UK Business Leaders Abandon Long-Term Strategy and Development, Finds New Survey

UK business leaders are abandoning long-term strategy and development, with time being directed towards managing their day-to-day workload, according to new research.

Hampered by time “wasted” on admin, Priority Software found that if time-strapped business leaders had more hours in the day, they would spend them on:

• Strategy and planning (30 per cent)
• Growing the business (28 per cent)
• Personal development and self-training (28 per cent)

Instead, more than half of senior decision makers in the UK are wasting the equivalent of a working month on administrative tasks, while 50 per cent of C-Suite executives are spending over a quarter of the working week in meetings.

Lunch breaks are a rare occurrence with almost a third of senior decision makers stepping away from the desk less than once a week.

Working through lunch, combined with wasting time on inefficient tasks, points to poor time management, and can result in an unhappy and inefficient workforce.

“If business leaders are wasting this much time on admin, it’s fair to say this problem will run right through the organisation,” said Andres Richter, CEO of Priority Software. “The concern from our findings is that because of this, managers are not spending enough time on long term planning and strategy.  

“Business leaders should conduct an audit of where they’re spending their time to build an honest picture of where improvements could be made. Whether it’s deploying collaboration tools, transferring core functions into the cloud for real time progress reports or simply appraising wellbeing culture, this will put firms in a stronger position when weathering an unpredictable economic climate.”

The state of business mobility survey targeted 650 senior decision-makers in UK businesses using an online survey. The study, conducted by Atomik Research, analysed the perceived productivity of participants and their businesses. Respondents’ insights were further broken down based on demographic qualifiers, location, age, job level and sector. Priority Software completed this study to help businesses gain a better understanding of the challenges to maximising productivity in the workplace.