According to a recent survey from Fellows of The Leaders Institute, business leaders across the UK including Wales want to use the opportunities created by COVID-19 and the global lockdown to vision a different kind of future.
The survey found that when asked whether the UK should return to where it was before COVID the response was 100% NO with 100% saying they believe there is an opportunity to create a different future. What is important in that future?
These are the top 10:
- Reducing emissions and protecting the environment 95%
- Creating an education system that is fit for the 21st Century 93%
- A less bureaucratic health service and better financially supported 91.5%
- A new recovery plan for post COVID 87.6%
- Building a fairer economic system 84%
- Innovation should be better supported 84%
- Greater support for mental well-being 83%
- More should be done for the elderly and social care 81.5%
- Companies should focus on all stakeholders not just shareholders 81%
- More incentives for upskilling the workforce 78%
Executive Director The Leaders Institute Hilarie Owen said:
“Given the toxic shock the world is currently experiencing it’s not surprising to see that business leaders are focussing on egalitarian goals. Coronavirus is a great leveller and people now have a greater appreciation that humans are vulnerable too. We have seen the strain on the NHS and social care and the impact on mental health and that will continue long after the virus has disappeared. The findings seem to show that business leaders are far more aware of the interconnections of the world and the opportunity to pause, think and create something that is a better legacy than the direction we were heading in before coronavirus.”
When asked to name their own key considerations, Fellows again indicated that society can do better by citing more distance working, modernising the NHS and reducing UK reliance on food and manufacturing from abroad.
Adds Hilaire:
“This survey gives us a blueprint for a ‘transformation map’ that can be built on throughout society. The real challenge now is how to translate this desire to do better into action that results in that desired change. “
