VEDA- Virtual Environment for Development & Assessments

“A Roadmap for Identifying & Developing Future Leaders Now”

“A research-based article on how to develop a Virtual Assessment and Development center to create the Leadership Pipeline within”

Introduction

Taking employee development seriously and developing their skills to get the best out of them has become critical to every organization today. COVID-19 Pandemic, Climate Change Crisis, & every organization’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goals have hastened the process to look beyond the basics & made leadership development a non-negotiable process.

Technology has become an important & equal partner to meet organizational targets & achieve results, in terms of technical expertise, each organization is constantly exploring new ways such as process automation, innovative management systems, robotics processes, blockchain, or Artificial Intelligence. Understanding of using E-mobility processes, best-in-class technology, and Data Insight Analysis (Big Data and Hadoop) is also a big focus. All this, without shifting the focus from the core objective of the organization.

The pandemic has certainly brought forth a slew of new developmental opportunities for almost all the organizations across the globe. For any organization, the main job is to break the clutter and take up what is best for the resources to get the best out of them.

We all understand that the current generation is more driven with purpose, their ability, and zest to learn & earn more. It becomes the organization’s role to keep them engaged, not only at work but also in helping to expand their horizon with newer learnings. Organizational Development Teams think of COVID as a blessing in disguise, as it has presented the teams with an opportunity to re-design the way organizations teach and provide developmental opportunities to all. Many organizations now, look at the utilization of Augmented Reality & Virtual reality to explore the simulations, learn organizational fundamentals, or experiment with the new technology using these tools.

The pandemic has brought HR to the forefront and has opened a plethora of new-age assessment & development center opportunities, In this paper, I shall discuss how assessments took place in the past and How can we migrate to see the larger picture of HR & use the employee developmental initiatives across functions to create the leadership pipeline within.

The assessment center (AC), with its origins in World War II and its steady evolution has been taking place and it has become a critical objective to all the leading global organizations , Now after 2019, With the emergence of Artificial Intelligent, new technologies and the simultaneous imperative for organizations to globalize, the tadeonal way of running the AC is at a pivotal moment. It has become obsolete, now a transformation needs to occur. One way this transformation can occur is through the development of a Virtual Assessment Center & Development Center (VAC-DC) that takes advantage of emerging technologies to make it possible for participants from all around the world to take part.

This article has 4 sections focusing on What is AC-DC, why its required, what is the process of the same, how to migrate from AC-DC to VAC-DC, its practicality, affordances, new processes, and the outcome of using different ways of conducting VAC-DC.

In Part-1 of Veda, I shall focus on how to conduct the assessment center to create the leadership pipeline within the organization.

In Part-2, I shall be discussing the case study on how some of the global organizations use a different virtual-world platform tools to conduct a global VAC-DC for HIPO identification and development as per the business needs and objectives.

In Part-3, I shall discuss, how painful for any organization, when they have identified the future leaders, ran a successful AC and put them into the DC but failed to provide them the platform or a position for which they got developed & what is the result of the respective employee’s frustration and organizational defeat in that particular situation.

In Part-4, I shall share some insights on what special and innovative actions have been taken by world-class organizations globally to not only sustain in the global market or achieve results but provide other companies to copy & paste their developmental models to earn their bread & butter along with worshiping them as the leaders in the market.

Veda Part-1

Virtual Environment for Development & Assessments

 A good leader can make a success of a weak business plan, a poor leader can ruin even the best plan.

Developing effective leadership by using a consistent talent management program at all levels across the organization can return significant business value. To identify, attract, fill, and retain corporate leadership talent, companies need leadership development programs focused on hiring strategies, employee development, and career and succession planning.

Currently companies are trying very hard to fill vacancies in their leadership roles. A Study during covid-19 found only 36 percent of the surveyed companies felt prepared to immediately fill leadership positions. The impending retirement of the baby boom generation and the crisis in leadership during the economic recession have further elevated the importance of leadership development in the eyes of the boardroom and shareholders.

Companies face two major challenges in finding and developing leaders. They need to identify qualified candidates to fill current and future leadership roles, and they need to develop a comprehensive leadership program to cultivate and develop the leaders of tomorrow.

In 2019, pre Covid-19, leadership development was focused on only a few individuals in the organization. First-generation systems to assist with leadership development were siloed and/or hard to use and were not widely adopted. Companies needed a system-enabled way to unify methods of assessing and selecting leaders, executing programs to develop skills, and measuring the success of these programs.

