To Hire Leaders from Within, or to bring in Outside Leaders? That is the Question
During these times of high structural unemployment, finding skilled workers to fill open skilled positions is among the top challenges in virtually every organization. As the economy improves, top talent will have more choices and attrition will accelerate. In addition, "X" and "Y" generation leaders will require us to evaluate our approach to career progression/options, work-life balance and global factors. This, along with strategic uncertainty, the impact of social media and data overload, and the increasing velocity of business, indicates mounting people challenges ahead for businesses large and small.
Sometimes hiring external candidates to meet these needs is a sound strategy. However, according to research by the Center for Creative Leadership, an astonishing 66% of senior managers hired from the outside fail within 18 months. Clearly, our historic view of leadership and talent pipeline readiness will have to be redefined.
SHRM and AARP research indicates that many organizations have addressed the near-term challenge with creative solutions such as hiring retired employees as consultants or temporary workers. Others offer more adaptive working conditions such as flex hours, telecommuting, part time and job sharing. While these tactics help bridge the gap, given the statistics above, they do not represent a solid strategic approach to fulfilling the organization's long-term talent needs.
The Harrison Assessments Talent Solutions outline a fresh approach for mitigating the above challenges and will help redefine the traditional view of succession planning. Years ago, succession planning was primarily focused on the C-suite. In far too many cases, succession planning has been defined by "list management" and subjective "popularity criteria." More recently, many organizations have identified high-potential (HiPo) candidates at mid-level and above to create bench strength for potential openings in senior positions.
Looking ahead, successful organizations will define their talent pipelines beginning at entry-level jobs, early on identifying HiPos based on a new set of criteria, and increasingly applying technology to manage the process. The strategic imperative will purposefully focus on assessing the talent pool at every level of the organization.
The predictive outcome will be more highly motivated employees, fewer gaps in filling key positions and reduced attrition, all contributing to increased competitive advantage and bottom-line results.
Harrison Assessments believes that careful and informed talent management can lead to successful C-Suite choices and long term profits for your company.
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