The best companies live in a world where they are always looking and thinking forward to develop a strategy for success in the future. People seem to be busier than ever, so these companies try thinking years down the road when it comes to people management and developing high potential associates, yet they may revisit their plan several times to ensure they are where they need or want to be.
Top performing companies in high growth industries require a higher caliber of people and develop hiring and development mechanisms to identify and recruit and develop better talent.
Recent research indicates that organizations today suffer from a “skills supply chain” challenge that will be difficult to resolve. More than 70% of companies report that one of their top five challenges is a series of “capability gaps.”
Leverage the explosion in technology to your advantage in training and developing your team. Training tools are becoming more sophisticated, and their capabilities have been greatly enhanced in the last decade. Among the most highly advanced companies, almost 20% of all training is now delivered via mobile devices. Explore new opportunities in training your associates with virtual learning experiences and tools.
Increased investment in gaps with your supply chain of skills and capabilities benefits everyone. This includes your customers, your business, your associates, and the potential hires you are trying to recruit to join your company and drive revenue and profit growth in future years.
Among high potential associates who are considering a change of job in the next 12 months, a full 64% indicated that their current company is not significantly impacting their development with their current job duties and experiences. Their engagement levels fall off quickly, within 12-18 months, when associates feel that their career development has stagnated. This indicates that an investment in associate development is strongly likely to positively impact high potential talent retention rates. In fact, a number of companies that have well-established development programs state that their loss of high-potential talent is near zero! Avoid pushing your next generation of leaders down the road to your competition. in them now, and retain them!
Ensure that the competencies that you most desire in your future leaders are the very traits developed as a part of your associate development program. Some companies are not focused enough on developing key characteristics such as change agility or the ability to manage global businesses. Plan for those experiences and skills and develop those characteristics proactively.
Over 50% of companies report that their firms are ineffective at managing and retaining top talent. These same companies report significant problems with unsuccessful internal promotions and transfers, and on average they report that less than 15% of their current team is prepared to step up to a position of greater responsibility. Contrast that with companies who are leveraging a leadership development program, who report near zero problems with these challenges.
Who should you be developing? Frankly, almost everybody. Large corporations target the top 5-10% of the employees as strong prospects for their retention development, high potential, and fast-track programs. Look for people with a high capacity for change, rapid growth and those who behave in ways that exemplify their company values and culture, while consistently outperforming their peers in a significant way. Medium-sized and smaller companies often develop a larger percentage of their current teams as a means of accelerating their growth toward big company stature.
Talk to An Experienced Coach
Michael is the founder and CEO of Michael Beach Coaching & Consulting, an award-winning business advisory and leadership development coaching firm. Michael is passionate about developing great leadership abilities in Emerging Leaders so that they can one day go on to found great entrepreneurial companies or ascend to the C-Suite leadership level one day. Keep an eye out for Michael’s new podcast, “What Are You Doing?” in which the conversation will be geared toward developing strong leadership at all levels and will help Senior Leaders to understand how to invest in developing Emerging Leaders and will equip Emerging Leaders to invest in themselves to speed their journey to Greatness.
Interested in a development program for yourself or your team? Contact us! We offer a free 2-hour consultation.