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Survey Reveals Worker Confidence in Company Leaders; Provinces With Greatest Rise in Leadership Challenges

TORONTO, Nov. 17, 2015 /CNW/ - Leading a business is only getting harder, recent research found. In a Robert Half Management Resources survey, 87 per cent of chief financial officers (CFOs) said it is more challenging to be a company leader today than it was five years ago.

But survey results also found many managers enjoy support from their teams. Seventy-nine per cent of workers surveyed expressed confidence in their leaders, while only 6 per cent do not feel confident at all.

Provinces Where Leadership Challenges Have Risen Most
Below are the provinces where the difficulties of being in management have intensified the most over the past five years, based on the percentages of executives who said it is significantly or somewhat more challenging to be a company leader today.

1. British Columbia (100 per cent)
2. Alberta (98 per cent)
3. Quebec (95 per cent)
4. Manitoba (92 per cent)

Navigating the Changing Leadership Landscape
"Facing an ever-evolving corporate landscape, executives have to deal with the pressures of emerging trends that require them to continually reassess everything from technology and staffing challenges, to regulatory demands and compliance requirements," said David King, Canadian president of Robert Half Management Resources. "Great leaders understand the fundamentals of their field, but also know that it is the ability to recognize new opportunities through innovation that will ultimately set their business apart."

King reminds managers to look to their employees for support. "An engaged team is a committed team, and executives who address challenges and opportunities with their employees build a foundation of trust, and shared goals for business growth." 

Robert Half Management Resources details five challenges facing leaders today and the attributes needed to address them:

1. Taking a 'big picture' view. As CFOs whose work outside of finance has expanded in recent years know well, executives are no longer tasked with just overseeing their department. They must draw on their strong business acumen, understanding how their unit's decisions and performance affect the broader organization.

2. Overcoming staffing challenges. Building a skilled team in the face of candidate shortages and retention concerns requires special talents. Business leaders today are tasked with fostering relationships with recruiting sources and developing an effective staffing management strategy, blending full-time personnel with specialized professionals who can be brought in on-demand.

3. Maintaining an edge over diverse competitors. Firms face threats not just from traditional competitors, but also increasingly from organizations disrupting the marketplace with new business models. Organizations need leaders who can anticipate changes in the competitive landscape and inspire innovation to stay on top.

4. Remaining compliant with evolving mandates. Regulatory pressures continue to mount for many industries and companies. Executives today need to be experts on the mandates affecting their business and understand how compliance is more than meeting a set of requirements and can instead help the firm prosper.

5. Keeping up with technology. As history has repeatedly shown, technology can change everything at a moment's notice. The onus is on business leaders to monitor the technology trends affecting their organizations and positions and adapt accordingly.

About the Survey
The research was developed by Robert Half Management Resources and conducted by independent research firms. The CFO survey is based on telephone interviews with 274 CFOs from a stratified random sample of Canadian companies. The survey of professionals includes responses from more than 270 Canadian workers age 18 or over and employed in office environments.

About Robert Half Management Resources
Robert Half Management Resources is the premier provider of senior-level finance, accounting and business systems professionals to supplement companies' project and interim staffing needs. The company has 150 locations worldwide and offers assistance to business leaders and consultants at roberthalfmr.ca and on its blog at blog.roberthalfmr.com. Follow @RobertHalf_CAN on Twitter for additional workplace advice and hiring trends.

SOURCE Robert Half Management Resources

Image with caption: "A More Challenging Business Environment (CNW Group/Robert Half Management Resources)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151117_C4438_PHOTO_EN_546140.jpg