Deloitte study: Romanian organizations’ success largely depends on leaders’ ability to adapt to the labor market changes, but more than half of companies are not prepared

Romanian organizations’ success largely depends on leaders’ ability to adapt to the ever-changing demands of the labor market (81%), but more than half of the companies (57%) are not prepared to address this topic, according to Deloitte 2024 Global Human Capital Trends survey for Romania. The main barriers holding back initiatives related to preparing leaders for changes in the labor market are the difficulty to prioritize this topic, due to the multiple changes and many other pressing needs (37%), insufficient understanding of the issue and its risks and opportunities (36%) or other internal constraints (32%).

The success of organizations in Romania also depends on finding better ways to measure worker performance and value beyond traditional productivity (77%), but companies face obstacles such as internal constraints (41%), insufficient understanding of the issue and its risks and opportunities (37%) and lack of leadership alignment or commitment (32%).

Another important aspect for the organizations’ success identified by the study is reimagining the work, workplace, and workforce in line with technology developments (67%). Progress in this direction is, however, hindered by similar challenges – insufficient understanding of the issue and its risks and opportunities (40%), lack of leadership alignment or commitment (36%) and other internal constraints (31%).

At the same time, the participants in the study believe that, for the success of a company, it is very important that employees’ imagination and curiosity keep pace with technological innovation (68%). But only 38% of respondents say their employers are advanced in addressing this issue, and the main barrier is insufficient understanding of the issue and its risks and opportunities.

In the medium term (the next three years), the factors expected to have the greatest impact on organizations’ success in Romania are the focus on trust and transparency in the relationship between workers and organization (26%), reimagining the work, workplace and workforce in line with technology developments (14%) and the impact of the organization’s interaction with every human (13%).

"The results of the study show that employers in Romania must pay increasing attention to changes in the labor market, present and future, and take concrete measures to address them successfully. And with exponential developments in technology, which create uncertainty among employees, one of the pressing issues is ensuring the sustainability of human capital, which broadly means that every human should benefit from any kind of interaction with the organization. Nearly three-quarters of Romanian participants in the survey consider this aspect very important to the success of their company, but only 6% are addressing it successfully, and 42% make real progress in this direction. Therefore, in the medium term at least, human capital will remain a top concern for employers in Romania, especially in terms of stimulating human imagination and curiosity to keep pace with technological innovations," said Raluca Bontas, Partner, Deloitte Romania.

In addition, 66% of organizations consider very important for HR to shift from an operations function to a cross-functional approach, but even here the main barrier is insufficient understanding of the issue and its risks and opportunities (38%).

Deloitte 2024 Global Human Capital Trends survey for Romania was conducted among more than 450 business and human resources leaders across different industries, including financial services, consumer, energy and resources, from organizations of various sizes, including large companies, with up to 10,000 employees.

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit and assurance, tax and legal, consulting, financial advisory, and risk advisory services to nearly 90% of the Fortune Global 500® and thousands of private companies. The firm’s professionals deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in capital markets, enable clients to transform and thrive, and lead the way toward a stronger economy, a more equitable society and a sustainable world. Building on its 175-plus year history, Deloitte spans more than 150 countries and territories. Its objective is to make an impact that matters through its approximately 460,000 people worldwide.

Deloitte Romania is one of the leading professional services organizations in the country providing, in cooperation with Reff & Associates | Deloitte Legal, services in audit, tax, legal, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, business processes as well as technology services and other related services, through 3,200 professionals.