Now technology can be deployed to extend these practices across the enterprise and down into all levels of the workforce. Veda-1 paper explores leadership challenges and highlights the elements of a successful leadership development program that uses technology to support processes and practices.

Leadership Challenges in Business

From Enron to the prime loan mortgage crisis to AIG, these leadership scandal caused an erosion of confidence and a tremendous loss of faith in leadership of companies around the globe. In a Harvard Business Review poll, 51 percent of those surveyed said they had diminished confidence in business leaders at non-U.S. companies and 76 percent had less confidence in U.S. business leaders.

In addition, in Covid-19 era, building and retaining good leadership has been cited as a major area of concern. In 2019 Mercer Global Human Capital survey, more than 75 percent of the survey respondents identified building leadership talent as their current and most significant capabilities challenge.

·        Building leadership talent

·        Fostering a culture that supports learning and development

·        Rotating leadership talent across business units/geographies

·        Passing on knowledge from older to younger employees

·        Forecasting skills needed in the near future

·        Cross-training individuals needed in other parts of the organization

·        Rapidly getting new employees up to speed

Even with covid-19 economic downturn, management and executive roles remained among the top five positions employers were having the most trouble filling around the globe as of 2020 Harvard report. This was consistent with the previous year’s findings. The overall talent shortage has also led to challenges in leadership development, according to a global Gallup Research survey, which found that more than 80 percent of the 930 companies surveyed stated that talent shortages were hindering their leadership development efforts.

 Filling the ranks of leadership positions will be an increasing challenge as the baby boomers retire. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Saratoga’s Human Capital Effectiveness Report, 19 percent of managers and 29 percent of executives are eligible for retirement by 2024. This anticipated baby boomer drain should raise a big red flag and propel succession planning to the front lines in the quest for future success.  The Covid-19 may have postponed retirement for many baby boomers, but this is just a temporary stopgap. Although these delays have bought companies time to create succession plans for their leaders, delivering on leadership development programs to fill these ranks will be a critical challenge in the next one to three years. So how do we recognize leadership potential and distinguish a good leader from a good manager?

Successful organizations need both leaders and managers, but there are fundamental differences between a manager and a leader. Whereas leaders influence, inspire, and drive people to a common goal, the role of a manager is to keep the day-to-day operations of an organization running smoothly. Employee development must reflect these differences and provide development of both sets of skills.

Non-negotiable areas of Leadership Development

Major talent management function plays a part in a comprehensive leadership development & can be well supported by a unified talent management technology platform which includes:

?  Develop leadership talent

?  Assessments, to evaluate leadership capabilities both internally and externally

?  Performance management, monitor & make course corrections in developing leaders

?  Succession planning, to avoid future leadership gaps

?  Career planning, to set right goals and the be aware of the potential areas

?  Development, to create a roadmap to fill skills gaps

A successful leadership development program begins with the alignment of leadership development with company strategy and an understanding of the type of leadership style(s) needed to execute that strategy.  Let’s discuss, 7 critical steps for leadership development

1.        Identify the right competencies & leadership style for the company

2.        Identify Critical positions

3.        Identify Leadership Gaps through Assessment & Development Center

4.        Develop Career Planning- development process for Potential Leaders

5.        Develop a developmental Roadmap for Future Leaders

6.        Develop Succession Plans for Critical Roles

7.        Develop retention programs for current and future leaders

Always remember, change is constant. Look for the new platform for those identified HIPOs to develop a new domain/department or area which is not there in the organization but it shall help the company to grow, which could be used in VUCA or difficult time of covid-19

 1.       Identify the right competencies & leadership style for the company

At the first place, the companies need to be very clear on what are the critical competencies required to perform any job in the organization. To evaluate potential leaders in the organization, a leadership program needs to identify the expected leadership skills and competencies.

