Many companies are having trouble filling their senior leadership positions and planning their workforce needs for the future, according to a new global report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA). The report, titled Creating People Advantage 2010: How Companies Can Adapt Their HR Practices for Volatile Times, is being released today.
Some 56 percent of the corporate executives surveyed by BCG cited a critical talent gap for senior managers' successors. Yet while it is generally easier and more effective for homegrown talent to step into leadership roles, companies fill more than half of their executive positions from outside, the survey found.
"Talent management needs are particularly critical at the leadership levels of the organisation," according to Ernesto Espinosa, president of the WFPMA and a coauthor of the report. "Succession planning needs to be integrated with leadership development programmes, and this practice has to be standardised. The challenge for HR is to bring talent management practices of executives to the next level in order to support business growth."
Two critical topics emerged from the research:
- Managing talent -- identifying, attracting, and retaining the right people -- continues to be perceived as the most important topic for companies' futures. But corporate capabilities in this area have improved only slightly since BCG's 2008 global survey on HR topics.
- Improving leadership development has risen in perceived importance over the past two years. As noted, 56 percent of survey respondents cited a critical talent gap for senior managers' successors. In volatile times, leaders who can convey the company's vision and motivate employees are invaluable. It is generally easier and more effective for homegrown talent to step into leadership roles. Yet companies fill more than half of their executive positions from outside, suggesting that internal leadership-development programmes, such as corporate "universities," need to be improved.
The report also shows that high-performing companies focus their efforts on fewer, more carefully chosen HR-related projects in areas such as recruiting and leadership development.
