The Change Management Summer Survey questioned over 100 people from the Jersey business community in July and August, asking them to rank 10 issues affecting their business in order of importance.

In a similar survey by Greenlight in February, 23% of respondents cited business growth as the most important issue affecting their business, while pressure on margins was the most important reason for less than 13% of people, behind management of risk (20%), and cloud computing and data security (17%).

The survey also shows that people are becoming more concerned about the future of the finance industry, with 13% of respondents placing this as a main issue for their business, compared to just 3% six months ago.

CEO Greenlight CEO Eliot Lincoln said: “The findings of the survey are interesting in that they show the issues of concern to Island businesses are no different to those facing businesses in developed economies all over the world. Businesses face many challenges, but business growth, and driving efficiency are areas businesses have control over and are tackling head- on.

“Driving efficiency into an organisation involves change. Efficiency can be perceived as purely a bottom line driver, pushing out cost – however reconfiguring a business to enable the lower value or repetitive work to be streamlined and automated can enable organisations to create new products and services and achieve significant top line growth too, but it takes time and energy which is where looking at external support can help. The role of a change consultant is to analyse a business and to help the business identify challenges and resolve them. Sometimes we are so busy working IN our business that we find it hard to find the time to work ON our business.”