Competency framework works as a spinal cord to the organization, which is also used to identify leadership potential during succession planning process, leadership development, performance reviews or coaching and mentoring sessions.  One model, developed by SHL, a leading assessment testing consultancy, uses SHL’s Great Eight leadership competencies:

?   Creating and conceptualizing

?   Analyzing and interpreting

?  Leading and deciding

?  Interacting and presenting

?  Adapting and coping

?   Supporting and cooperating

?   Enterprising and performing

?   Organizing and executing

Whether companies develop a competence model of their own or use a model such as SHL’s, they need to define the success measurements and build them into their performance management system. This will assist in setting the evaluation criteria and the competence standards from a must-know and must-demonstrate perspective. Leaders can be found both internally and externally. Companies must weigh the cost and timing of developing internal leadership against the cost and availability of hiring from the outside.

Along with it, there are many theories available for determining the right leadership styles for an organization. The situational leadership theory, for example, argues that the best type of leadership is determined by situational variables and that no one style of leadership pertains to all given workplace situations. Identifying the leadership style for an organization by using this approach includes identification of the type of work, the complexity of the organization, and the qualifications of the followers. The leadership style, for instance, that is required by a head of corporate security would obviously be vastly different from the leadership style of an art museum director: authoritative versus creative or charismatic. Additional leadership styles include pluralistic leadership that revolves around group decision-making, a style that values the opinions of others. Whatever style is best suited for the CEO of an organization, a variety of leadership styles may be required to lead different groups such as manufacturing operations, marketing, finance, and creative services within a company.

One of the main reasons for the high failure rate of new CEOs, more than half never make it past the four-year mark is poor organizational fit. Ability can take leaders only so far if they are not compatible with the company culture. Here are two ways to assess leaders’ fit.

?     Get to know them better. Psychological & behavioral assessments that are typically offered via assessment center have been linked to current & future success in leadership roles.

?     Understand the culture better. Ask your board, employees, vendors, consultants, for insight into what makes an effective leader in the company.

Use both sets of information to find alignments or disparities. If there is a glaring cultural conflict, be ready to find a better candidate who possesses the unique skills your organization requires.

2.        Identify Critical positions

Key areas and critical positions are the focus of the succession planning efforts. Critical positions exert critical influence on the operational activities or the strategic objectives of the department. Without this role the department would be unable to effectively meet its business objectives.  The purpose of identifying critical positions for succession planning is to identify the positions that are likely to be impacted the most by imminent workforce risks and challenges, and to develop strategies to address those needs.

The results of the department’s workforce analysis (e.g. workforce projections, retirement forecasts, turnover rates, current vacancies, pending shortages, etc.) are used to identify key areas and critical positions. Senior management and/or an executive management committee play the lead role in their identification, with managers playing a supportive role by providing coordination and advice to assist in their identification.

Criteria in identifying key areas and critical positions:

?   Which positions, if left vacant, would cause major difficulties in achieving current and future business goals?

?   Which positions, if left vacant would be detrimental to the strategic decisions, innovation, or development of the business?

?  Which positions would be difficult to fill because they require particular expertise and/or the incumbents possess a wealth of business knowledge?

?   Is there a current or projected labor market shortage for certain necessary skills in the business?

?   Is this position the only one of its kind in a particular location and would it be difficult for a similar position in another location to carry out the function?

By managing the most critical risks first, the company ensures that leadership continuity is in place to sustain the achievement of business results & retaining the customers.

3.        Identify Leadership Gaps through Assessment & Development Center

Assessment Centers help in identification of leadership gaps in the competencies required by an individual for his future role and the readiness of the organization to develop & retain him. Based on key leadership competencies, capabilities are tested and evaluated during the Assessment centers which starts with performance management review process., companies select assessments methods that measure the most critical leadership competencies, which are the assessment goals for someone to perform a specific job in the near term or to predict employee potential for future leadership roles. Assessment methods run along a continuum from more observable, direct measures of performance to less observable, indirect measures of performance.

The word ‘competency’ is widely used in business and personnel psychology, and refers to the behaviours that are necessary to achieve the objectives of an organization. A competency is also something you can measure; and lists of competencies form a common language for describing how people perform in different situations. Every job can be described in terms of key competencies. This means that they can be used for all forms of assessment, including appraisals, training needs analysis and selection. This is quite a typical list containing eight different competen-cies. It is these sorts of competencies that personnel profes-sionals aim to detect by examining your application details, and through assessment processes.

The competencies that follow are all commonly used in job specifications, and form the criteria against which to assess people. I have described each one and indicated if it can be assessed using a psychometric test or questionnaire. You can use this list, in conjunction with job profile, to decide which aspects of your ability or personality may be assessed by the tests you are asked to complete. Surveys have shown that the most popular competencies asked for are communication, leadership, judgement, initiative, motivation, analytic skills, planning, innovation, interpersonal skills and numeracy.

