Irish chief executives have been more successful in embedding a ‘fast fail’ innovation culture in their organisations than their peers worldwide, according to KPMG’s 2019 Global CEO Outlook.

Four out of five business leaders in Ireland want their employees to feel empowered to innovate and try new things without worrying about negative consequences, according to the KPMG research.

Unlike their counterparts worldwide, Irish businesses are more successful in actually embedding such a culture, with 75% claiming to have achieved this objective.

KPMG managing partner Seamus Hand (pictured) commented: “Business leaders are encouraging their teams to try new things and experiment, where success isn’t guaranteed, and Irish CEOs appear to be successful in embedding the ethos that lessons from failure are valuable in supporting the innovation process.”

The vast majority of corporate CEOs in Ireland are confident they will succeed in this regard, but are cautious about top-line revenue growth, with most projecting modest three-year growth of up to 2%. As with 2018, they are also maintaining a positive three-year growth outlook for the Irish economy.

In Association with

Just on half the CEOs inthe survey said they are hiring new skills regardless of future growth targets, up from one in four in the 2018 survey. However, two thirds believe it will be challenging to find the talent they require.

Chief executives expect to be in post for shorter spans of time, the survey shows. However, the resilience of the Irish boss also shows, with two-thirds of respondents admitting to a significant misstep early in their career, such as launching an unsuccessful venture, which they were able to overcome.

• The KPMG CEO Global Outlook can be downloaded here.