Creating the workforce of the future
One size definitely doesn’t fit all – especially when it comes to management and leadership competencies. This kind of mindset doesn’t pay sufficient attention to role demands and the organisational hierarchies that determine the strategic perspective required. Such generally applied models, while useful in shaping work culture and establishing new values, fall short when applied to career-pathing and succession-management needs.
In light of the increasing complexity of jobs, the flattening of organisational hierarchies and the increasingly the wide application of matrixed and interdependent roles, new competencies are needed. The workforce of the future has needs depending on the broad levels of the organisation:
- At entry level: Individual contributors or first-line managers, preparing to perform as high-functioning professional manager of others.
- At mid-management: Levels that demonstrate excellence in something of value to the business and/or running of the organisation, and obtaining the required seasoning as a manager of managers
- At executive level: Synthesising years of capability, knowledge and skills required for business delivery or functional leadership in strategic roles
Most organisations, like to have a healthy supply of high-potential individuals in the pipeline and some have systems in place for identifying “high potential” at different levels of seniority. However, they can fall into the trap of assuming that anointed ‘”high flyers” will be good at almost any leadership role – yet the evidence is to the contrary; high potential is a temporary state, not necessarily an enduring trait.
When managers progress through the organisational hierarchy, “potential” takes on different significance. At lower levels, the challenge is to develop a flexible range of capabilities that enable managers with suitable potential to move into a variety of positions. At higher levels, the issue is less about long-term potential, but more about potential for what the specific job requires and how the role contributes to strategy and business results. Superstar crashes are most often a consequence of ‘hi pos’ stretched beyond their level of capability and experience, to the detriment of the business and these individuals’ careers.
Sitting in the right pew, but in the wrong church?
Every organisation has its own culture, a set of shared assumptions that has been learned over time, is taught to new staff, and is believed to be the correct way to perceive, think and feel. This is especially the case with external hires - they may have what it take to succeed in top-level jobs from a professional standpoint, but lack the appropriate sensitivity and flexibility to adapt to a new work setting because they were raised under a different set of shared assumptions.
A specialist study illustrates the power of cultural fit. In the study, 49% of high-potential talent hired by a global fast-moving consumer goods company failed within two years of hire. The external hires did not lack industry experience, skill, or even a string of successes – but they failed to navigate the new organisation’s operating model successfully. A targeted competency-based assessment, included selection for idiosyncratic cultural competencies, reduced that failure rate to 6% within the same period of time.
There is little mystery about the competencies of relevance to future workforce needs. The real challenge rests in implementation of talent strategy that accounts for a wide range of business organisational variables.
Define the “future-focused” behaviours assigned to particular roles that will predict leadership success based on your strategy. Reclaim talent as a corporate asset – reject ‘’tick box’’ succession planning. There are tasks to learn and experience in each role, and incumbents need to have sufficient time to learn them and demonstrate results. In this way organisations can avoid the pitfall of creating simplistic development initiatives that are unconnected to complex business needs at particular levels and for particular roles.