Behavioral Assessments require candidates to perform simulated aspects of the job and provide an observable degree of performance that should conject real on-the-job performance. Let’s discuss specific assessment methods, all of which are supported by strong research over many years.

Individual competencies - your personal attributes

?                     Flexibility - This is the ability to change direction, or modify the way in which you do something. It includes a willingness to try, adaptability and a positive outlook.

Measurement: Personality or Motivation Questionnaire.

?                     Decisiveness - This is a readiness to act and to take deci-sions. It involves making a balanced judgement and taking the appropriate actions.

Measurement: Personality Questionnaire.

?                     Tenacity - This is the ability to persevere and stick with a problem until it is solved. It is also marked by the ability to abandon a problem if it is unsolvable.

Measurement: Personality Questionnaire.

?                     Independence - This is a willingness to question the accepted way of doing things; also the strength of mind to pursue a course of action based on your own convictions.

 Measurement: Personality or Values Questionnaire.

?                     Risk Taking - The extent to which you are prepared to take calculated risks. An important factor in many jobs including sales and manufacturing.

Measurement: Personality or Values Questionnaire.

?                     Personal Integrity - The maintenance of high personal standards; also the implementation of appropriate ethical and moral norms in a work context.

Measurement: Personality, Integrity or Values Questionnaire.

Interpersonal competencies - dealing with other people

?                     Communication - The ability to convey information clearly and accurately, both orally and in writing; also includes a recognition of the importance of actively listening to others.

Measurement: Verbal Reasoning Test (for written commu-nication).

?                     Impact - The skill of creating an immediate and positive first impression on other people. A vital ability for many managerial and selling positions.

Measurement: Personality Questionnaire.

?                     Persuasiveness - The ability to persuade and influence others to your point of view. This also involves being seen as believable and authoritative.

Measurement: Personality Questionnaire or Specialist Sales Personality Questionnaire (if appropriate).

?                     Personal Awareness - This is being aware of other people and the environment in which they operate. It means taking into account other people’s thoughts and feelings before acting.

Measurement: Personality Questionnaire.

?                     Teamwork - This means contributing in an active and co-operative way with other team members. It includes supporting other people, and making decisions by consensus.

?                     Measurement: Personality Questionnaire or Team Role Indicator.

?                     Openness - This is being able to encourage different points of view without becoming defensive; also the ability to build on the contributions from other people.

Measurement: Personality Questionnaire.

Analytical competencies - the elements of decision making

?                     Innovation - The ability to come up with imaginative and practical solutions to business problems. Measurement: Personality or Creativity Questionnaire or specialist Ability Test.

?                     Analytic Skills - The ability to break a situation down into its component parts, recognize what needs to be done and plan a suitable course of action in a step-by-step way.

 Measurement: Critical Reasoning Test.

?                     Numerical Problem Solving - The ability to understand and analyse numerical information. This includes financial data and statistics presented in reports, tables, graphs, charts, etc. Measurement: Numerical Reasoning Test.

?                     Problem Solving - The ability to evaluate a situation and to identify an appropriate solution that meets the customers’ needs - the skill of ‘turning a problem into a solution’. Measurement: Critical Reasoning Test.

?                     Practical Learning - This involves being able to absorb and learn new methods, and then applying them to job-related activities.

Measurement: Specialist Ability Test or Learning Styles Questionnaire.

?                     Detail Consciousness - The ability to process large amounts of complex information. This includes all forms of written, verbal and visual data.

Measurement: Ability Test or Personality Questionnaire.

Managerial competencies - taking charge of other people

?                     Leadership - This is being able to take the role of a leader and guiding the actions of other people accordingly. The focus is on achieving results by working through other people.

Measurement: Personality Questionnaire or Leadership Style Questionnaire.

?                     Empowerment - This is the concern for developing other people, and giving them the authority and responsibility to act on their own volition.

Measurement: Specialist Personality Questionnaire or Values Questionnaire.

?                     Strategic Planning - This is the ability to maintain a broad overview (‘helicopter’ view) of business activities, which allows you to plan for the future.

Measurement: Personality Questionnaire or specialist Ability Test.

