| | General Electric has
ranked number one in the
2006 Best Companies for
Leaders study, conducted
by Hay Group in
partnership with Chief
Executive magazine. The
study highlights the
best practices for
identifying and
fostering leadership
talent.
“An estimated 75
million workers will
retire in the US in the
next five to 10 years
(US Census Bureau data),
including 50% of CEOs
from major
corporations,” said Mary
Fontaine, vice president
and general manager of
Hay Group's McClelland
Center for Research and
Innovation.
The concern is not
isolated to the US and
Western Europe where
ageing Baby Boomers are
readying to retire. In
emerging and developing
countries – particularly
in China, Eastern
Europe, Brazil and
elsewhere – the need is
to bring in and develop
enough leaders to
maintain their pace of
growth.
Focusing on
identifying and managing | |
|
| | the talents of high
potential candidates
will rise to the top of
the agenda, predicted
Fontaine. “Organisations
that are able to
identify, develop, and
promote their leaders
from within will find
themselves better
positioned than their
peers to win the war for
leaders – and to
safeguard their
organisational futures.
The top companies are
already focused on
this.”
“These companies are
a worthy benchmark group
for our analysis: their
average five-year total
shareholder return beat
the S&P 500 over the
same period by 3.53%.
This period covers both
the bleak years
following the downturn
and 9/11 as well as the
recent surge in the
S&P.”
The study identified
the practices followed
by the Best Companies
for Leaders. The top
three of the six best
practices in 2005 were
also the top three for
2006 and account for 68%
of the variance in the
number and quality of | |
|
| | leaders as reported by
each organisation.
2006 Best
Practices for Leadership
Development
1. Having leaders at
all levels who focus on
creating a work climate
that motivates employees
to perform at their
best.
2. Ensuring that the
company and its senior
management make
leadership development a
top priority.
3. Providing training
and coaching to help
intact leadership teams,
as well as the
individual leaders, work
together more
effectively.
The remaining best
practices highlight the
need to start early on
mid-level managers and
high potentials:
4. Rotational job
assignments for high
potentials.
5. External
leadership development
programs for mid-level | |
|
| | managers.
6. Web-based
self-study leadership
modules for mid-level
managers.
7. Executive MBA
programs for mid-level
managers.
“The Top 20 companies
are far more likely to
use the top practices
than their peers,” said
Fontaine. “And, while
many of the companies we
looked at employ all of
the practices, the top
ones use them by a much
wider margin.”
In addition to
identifying the
practices that companies
should focus on to
develop their next
generation of leaders,
the study also flagged
activities that do not
add value – at least not
if your goal is to
identify and develop
leaders.
Practices that waste
resources include:
* Outdoor
activity-based programs
* Paper-based
self-study leadership | |
|
| | modules
* Job shadowing for
senior managers
* Executive MBAs and
web-based self-study
modules became worst
practices when
implemented too late in
the executive’s career.
“These practices may
achieve other
objectives, such as
personal rewards or
short-term team
building,” continued
Fontaine. “But they
don’t help companies
develop more, better
leaders.”
The shortage of
talent and leaders will
inevitably cause ripple
effects elsewhere in
business, particularly
in placing inevitable
further upward pressure
on salaries and
work/life balance
issues. It will force
organisations to pay a
premium to hire talent
from the outside, which
is financially costly,
takes time, and often
fails.
| |
|
Previous Page 