Canadian employers continue to worry about the lack of future leaders in their organization, according to a survey of more than 2,000 senior HR executives in 14 countries by Right Management, the talent and career management experts within ManpowerGroup.
For Canadian executives, it was a shortage of talent at all levels that topped the list of most pressing HR concerns—33% of whom put it at the top of their list for the second year in a row.
Globally, lack of future leaders was also cited as the foremost concern by an average of 25% of employers. This evidence of a lack of high potentials is a widespread concern in leading industrialized nations.
When asked what they expect to be the most pressing HR challenge faced by their organization in 2013, Canadian respondents indicated the following:
- shortage of talent at all levels: 33% (verus 34% in 2012);
- lack of high-potential leaders in the organization: 28% (versus 23% in 2012);
- low engagement and lagging productivity: 24% (same in 2012); and
- loss of top talent to other organizations: 14% (versus 20% in 2012).
The year-to-year consistency in our findings tells us that future leadership or lack thereof is top of mind for organizations nearly everywhere, said Gerald Purgay, senior vice-president of Right Management and president of ManpowerGroup Specialty Brands. “According to our data, companies are focused on talent as never before. It’s no surprise that organizations are now investing in growing their talent as development initiatives have now become a high priority.”
“Tomorrow’s leaders will be visionary leaders, developing new skills making them better able to navigate through the complexity of contemporary situations both within the world of business and in terms of managing people and teams,” says Purgay. “They will become curators of information and coaches for their teams, possessing opposing skill sets (strategic yet tactical, conceptual yet action-oriented); having the ability to anticipate and react; and always pushing the boundaries of what’s next.”
Purgay noted that where businesses employed individuals for the role they are currently performing, looking ahead, the best leaders will train individuals for the role they will likely take in the future—and increase their engagement by helping them understand the role they play in an organization’s success. “Investing in leadership talent is one of the most strategic efforts companies can make in what we are calling the human age of business.”
With respect to individual countries, the perceived lack of high-potential leaders appears most acute in Canada, China, India, Norway, Germany, the U.K. and Japan.
“Companies need to invest in leadership development that creates organizational capacity through grooming of the most promising talent,” says Purgay. “This means translating business challenges into leadership behaviours, providing leaders with coaching, and succession planning based on an organization’s strategy, corporate culture and values.”
The U.S. findings are drawn from Right Management’s annual global survey, Talent Management Challenges in an Era of Uncertainty, which was conducted in December 2012. Participating were 2,360 senior-level HR executives in 14 countries from the government, non-profit and private sectors.