?                     Corporate Sensitivity - This is the demonstration of an understanding of where a business is going, and of its agreed goals and strategies.

Measurement: Personality or Interests Questionnaire.

?                     Project Management - The ability to define the require-ments of a project and to lead a group of people towards a specified goal.

Measurement: Specialist Personality Questionnaire or Team Role Indicator.

?                     Management Control - The appreciation that businesses need to be controlled and that the work of subordinates needs to be organized.

Measurement: Specialist Personality Questionnaire or Management Interests Indicator.

Motivational competencies - the things that drive you

Resilience - The ability to ‘bounce back’ in the face of adversity or when things do not go according to plan. Measurement: Personality Questionnaire.

?                     Energy - The personal store of energy that you bring to work, which helps you maintain a high level of perfor-mance - your ‘stamina’ or ‘drive’.

Measurement: Personality Questionnaire or Motivation Questionnaire.

?                     Motivation - This is the ability to motivate yourself and those around you. It’s also related to knowing when to take control of a situation, and when to issue orders to other people.

Measurement: Personality or Motivation Questionnaire.

?                     Achievement Orientation - This is the drive to achieve results, and to set targets that provide personal challenges. Measurement:Personality, Values or Motivation Questionnaire.

Initiative - This is the ability to work in a proactive way to anticipate events, and to act on opportunities as they arise. Measurement: Personality Questionnaire.

?                     Quality Focus - This is the commitment to getting a job done well, and to recognizing that the quality of a product or service is of critical importance.

Measurement: Specialist Personality or Values Questionnaire.

The preceding list is by no means exhaustive but it should give you an idea of the sort of competencies required by employers. You should also recognize that some of these competencies are difficult to measure with psychometric tests alone (especially those that I have indicated as needing ‘specialist’ measures), and many are assessed using a combination of methods, eg tests, interviews and group exercises involving a number of candidates.

Many online portals cover ability tests, such as-

?         3 Smart Cubes (range of different tests): https://www.3smartcubes.com.

?         Aptitude Hack (numerical tests): https://www.aptitudehack.com.

?         Efinancial (numerical test): https://www.efinancialcareers.co.uk.

?         Morrisby Organization (set of six basic aptitude tests): https://www.morrisby.com.

?         PSL/Kenexa (graduate level tests): https://www.psl.co.uk/practice.

?         Psychometric Success (range of different tests): https://www.psychometric-success.com.

??        Saville & Holdsworth Ltd (official SHL practice test site): https://www.shldirect.com.

?         University of Kent Careers Service (range of tests): https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/psychotests.htm.

IQ tests. If you want to complete a test that will give you an idea of your IQ, then try one or more of the following:

?         Mensa (Mensa ‘workout’): https://www.mensa.org.

?         High IQ Society (IQ tests & puzzles): https://www.highiqsociety.org.

?         GIQ test (full length IQ test): https://www.giqtest.com.

Personality questionnaires, There are plenty of websites that host personality and similar questionnaires. Here’s a selection of some of the best:

?         Adaptiv (resilience questionnaire): https://www.adaptivlearning.com.

?         Keirsey Type Indicator (psychological type indicator): https://www.keirsey.com.

?         NEO Personality test (psychological trait questionnaire): https://www.personalitytest.net/ipip/ipipneol.htm

?         People Profiler (work attributes questionnaire): https://www.peopleprofiler.co.uk.

?         Psychology Today (range of questionnaires): https://www.psychologytoday.com/pto/self-tests.php.

?         Team Technology (psychological type ndicator): https://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/mmdi-re/mmdi-re.htm.

Leadership style questionnaires, Leadership style questionnaires are often used in staff development programmes. Two questionnaires that will help you explore your style are:

?         DTI Inspired Leadership (government sponsored question?naire): https://www.inspiredleadership.org.uk.

?         Formula 4 Leadership (based on four key leadership types): https://www.formula4leadership.com/menu_questions.htm.

Learning style questionnaires, An appreciation of your learning style is valuable if you are considering further education or training. Find out about your style using them:

?         VARK (based on four factor model of learning styles): https://www.vark-learn.com.

?         Memletics (based on seven factor model of learning styles): https://www.learning-styles-online.com.

Careers interest and career planning questionnaires, There are some really good careers interest and careers planning resources available:

?         Career Key (based on Holland model): https://www.careerkey.org.

