Firms struggle to retain talent and develop leaders

According to the latest body of research published by Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH), 59 per cent of American respondents have admitted failures in managing a sustainable talent pipeline for their organisations, which will likely hamper their firms’ talent management strategies in the year ahead.

The study was conducted with the surveying of 374 human resources, talent management and line leaders from across 20 industries from the US, all of whom held titles of manager and above.

Two other interesting findings were also made by the study. First, good leaders are in demand and companies are focused on talent like never before. Companies have realised that providing the right development opportunities for their employees often leads to higher levels of internal talent rotation and retention – a win-win situation for both sides.

As a result, leadership development has been rising on the priority ladder and 64 per cent of employers now focus on home-growing their talents.

The second conclusion is that companies which are focused on growth tend to prioritise leadership talent investment. Specifically, 59 per cent of respondents agree that strengthening employee engagement is a high talent management priority.

According to respondents, senior managers can help increase the engagement of leaders by analysing the tasks they currently perform, predicting their future roles and helping them understand their contribution to the company’s success.

Increasingly, leaders are being forced to step outside their comfort zones and develop new competencies to prepare for what lies ahead. The key to their success includes the ability to quickly adapt to new or emerging roles and take on more challenging responsibilities.

LHH commented that in today’s turbulent work environment leaders are valued for their ability to analyse a situation, gather and process key information, evaluate the potential outcomes and initiate immediate, decisive action—all while balancing the needs of a multi-generational workforce and achieving higher productivity goals within tight budget constraints. To prepare the new generation of leaders capable of actually living up to the task, companies must be ready to invest in their development.

As a result, LHH advises that leadership development programs should be tied to authentic research and outline the subset of leadership capabilities tailored to meet the company’s unique requirements.

“Through a flexible, transparent and carefully monitored leadership development program, one that aligns with the organisation’s core business strategy, firms can foster positive perceptions about leadership development and demonstrate a commitment to developing and retaining future leaders,” the study noted.