As organisations come to terms with the reverberations of the global recession, business leaders appear to be changing their priorities in the quest for growth.

A KPMG survey charting the views of 3,000 business leaders suggests that managing and retaining the right people within an organisation is ‘critical’ for one in four senior executives, while only 10% are prioritising cutting staff costs.

The survey shows that managers are thinking more creatively about staff retention. 43% said that ‘motivating people’ is their highest priority, while 30% said that offering development opportunities to their key people is critical. Anne Marie Detert, director of KPMG’s People and Change consulting practice, said:

“Clearly, lessons have been learned from past recessions.

“Last year, people issues didn’t even figure as a top ten priority for global business leaders – this year, they rank in fifth place. Boardrooms have realised that they cannot afford to lose good people.”

Meanwhile, a new climate of optimism in global business is allowing organisation to realise the key drivers they believe will stimulate economic performance.

Asked to identify which factors will influence growth, respondents focused on a mixture of activities, including the implementation of innovative management practices (50%), development of strong global governance policies and procedures (45%) and employing alternative business models to better serve customers (43%).

As Detert identifies, organisational growth is deemed unachievable “without high-potential future leaders and individuals with business critical skills”.