As many as 59% of senior business leaders said changing priorities and shifting business requirements are the biggest obstacle to execution, and while another 36% pointed to processes, systems or ways of working that have not kept pace. In comparison, only 5% feel lack of the right capabilities or talent created a drag.
A survey released by Biz Staffing Comrade on Friday, 2 October, noted that as organisations push to grow and transform, talent is no longer seen as the biggest barrier to execution.
Insight from an executive masterclass which brought together senior HR leaders showed organisations rarely fail for lack of talent, funding or intent. The space between strategy and behaviour causes the biggest drag on delivering priorities.
Drag is instability, not talent — Key insights
- 59% of leaders said changing priorities and shifting business requirements are the biggest obstacle to execution.
- 36% pointed to processes, systems or ways of working that have not kept pace.
- Not one leader cited slow decision-making.
- The data challenges the widely held belief that talent scarcity is what holds organisations back. When strategy keeps moving and the systems behind it lag, even strong teams struggle to deliver.
“Shifting priorities are now a constant in business, not a temporary disruption. The organisations that execute well are not the ones that hire fastest, but the ones that build enough flexibility into their teams, processes and systems to absorb change without losing momentum,” said Jasvinder Bedi, Managing Partner, Biz Staffing Comrade.
Technology moving faster than people
- Half of all leaders (50%) said change-management effort is what organisations most often underestimate when investing in technology, artificial intelligence (AI) or transformation.
- A further 23% pointed to the capability needed to use technology effectively, and 18% to its impact on existing roles and operating models.
- Only 9% said it is the time required to realise ROI.
This means, over nine in ten leaders believe transformation falters on the people side, not the technology. The finding is consistent with Biz Staffing Comrade's 2025 HR Leaders' Roundtable on 'The Human Enterprise in an AI World', where 27.3% of HR leaders cited inadequate communication and change management as a key barrier to AI adoption, second only to a lack of trust in AI-driven decisions, the report added.
Puneet Arora, Managing Partner at Biz Staffing Comrade said that companies are budgeting carefully for technology but treating adoption as an afterthought. “When half of all leaders say change management is the most underestimated part of transformation, the message is clear: the return on AI will depend on how well roles, skills and ways of working are redesigned around it,” he added.
Operating model is ceiling on growth
Asked what would become the biggest constraint if their organisation had to grow 2x in three years —
- 41% named the operating model, processes and systems, and 36% culture, alignment and decision-making.
- Critical talent (14%) and leadership capacity (9%) ranked far lower.
- At the same time, while no leader sees slow decision-making as a problem today, more than a third expect culture, alignment and decision-making to break under the strain of rapid growth.
“Talent acquisition is evolving from a hiring function into a capability function. Our clients are no longer asking us only to fill roles. They want help identifying the capabilities their next phase of growth will require, and deciding whether to hire, develop or redeploy talent to build them,” said Aditi Rana, Managing Partner, Biz Staffing Comrade.
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