In an indication that the talent war is set to intensify this year, the results of the Global Leadership Forecast 2018 show that failure to attract/retain top talent, alongside producing ‘Next Gen’ leaders, is the top concern of industry leaders in 2018. The forecast, undertaken by Development Dimensions International, The Conference Board, and EY, has important insights that signal to the remainder of the year in the domain of talent acquisition and retention, leadership, workforce, and technology.
The Global Leadership Forecast 2018, which collected responses from 25,812 leaders and HR professionals across 2,488 organizations across 54 countries, is a comprehensive and thorough attempt to understand the key challenges that corporate leaders and HR professionals are facing globally. Indian organizations were also a part of the research conducted. Here are some of the highlights of the same:
- Of the 28 challenges presented to the respondents, 64% chose that cultivating the next generation of leaders was the most pressing one; attracting and retaining top talent came in second with 60%.
- A majority of the organizations do not feel confident in their ability to meet future business goals, despite collectively spending resources to the tune of nearly $50 billion annually in developing leaders.
- Senior leadership is acutely aware of the importance of strengthening human capital, and especially, leadership capital. However, since 58% of them were never mentored, it becomes a challenge for them to mentor others.
- The results also point to a gap between the criticality of leadership skill and leader’s assessment of their ability to successfully master it.
- 37% of the respondents are of the view that their succession management systems and processes are of ‘low or very low effectiveness.’
- Just about 43% of the critical roles can be taken over by strong internal leaders, which leads them to look for outsiders – proving to be more costly and high-risk.
- 54% of the Indian HR respondents stated that they have ‘high quality’ senior leadership, as opposed to 19% in the first-level positions.
- Despite upgrading processes, systems and business strategies using modern technology, competition is intense, the report said.
- Furthermore, it stated that robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning would impact nearly two billion jobs over the next decade and those who are digitally savvy will outperform those who fail to catch up.
- Leaders and organizations that adopt newer technologies and are more digitally savvy are better prepared to meet emerging business challenges than laggards.
The report predicts and reaffirms the rapid transition, already underway, in the way we work. Its’ focus on data, digital strategies, emerging business challenges, leadership voids and the future of work is a testament to the fact that global industries should brace themselves for technological disruptions, talent shortages and further rewriting of leadership and managerial rules. It will be interesting to watch how leaders, global and domestic, solve critical challenges of leadership development, digital transition and re-skilling their workforce in accordance with contemporary business challenges. The report points out and concludes a fitting reminder, one which has been evident by experience and history: early adopters of inevitable changes are likely to prosper and grow, whereas those who fail to make timely amends are likely to struggle.
You can view the complete report here
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