?         Career Zone (based on Holland model): https://www.nycareerzone.org.

?         Oscar (career interest and values questionnaire): https://www.ioscar.org/tx/oscar.asp.

?         Windmills (complete career planning) :https://www.windmillsonline.co.uk/interactive.

Note: This list is based on a regularly updated web page that can be found at www.markparkinson.co.uk/psychometric_links.htm.

Group exercises

Group exercises are designed to assess your problem-solving abilities, and responses to other people, in typical work situa-tions. In some ways they are similar to the business learning exercises which we shall discuss in Veda part-4.

4.        Develop Career Planning – development process for Potential Leaders

Career planning used to be considered the responsibility of an individual. However, research shows that companies that support career planning for their employees gain in retention, engagement, and protection of the leadership pipeline.  A 2018 Taleo Research study asked employed college graduates why they had left their first employer; 61 percent had left because the employer didn’t offer career advancement or organizational opportunities.

According to a 2019 Taleo Research paper, “Engaging Times,” workers need more than a job. Even in Covid-19, they require a higher level of engagement that employers are not currently providing. Findings from the study include these glass-half-empty/half-full observations:

?     45 percent have visibility into internal job opportunities

?     42 percent can see their next step up the career ladder

?     57 percent have career communications with their employer

?     40 percent have access to online career tools

Even if employees are not actively looking for a job, one survey found that one in three of the responding employees had recently been approached by another organization hoping to lure them away and that 77 percent of workers ages 32 to 40 right in the pipeline for leadership last in new jobs less than five years. If companies do not provide employees with career planning and advancement opportunities, their competitors will. Self-service career planning will help motivate and retain talent, by empowering employees to view a career plan and generate their own within the company.

Combining employee development with career planning enables employees not only to explore potential career paths but also to monitor and progress through the development activities necessary to attain them. Competencies can then be tied to relevant development activities, thereby incorporating development planning right into the performance review process, which supports career development and succession planning.

5.        Develop a developmental Roadmap for Future Leaders

Once the high-potential employees have been identified, a skills roadmap should be developed for the future leaders. Because people learn and develop new skills both inside and outside the classroom, a development program needs to support both traditional and nontraditional learning.

To support less-formal learning, activities such as coaching, rotational assignments, job shadowing, mentor relationships, and project leadership should also be part of an employee’s development plan. At the core, the very definition of learning should reflect today’s nontraditional learning and incorporate social networking tools into the development process.

Case Study: Coca-Cola—Leadership Development Delivers the Goods

Stevens J. Sainte-Rose, group HR director at Coca-Cola, says, “The uniqueness of Coca-Cola is in engaging consumers with the brand, so marketing talent is key. Without the right people, we can’t deliver the winning formula.” Coca-Cola therefore embarked on a pioneering bespoke program to not only identify its rising marketing stars but also to plan their development, ensuring that the company had a strong pipeline of highly creative and innovative thinkers who could be the marketing leaders of tomorrow filling senior vacancies around the world. In developing a bespoke program, Coca-Cola chose to partner with international assessment consultancy SHL, which worked with Coca-Cola’s talent professionals and senior marketing leaders to create a two-day development program for high-potential marketers aspiring to become senior marketing leaders. Looking to its strongest-performing marketers, Coca-Cola developed a set of competencies to define the “ideal” skills and behaviors of a senior marketing leader. This was undertaken with the global backdrop in mind, to ensure that competencies were calibrated internationally, allowing for a level playing field that did not disadvantage any participants. Eight handpicked marketers were then chosen to undertake a two-day pilot in Europe. Although the pilot ran in Paris, Coca-Cola participants came from all over the world. The aim was for existing marketing leaders of the business to see and develop potential from as many geographies as possible, making selection of the best as equitable and as representative as possible. The program was also designed to give participants an opportunity to bond and establish a global alumni network of supportive colleagues that would continue beyond the event. Extremely senior Coca-Cola marketers made up an observer panel alongside highly experienced occupational psychologists from SHL, proving Coca-Cola’s commitment and dedication to the program. So during the development program, Coca-Cola and SHL now run it every three to six months in locations around the world in an effort to ensure that Coca-Cola will never have to look outside its own talent pool to fill key strategic marketing positions vital to maintaining the iconic Coca- Cola brand image. The company’s mission is “to refresh the world in body, mind and spirit,” and Coca-Cola accepts that to do this, its vision needs to include “being a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can.”

