What can be the easiest and best way to know a company inside out? Those saying 'befriending the company's Chief Executive Officer' might be in for a shock as a survey has found that most CEOs are in the dark about the overall health of their companies.

The survey conducted by global consultancy major Deloitte and Economist Intelligence Unit found that complex financial jargon has nothing to do with the ignorance of these high-profile executives, and it is the lack of non-financial information that is leaving them unaware of the companies' overall health.

While 87 per cent of CEOs and senior executives surveyed described their ability to track financial performance as excellent or good, only 29 per cent graded their non-financial knowledge up to the mark.

The survey pointed out a huge gap between the rhetoric and reality with the respondents admitting the need for information on non-financial performance indicators.

In the survey, 78 per cent of the CEOs said that financial indicators alone did not adequately capture their company's strengths and weaknesses. 

Commenting on the study, Deloitte CEO William G Parrett said: "The attitudes of CEOs towards understanding the value of non-financial indicators and measuring performance against  executives and boards are not yet prepared to act."

Most of the executives admitted being under increasing pressure to measure the non-financial indicators, but said that the quality of the information they received was still inadequate.

"The survey reveals a critical disconnect between rhetoric and reality in the boardrooms and management circles of some of the worlds leading companies," Parrett said.

The results of the latest survey indicated 57 per cent of the firms surveyed are under increasing pressure to measure non-financial indicators and executives understanding these performance drivers are indeed creating significant value for their companies.

Customer satisfaction, innovation and employee commitment were identified as key drivers of performance by the respondents.

For the CEOs, most important non-financial drivers of corporate performance are: increasing risk to reputation, customer influence, global competition, regulatory emphasis on non-financial measures, innovation, scrutiny of non-financial performance measures by the media, NGOs, lobbyists.

The study also found the need of significant changes in corporate governance to overcome obstacles to monitoring non-financial performance.

While 80 per cent of CEOs were in favour of management and board together tracking the financial results, they said non-financial indicators should be monitored mostly by senior managers.

The survey found the impediments to the use of non-financial performance metrics include underdeveloped tools, organisational scepticism, unclear accountability, time constraints and the concern that such metrics may reveal too much to competitors.

Deloitte CEO reasoned out the ignorance of CEOs on non-financial indicators by saying that a consistent tracking of soft issues like employee engagement, innovation or customer satisfaction is more an art than science, while financial metrics are more familiar and quantifiable to many.

The survey findings about ignorance of top managers on non-financial metrics comes amid the growing value of these issues today. More companies are including non-financial data in their annual reports or their shareholder briefings to present their overall health to the stakeholders.

More than a third of the respondents (37 per cent) admitted that firm's performance is determined more by intangible assets and capabilities than by hard assets.

The knowledge about non-financial performance metrics would help the firms identify their edge over rivals, improve performance and ultimately contribute to an improved bottom line, Parrett said.

"It is a matter of understanding that a more balanced mix of financial and non-financial objectives can improve performance and even financial results," he added.