Employers turn to high-potential employees and competitors to fill future management spots
Even with a high unemployment rate, more than one-half of large and mid-sized companies report not having enough management successors, according to a survey
The survey of 212 North American employers by global HR consulting firm OI Partners-Feldman Daxon Partners found 54 per cent of respondents said they don't have enough qualified successors now working for them to succeed their executives and managers.
Only 32 per cent of companies report having enough management successors in place while 14 per cent of companies are not sure whether they have enough future leaders.
“The survey reveals a real opportunity for executives and managers – especially those now out of work – to show they can accomplish desired results for a prospective employer,” said Warren Lundy, Partner of OI Partners-Feldman Daxon Partners in Toronto.
“This is also a wake-up call for current employees to prove they should be considered for promotion now or be placed on the fast track.”
The biggest source of a typical company’s future leaders is its own high-potential employees. Employers are more likely to develop their own high-potential employees into future leaders (72 per cent) than they are to promote their now-ready executives (54 per cent), hire from their competitors (40 per cent) or recruit from outside their industries (26 per cent).
Companies that currently do not have enough management successors are more than twice as likely to hire from their competitors than employers with sufficient management bench strength (48 per cent compared to 21 per cent), and are almost two times more likely to hire from outside their industries (28 per cent compared to 16 per cent), according to the survey.
Employers need to determine who their high-potential employees are, and then provide them with the necessary coaching and training to turn them into future leaders, said Lundy.
“Employers need to fully assess the capabilities of current employees and those outside of their organizations and decide which ones to grow as future leaders,” he said.
