Businesses and their leaders are facing some pressing questions about their future talent pipelines and people strategy. And the pace of technological, political and economic change has left CEOs standing on constantly shifting ground.

PwC’s annual Global CEO Survey asked over 1,400 business leaders from 83 countries and 20+ sectors for their views on various business trends and issues related to growth, stakeholder expectations, transformation and measuring success. One area which was of particular importance what the of talent strategy. Issues around talent were high on the CEO agenda.

This year’s survey discovered that people want to support and work for organisations they can trust, with values that mirror their own. Consumers and customers are looking for more responsible and ethical goods, services, brands, companies and employers. Any organisation that fails to deliver what stakeholders are looking for will suffer. Corporate purpose is the new mantra; societal value the benchmark.

Eight years on from the financial crisis, any hope of a ‘new normal’ is fading; CEOs are facing up to a world that’s defined by instability, uncertainty and disruption. CEOs are finding it increasingly difficult to judge where growth will come from – emerging economies are slowing and growth in many developed countries is dependent on extreme monetary policies that will inevitably end. Overall, CEOs are less optimistic about the future; just 27 per cent expect global growth to improve over the next 12 months, compared to 37 per cent in 2015.

CEOs continue to struggle with geopolitical and  economic instability and the impact of megatrends. Technological change is seen as the most transformative trend, and 77 per cent of CEOs say it’s one of the top three trends behind a fundamental shift in their stakeholders’ expectations. Technology has changed the way we live, consume and work; it has created new, innovative business models, shone light on every shadow and blurred the lines between sectors and between work and play. CEOs see opportunities ahead but are also painfully aware that they’ll pay a high price for getting it wrong. Two thirds (66 per cent) of CEOs see more threats to the growth of their company, compared with 59 per cent in 2015.

The impact of technology on the workplace is adding a new dimension to the race for talent. Already, entirely new worker ecosystems are developing – a heady mix of automation, employees and contingent workers. ‘Work’ requires an additional classification: digitally, remotely, and flexibly. Managing people in such a complex world is intensely difficult but the more immediate problem for CEOs is that the skills their business will need five or ten years from now are becoming impossible to predict.

76 per cent of CEOs think business success in the 21st century will be measured by much more than just financial results

CEOs believe that by 2020 more than a third of the desired core skills of most occupations will be made up of skills that aren’t considered crucial to the job today. Business leaders must find a way to get the most out of their people in this complicated, constantly shifting world – nurturing adaptability, reskilling when they need to, finding untapped sources of talent and encouraging innovation. Competitive advantage lies in using and managing people well – and CEOs are starting to believe that this begins with binding a disparate group of workers together in a common cause.

CEOs see a shift in their stakeholders’ expectations of business. Consumers and customers are looking for smarter, more environmentally friendly products and services; and the growing influence of the Millennial generation, in the workplace and as consumers, is creating stronger demand for more responsible and ethical goods, services, brands, companies and employers. Moreover, businesses must deliver what they promise – in the digital world, nothing can be hidden. In an uncertain, unstable world, people look for something to cling to and believe in. In other words, an organisation’s purpose and values become far more important – and CEOs are altering their strategy as a result.

Corporate purpose can provide the anchor that employees and customers are looking for in an uncertain, fast-moving, unpredictable world. A fulfilling job at a valued employer provides meaning and the connections that many people crave as society becomes increasingly fractured. In fact, 76 per cent of CEOs agree that business success in the 21st century will be measured by much more than financial results. The Millennial generation is undoubtedly contributing to this trend – 59 per cent of this generation say they actively sought out an employer whose values matched their own.

But what do CEOs mean by corporate purpose and the impact of their organisation on society? There is broad agreement among the majority of CEOs that corporate purpose that takes into account a wider stakeholder view means taking a holistic view of the role of business in society. Sixty seven per cent say their purpose is centred on creating value for wider stakeholders as opposed to their direct shareholders, and 84 per cent say they’re expected to address wider stakeholder needs.

While CEOs are united in the need to make changes to their talent strategy to reflect the shifting demands of employees and other stakeholders, they’re less certain when it comes to executing that strategy, and in particular how their strategy translates into practical steps. The main barriers to movement seemed to be a lack of understanding about the disruptive changes ahead, short-term profitability pressures, resource constraints and a lack of alignment between people and innovation strategy. There’s undoubtedly a trade-off to be made between society’s needs and those of business. Thirty-one per cent felt that customers’ unwillingness to pay more for products or services is a barrier to change.

CEOs are concentrating on reforming those elements that are likely to have the biggest impact in terms of corporate purpose and values. This is important – the focus on developing soft skills and strong leadership is vital in a volatile, fast changing environment. CEOs are intent on creating a new generation of leaders who’ll be more aware of what it means to have a sense of purpose, and who will drive behaviours down throughout the organisation in the future.

The top three aspects CEOs plan to change to make the greatest impact on attracting, retaining and engaging the people they need to remain relevant and competitive are: focussing on pipeline leaders for tomorrow (49 per cent), workplace culture and behaviours (41 per cent) and effective performance management (38 per cent). While only four per cent are looking at the use of predictive workforce analytics.

Nevertheless, there are more difficult issues that shouldn’t be neglected. Fifty-nine per cent felt that their communications around organisational purpose and values could be more effective, particularly to employees, and many feel that their organisation already makes significant contributions to society in their everyday work, but that this wasn’t being effectively communicated. There are also concerns about capability – a third of CEOs (31 per cent) feel that they don’t have the capabilities they need to respond to widening stakeholder expectations. And it’s alarming that just four per cent of CEOs see workforce analytics as important to their talent strategy.

Sixty eight per cent think that data analytics is one of the most effective ways in which they can generate engagement with their stakeholders – so why ignore its power in developing employee engagement? Workforce data and measurement are extraordinarily valuable tools that can give organisations a competitive edge in talent management – and are essential in monitoring and measuring the impact of employer values on employees. It’s possible that HR is yet to successfully impress on the board the importance of workforce analytics and the link between investment in HR initiatives and bottom line metrics. If that’s the case, there’s important work to be done.

There’s no doubt that CEOs and their organisations are facing a perfect storm of economic woe and disruptive change. The future is more unpredictable than ever; success increasingly depends on an organisation’s ability to rapidly adapt, reskill and deploy people to wherever the next opportunity arises. Cost pressures continue unabated but it would be foolish for any organisation to neglect their investment in people in this environment. Talent is a crucial driver of value; get it right and costs are reduced while revenue improves. It’s people who power your bottom line.

The difficulty for CEOs is where to best target valuable resources: our survey shows that they have realised that shared values and a sense of purpose are becoming critical to talent strategy, but where should they start? Creating a true sense of purpose – one that reaps real dividends in terms of productivity, loyalty and the employer brand – demands a thoughtful approach.

It means focusing on the wellbeing of employees, on encouraging adaptability and diversity throughout the organisation and, most critically, it depends on making effective and intelligent use of data analytics in talent strategy. This all comes down to people: it is people that will drive through change.