6.        Develop Succession Plans for Critical Roles

Why is succession so important? A good succession plan is good for productivity, according to former General Electric CEO Jack Welch and former Harvard Business Review editor Suzy Welch. Succession planning avoids disruption and employee trauma when the CEO leaves, whether the departure is anticipated or not. Succession planning should be company policy, dealt with openly and deliberately by corporate boards.  Creating a succession plan for critical roles should not be confined to executive roles. As part of the leadership program, companies should evaluate critical leadership roles throughout the organization. Yet, an i4cp pulse survey found that whereas more than 70 percent of large companies have succession plans at the director level, only 41 percent have them at the manager level.

A Bersin & Associates study found that a majority of companies implement succession management practices at only the most senior executive levels. Fewer than 40 percent of the respondents said their companies included midlevel managers and skilled professionals in succession planning initiatives, and just 11 percent included first-line supervisors.

Bersin’s research findings concluded that “enduring organizations”, those that survive and prosper over long periods of time execute succession management practices across all levels of the organization. This disparity highlights “key vulnerabilities in most organizations, a lack of bench strength at the supervisory and mid-level management levels and the neglect of high-potential talent in mission-critical roles.”

Coaching and Mentoring

The apprentice model has seen a resurgence for grooming leadership. Coaching & mentoring have been gaining favor as elements of succession planning programs. Indian Management Association (IMA) talks about , “Coaching: A Global Study of Successful Practices,” surveyed more than 1,000 business leaders around the world and found that nearly 60 percent of sustained Indian companies use coaching for high-potential employees frequently or a great deal and that about 42 percent use coaching of executives to the same extent.

Using social media in mentoring programs is beginning to be a popular way to support external mentoring programs. “Internal coaches often provide lower cost of services, exhibit more consistency in methods & understand the organizational culture. However, they may also be perceived as less credible. Leaders may consider internal coaches to be less confidential. External coaches can bring greater objectivity, fresher perspectives, higher levels of confidentiality and experience in many different organizations, industries and business environments.” - “Coaching: A Global Study of Successful Practices,” IMA, 2020

Technology to Support Succession Planning- For the greatest efficacy, succession planning should be supported by technology systems that provide the ability to-

?     Create backfill strategies that use data captured in the recruiting and performance review processes, coupled with individual career plans

?     Add multiple candidates to a succession short list and view all the best options without necessarily adding them to the plan

?     Display multiple talent profiles from C-level executives to individual contributors’ side by side to quickly identify the best fit

?     Track candidate readiness based on skills, competencies, and performance; promote top candidates based on relative ranking and composite feedback scores

7.        Develop Retention Programs for Current and Future Leaders

Monetary as well as nonmonetary rewards can be used to improve the retention of any employee, but particular attention needs to be paid to high performers and future leaders. A Gallup Research survey polled working adults over the age of 18 to test some monetary versus nonmonetary reward systems. Clearly, as shown in Figure 10, salary and bonuses ranked as the top rewards for doing a good job, but promotions and work/life balance were also important.

Linking pay to performance can be a motivator for an employee, but goal alignment helps potential leaders stay focused on what is important to the company. Recognize excellent performance, and base the upside of bonus potential on the success of both the employee and the company.

Another way to retain and motivate future leaders is to involve them in the decision-making process. This teaches them the stated mission, values, and goals of the organization as well as how they contribute to the success of the business. As the study shows, acknowledgement of a job well done is more important than stock options.

Conclusion

A well-designed leadership development program is the key to identifying, attracting, filling, and retaining corporate leadership. The elements of the program should include a strategy and execution of all the seven-steps discussed in this paper. Leadership development is a critical aspect of attaining optimum output from organizational talent management and requires the effective execution of many talent management practices. Technology applications can provide the enabling platform, including recruitment, assessments, performance management, succession and career planning etc.

The benefits of an optimized leadership program include

?     A pipeline of leadership talent

?     Talent aligned with corporate goals

?     Increased retention

?     Improved leadership skills

?     Consistent measurement through development and performance management

All organizations need strong leaders in order to be successful. Talent management practices implemented with robust technology applications can effectively identify and develop from all levels of the workforce, the leaders who will best drive business performance.