy prices, economic uncertainty and pessimism, a slow job market, conflict close to home in Ukraine and Middle East, continued post-pandemic changes to working culture, not to mention the new technologies discussed above. Those who have shown resilience and adaptability have been better able to create a unified, collaborative business environment, driving cultures of innovation and learning, and making faster and more dynamic decisions.
On a more personal level, in-position executives continue to need to adapt their own leadership style and skills to evolve with the fast-changing market and the traditional requirements of their roles. We looked at common challenges faced by those preparing for navigating senior leadership transitions, Top Resilience Strategies during Career Transition and how to turn a negative into a positive, making the most of rejection in an executive job search. while this piece looked at ways executives can adapt, evolve and pivot to reposition themselves in a more desirable, future-focused niche.
Whether encouraging belonging among increasingly geographically-isolated staff, developing a wider network or consolidating stakeholder partnerships, building stronger relationships has shown itself to be at the heart of successful leadership in 2023.
A recent YouGov poll found that half of UK employees work from home some or all of the time and while the jury is out on the impact on productivity, many surveys have shown that distance workers often feel disconnected and worried they are invisible and so less likely to progress in their careers. C-suite need to work with HR to explore more collaborative operating models to recreate the interactive and sociable in-person dynamic alongside well-organised real life meet-ups. This approach can help avoid drops in morale and productivity, pitfalls of silo working, to build cohesive cultures, positive workforce identity and maximise joined[up performance.
In this insight, our expert Rialto executive career coaches shared five essential strategies they encourage executives to employ when seeking to enhance their leadership influence to motivate teams, engage stakeholders, inspire confidence and shape outcome from a distance.
We also looked at the value of continuous executive networking to build new and reinforce existing partnership relations. Data from McKinsey shows that only 14% of professionals have grown their networks since 2020, while less than 50% reported making any effort to do so. Yet the more extensive & relevant your network is, whether long-established or newly-connected, the greater your reach when you need to expand into new sectors or terrains or bring in expertise for business or personal growth. We looked at four key activities we recommend our executive clients to practise when networking: personal benchmarking, development and growth, gaining wider perspectives on innovation and sharing insights and advice.
This term was first coined in 1978 to describe the invisible social barrier preventing women from reaching higher levels then almost exclusively occupied by men.
More recently, its meaning has been expanded to include any prejudices or working conditions that hold individuals back, whether due to gender, race, disability, mental health, age, sexuality or gender identification. 2023 also saw people start to talk about the impact of the menopause on women in the workplace and ask how explorers could support them.
Equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) are now built into any successful business model and there are legal requirements to do so with serious consequences for discrimination.
Rialto director Richard Chiumento says: “Most executives may remember a time when the boardroom and senior management were homogenous zones of white males. Today, it is a joy & much more appropriate to see a make-up from every cultural background and of all ages, a real diverse group of individuals which makes the workplace so much more vibrant, dynamic, productive and interesting”.
However, while things have improved greatly, and progressive business leaders are truly recognising the unmistakable value of having an expansive plurality of views, experience and backgrounds in any boardroom or business environment, there still remains much work to be done.
“We still hear from clients who are coming up against these discriminatory barriers, whether seeking to progress within their organisation or looking at career transition. We help them to identify and overcome them while also advising leaders how to capitalise on an increasingly global market by building visibly and displaying a genuinely inclusive and welcoming culture.”
From 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority set “comply or explain” targets for listed UK companies of 40% female board members including at least one senior position and at least one member from an ethnic minority background.
The deadline saw a flurry of new appointments, with 60% of new non-executive vacancies filled by women in 2021-2022. However, the theme for 2023 was something of a regression with boards wary of geopolitical and economic tensions reverting to the security of experience over the unknown, suggesting that for some, it remains a box ticking exercise rather than a genuine commitment.
Headhunter Spencer Stuart surveyed the UK’s 150 biggest listed companies and found increased caution around appointing first-time directors, down to 31% from 44% the year before. The number of candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds was at its lowest level this year since 2020 while the proportion of non-executive vacancies going to female candidates peaked at 60% in 2022 but dropped to 51% in the 12 months to April, 2023.
Richard Chiumiento said: “Instead of just paying lip service to EDI, organisations need to set metrics and actively seek to redress any imbalances or obstacles to genuine equality of opportunity and remuneration parity. As well as ensuring compliance, this ensures better, more trusting and productive relations with employees, potential candidates and other stakeholders. Organisations that do not comply or only commit to the bare minimum risk a damaging financial impact as well as reputational damage.”
We spoke to some of our female clients about their experiences to mark International Women’s Day in March, 2023. They told us some of the greatest barriers they felt were thrown up by unconscious bias, imposter syndrome, misunderstanding of equality and AI bias within automated recruitment processes. You can read more and find advice from our executive career coaches here.
We will revisit EDI and look at the tangible benefits of a healthy and robust culture and policy in the New Year.
Post-Covid, we saw a “quiet quitting” trend, where employees and leaders at all levels stepped away or down in search of a better work-life balance having spent so much time out of the office during lockdowns. In 2023, finding, attracting and keeping the best talent from the resulting smaller pool became a strategic priority for every sector and at every level, as did investing in existing teams.
We talked throughout the year about the many tools and methods organisations can employ to ensure they have an intelligent recruitment system and a positive culture, which encourages organisational commitment and an ethos of continuous learning and career progression.
We looked at strategic HR priorities including cultivating talent and upskilling, and taking the initiative with AI to help achieve those objectives and drive growth and productivity.
We looked at how predictive analytics can identify trends and patterns needed now and in the future. AI can then find potential candidates with those skill sets, even if passive, and tailor individual job offerings based on market and internal data and the individual’s experience and requirements. While generative AI can create and deliver bespoke training programmes designed to meet organisational and individual need and ensure the workforce remains agile and responsive to the dynamic internal and wider economic landscape.
We also analysed what this meant for our clients who were seeking career transitions. Unfortunately, our exclusive data revealed that the talent shortage had not led to an abundance of opportunities.
Our analysis of publicly-advertised mid and senior level executives and leaders found an incredibly worrying decline in vacancies. For example, in November 2022 there were 12,761 publicly-advertised UK Chief Executive Officer vacancies. In October, 2023 the number was down to just 115. Non executive directors were down from 4,034 to 42 and Chief operating officers dropped from 1,814 to 82. (figures are a snapshot, and not a 100% accurate depiction)
We shared some of the invaluable advice provided to senior clients on how to shine in a gloomy marketplace and some of the bright spots on the otherwise gloomy horizon. Rialto director Nick Storey also shared his advice on staying ahead in executive career transition.
It has certainly been a tumultuous year and we hope you have found some of our insights and articles helpful in navigating the fast-changing marketplace and economic landscape. We will continue to monitor trends and developments across 2024. Please let us know if there is any subject or angles you would like us to look into.
The Rialto resident number cruncher has been tracking publicly-advertised executive-level vacancies for the past 12 months and our exclusive data for the year to October 31,…
If senior executives could have accurately predicted the full scope of the 2008 financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, or any…
As a senior professional looking to secure your next leadership role, the journey can often be marked by a rollercoaster…
