What do you do if your organization lacks a pipeline of future leaders?

Developing future leadership? I have worked in the Global leadership development team of an MNC; we did the following: GE-McKinsey Nine-Box Matrix gives a good framework. It is a 3x3 matrix with performance on the x-axis and potential on the y-axis. The goal is to identify and develop employees who are high or medium on both performance and potential for leadership. (HiPo) Center for Creative Leadership in their groundbreaking study on executive development states - 70% is experience - 15% is exposure (shadowing, mentoring) - 15% is education (training) HiPo job rotation through three assignments for three years each in emerging markets, mature markets, and company Head Quarters. This develops well-rounded global leaders.

A strong leadership pipeline is crucial for organizational sustainability. Here's how to address the gap: - Identify high potential talent - Invest in their growth - Mentorship and sponsorship - Challenge and empower - Provide opportunities for high-potential leaders to gain experience across different functions within the organization - Implement leadership rotations or temporary assignments across departments to expose future leaders to diverse challenges and broaden their strategic understanding of the organization - Feedback - Communication and transparency - Recognition and encouragement Hope this helps!

Identifying future leadership talent involves assessing both current performance and potential. Look for attributes like adaptability, emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and a growth mindset. Also, consider communication skills, decision-making ability, and the capacity to inspire and motivate others. Strategically, align leadership attributes with organizational goals. Invest in development programs, mentorship, and succession planning to nurture talent. Encourage diversity and inclusivity, as varied perspectives often lead to innovative leadership styles. Regular feedback and evaluation help refine the selection process and ensure alignment with evolving business needs.

If your organization lacks a pipeline of future leaders, the first thing to do is a root cause analysis to determine why. You can use an issue tree to structure the analysis. In this case, you could break down the problem into: - Recruiting Issues (e.g., are you recruiting employees with the potential to be future leaders?) - Retention Issues (e.g., are your future leaders leaving your organization at a high rate?) - Talent Development Issues (e.g., are your leaders provided the right training & development support?) - Talent Strategy & Workforce Planning Issues (e.g., do leaders stay in the same role for decades & block the advancement of other leaders?) Once you've answered these questions, then you can design the appropriate solution.

Managers should ensure, however, that bias, prejudice and stereotypes aren't dictating their selection of a potential leader. "Out of sight, out of mind": Managers may tend to prefer team members working at the same location as they are since they get to observe their work practices very closely as opposed to team members working in other locations. While this may be a logical and practical compass, it may not always be the right one! Thus, while managerial inputs can provide invaluable insights into leadership potential, organizations can additionally look at using quantitative behavioral assessments when attempting to identify potential leaders to ensure unbiased selection.

When faced with a shortage of future leaders in my organization, I've found that emphasizing skills development is paramount. Drawing from personal experience, I recall a time when our company lacked a clear succession plan. In response, we implemented comprehensive training programs and mentorship opportunities. Through these initiatives, employees gained valuable leadership skills and confidence, preparing them to step into leadership roles when needed. By investing in skills development, we not only addressed the leadership gap but also fostered a culture of continuous growth and advancement. Through mentorship and training, individuals were empowered to unlock their full potential and contribute to the organization's long-term success.

One thing I've found helpful is to work closely with top leadership of the organization. apart from designed leadership programs, 'on job' trainings are more relatable and helps faster learning with real time experience.

In many organisations succession planning is done with an assumption that skills and attitudes can be developed but in reality this does not happen. For example one can hire a COO and hope that s/he can take over as the CEO but in reality the mindsets required for both roles are very different.

Leadership pipeline development? Succession planning is identifying potential replacement for key roles. General Electric is called the CEO factory of the world for producing a assembly line of leaders who have gone of become CEOs of different companies. Whenever a senior leader quit, Jack Welsh former CEO of GE is known for identifying leadership replacements within the same business day. GE was able to do this as they had at 1-3 potential replacement for each critical role. As mentioned in the earlier part of the article, developing HiPo (high on performance, potential) through job rotation in the most critical and riskiest business assignments develops leaders who are battle tested.

Role of employee retention in future leadership pipeline. Developing leaders is one part, retaining them another challenge. There are many factors which impact retention: Compensation, Benefits, Culture, Training, Work-life balance, Job customising (or as HBR calls it Job Sculpting) this increasing psychological contract of the employee with the organization. Significantly overlooked aspect is career-path way, support and guidance for the employee to achieve it. Research published at HBR indicates this is one of the top retention strategies, especially important for future leaders and in leadership development/succession planning.

In my experience, maintaining the pipeline once identified and developed is most important. Hence designing an suitable RR framework for high performers and groomed professionals is required. Ensuring them to stay invested in Learning and Development culture through mentoring/coaching can help further.

To ensure a strong pipeline, talent identification process should be an apt balance between performance and potential. Future pipeline should have a higher weightage on potential..... Additionally, building a strong culture of continuous learning supported by mentoring/coaching will enable to attract and retain top talent.

After preparing a future organisation structure and doing an analysis of gaps between existing talent and required talent, the strategy has to be a mix of developing existing talent for new roles and hiring externally