IBM Global Business Services recently released their Global Human Capital Study 2008, entitled: Unlocking the DNA of the Adaptable Workforce. It addressed how globalization is impacting companies and their workforces. Over 400 senior HR executives from 40 countries participated in the study. A key finding of the study revealed the overall lack of quantity and quality of executive leadership necessary to take businesses into the future.
“We believe successful future leaders will need to work more effectively with outside partners; serve as role models and mentors to individuals who are increasingly dispersed across countries, regions and geographies; and provide guidance and structure to employees who come from a variety of generations, experience levels and cultures.”
Companies have expressed “a deep concern” over the potential shortage of qualified candidates. Retirement of the Baby-Boomers along with the growing need for personnel in emerging markets has taxed the ability of organizations to develop future leaders. 75% of the companies in the study cite this need as a “critical issue.”
“Without leaders who can provide the direction, feedback and clarity needed to navigate in a more complex world, companies will struggle to achieve business goals.”
The study asserts that the business organizations must take responsibility to develop these leaders internally in a process that spans almost the entirety of the organization. An organizational culture designed for early identification and supportive guidance of potential future leaders would be successful in developing the necessary personnel required for continued success in the coming decades.
What the study does not address is one fact, at least in the United States, that most people don’t last that long at companies these days. Job tenure in the US, is on average, only 4 years. This puts US companies at a serious disadvantage when it comes to leadership development. Just when a promising subject is entering the training pipeline, the subject is off to the competitors.
US organizations now have a greater set of leadership issues. Not only do they lack sufficient personnel, they can’t keep them around. One way companies could function in this environment, is to hire the short-term talent they need (costly and not reliable) or shorten the training cycle with focused workshops and individual coaching designed to address specific needs and skills.
Leadership development and employee develop in general, has always been a sound strategic investment for organizations. A company that values its workers by making these types of investments is likely an organization where individuals will want to work for an extended period of time.
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