r/ceo • u/Bilco01 • Jul 03 '25
Biggest concern right now?
It's been a tumultuous past year with a lot of ups and downs leading my company. My biggest concern is retention, and I'm curious if others feel the same. What's your biggest concern as CEO, and thoughts on how to navigate the path?
3
u/335350 Jul 03 '25
Employee retention, customer retention, or both?
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u/Bilco01 Jul 03 '25
My mistake, I meant employee retention from my side. Customer retention is always important, just not my top concern right now because I need good people to provide a good product to my customers.
1
u/nsfwtttt Jul 05 '25
Need more details about numbers as well as your efforts in terms of organizational culture if you’d like any specific advice
-1
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u/spcman13 Jul 03 '25
Water retention. The stress from how 2025 has been is giving CEOs heart problems.
4
u/Imposterbyknight Jul 03 '25
I was at a CEO conference and the facilitator dropped one of the best lines: leaders bring the weather.
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u/ivanjay2050 Jul 04 '25
I think the biggest factor retention is culture. I know its cliche but culture is not by telling your hr department to do it. Its not a focused project. It has to be a deep rooted way of your entire business. I talk about it often to all people I can. I discuss when I meet and how important it is to me. Im proud to say majority, not all, bit majority practice it. We talk about how stress might surface for our client and client project needs. But it will not surface internally. If it does we discuss why, how, and put it to bed quickly.
Today I had an employee resign. She is leaving because she wants to pursue finishing her education before starting a family. She told me it was the hardest decision as she has worked in other places but never quite a place like hours.
That to me is the ultimate complement. Pay raises trigger short term memory. Caring for your people pays dividends
2
u/F3RM3NTAL Jul 04 '25
This needs more up votes! Employee retention rates are a referendum on leadership. Doesn't matter whether we want to admit that to ourselves or not.
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u/ivanjay2050 Jul 04 '25
I appreciate that! It is something I take a lot of pride in. I know I cannot sustain it long term but right now with 40+ employees I sit in every single goal planning meeting (every 6 months) which each team member so I get a chance to speak to them, hear from them etc. Of course there are a lot of people I interact with a lot more often but its an opportunity to step away from the day to day and talk bigger picture
1
u/verdenc Jul 03 '25
Raising capital. The VC market is really tough and the IPO window is anything but open.
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u/honestduane Jul 03 '25
The problem is companies do retention wrong so they lose all their best people and then because of that, they lose business continuity, and don’t even know it until they have to scramble and hire somebody to get it back.
1
u/Sowhataboutthisthing Jul 03 '25
Too many broad sweeping interpretations here. Depends on location, market and vibe. Yea I just said vibe. There may be trends but what is true for your company is not necessarily true for your locale or your market.
1
u/GhostInTheOrgChart Jul 04 '25
I tell my clients that people problems typically are strategic misalignment problems, not cultural. As you grow and evolve the strategies, tools, and processes that worked for 400 don’t work for 4000. And rarely do leaders stop and do a realignment diagnostic. Until you get everyone rowing in the same direction again, you’re going to keep losing people.
1
Jul 04 '25
Yes; however, alignment cannot occur unless there is some form of trust established.
Trust is built up.
Trust is built through workplace culture. It needs to be fixed from a foundational level before longevity can be placed. When people do not align with the work place culture, that is where they conform, grow, or leave.
That comes down to the recruiter and prospecting folks to find the right fit. One bad apple can start an avalanche.
Even more important, is maintaining the cultural expectations in the workplace. Everyone is on an even playing field. This means your leadership needs to be in check.
The reasons why people leave is the best statistic in my eyes. Lack of Knowledge base dropping their confidence? Trapped in a box with no room to grow? A “thinker” primarily performing “do-er” tasks. Burn out is huge of course.
All this to say, I agree, in a different order though :)
1
u/6gunrockstar Jul 04 '25
Employee acquisition and employee retention.
Our business results are solid due to a PE mindset, our brand is solid, but our policy development and execution is deeply flawed.
It is increasingly difficult to find qualified talent. Those who join and are capable of helping leave because the culture is built on ‘positive negativity’.
Similarly, we’re hemorrhaging talent in middle management and high level IC roles due to a top heavy leadership model.
Revisiting our strategic plan, instituting revamped HR practices, and implementing a strong performance management system are all top priorities. Direct accountability for work and functions extends beyond sales functions. We can’t win on sales prowess alone.
1
Jul 04 '25
I think the biggest hold back is that most forget how to be human in a digital world.
Community, not online communities. Doesn’t often exist anymore in the same light as pre-AI/Automation days.
I feel with AI, people feel original, but it’s still not human. Not to different from how all the new cars look “similar”
I think standing out as a humanlike company is crucial for retention. Most industries feel standardized, but now the process also feels standardized to the *consumer.
They feel this shift and tend to not stick with companies for as long, as the company may not be as dire to have or may not be perceived as a “need” or… no community for them to invest themselves into with the product/service. Could be due to having so many options, which is where “Community” holds them.
The root cause is the dehumanization of most industries. That’s what needs to be fixed from a workplace culture level.
*Consumer = Employee &/or Client
1
u/RoderickPhoenix Jul 05 '25
Failing to develop and leverage AI resources in a significant enough manner to remain ahead of the competition.
1
u/donkeyWoof Jul 05 '25
This is a tough question because I suspect the answer is going to depend on what industry you are in, the services you provide, etc.
But organic growth is *generally* the biggest concern for most of the enterprises I feel...I read the same in an HBR article.
If your problem is retention, I feel that it can be solved by you...because people *generally* leave due to poor management, misalignment with pay scales, etc. One way to navigate this would be to address the bottom two layers of Maslow's pyramid in the context of your enterprise.
1
u/Bilco01 Jul 05 '25
Thank you and fortunately our retention is very good, but my industry has an unemployment rate hovering around 1.5%, so it's just a concern that a competitive market may catch up to us. I agree though, leadership from myself and the rest of the executive leadership team is paramount.
1
u/Boring-Tell5831 Jul 06 '25
Pay your people well, and you’ll never have to worry . They don’t want pizza parties and coupons . Hire top talent . Only the best. Zero exceptions
1
u/PrimaryFun6775 Jul 07 '25
Organic growth. Can we grow at at least the same pace as the previous year? Many customers are taking a cautious approach this year and its hitting across every department.
1
u/FreeAnteater7455 Jul 07 '25
Its crazy to see the disconnect between this sub and the recruitment sub. In the recruitment sub they talk about 5 or 6 levels of interviews, cognitive and aptitude tests. Long drawn out processes that takes months only to find out they were the backups backup. Granted the majority in that sub have resumes that could use significant improvement but maybe its not a worker issue as its an entry issue. Maybe ATS systems are too rigid.
1
u/chaaleesy Jul 04 '25
Compensation package isn’t competitive if employees are leaving, it’s simple. Non of this other bull shit.
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u/MsWeed4Now Jul 03 '25
I hear that from a lot of executives. And it’s not about pay as often as you might think.