Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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SHL Global Leadership Study reveals talent time bombs
SHL has launched its first Global Leadership study, providing a worldwide view of leadership potential. The study identifies the top 25 countries based on the analysis of over a million people from SHL's global Talent Analytics database. Hong Kong, Germany and the UK have more effective leaders today than any other country in the study while Denmark, Brazil and Norway have the lowest supply. But this is all set to change...
The landscape of leadership potential changes significantly when analysing the supply of leadership talent for tomorrow. Mexico, Turkey and Egypt have the greatest source of potential future leaders. In contrast, the UK drops 18 places to fall out of the top 20 and Hong Kong falls from pole position to 20th while Mexico and Brazil jump 19 and 21 places respectively, with Mexico topping the table.
"Despite having a strong supply of leaders for today, the UK has a leadership time bomb on its hands if it doesn't invest in learning and development to cultivate its future leaders and remain competitive," said at SHL's chief product officer, Paul Levett, as the results of the study were revealed. "Rising education standards and a culture of entrepreneurialism are some of the many environmental factors that are driving emerging economies such as Brazil, India, Mexico and Turkey up the rankings for future leadership potential. These nations have a huge growth opportunity if they can identify, nurture and develop this potential.
"Companies need to build greater intelligence about the leadership talent within their organisations and be aware of opportunities outside their domestic markets. Understanding the supply of leadership where organisations operate is crucial for adapting leadership development and talent mobility programmes so that companies remain competitive in the global economy."
SHL recommends a five pronged approach to cultivating leadership success across an organisation:
* Firstly, identify the behaviours and skills which make a successful leader in your organisation
* Have a full picture of the leadership potential across your organisation and don't restrict that view to only those you think are high potential
* Using scientific data, benchmark your people against competitor talent and identify leadership shortages to avoid succession risk
* Focus on development interventions including where to spend learning and development budgets and apply this across the business
* Take a global view of where your leadership talent is located and be prepared to use creative strategies to source talent across borders to fill leadership gaps
Additional findings from the study:
Globally, only one in 15 (6.7%), managers and professionals qualify as leaders today. One in three managers and professionals have the next tier of leadership potential but for this level of people the journey to realise that potential is longer and needs targeted investment. The value of investing in these people is substantial because there are six times as many managers and professionals with this level of potential than leaders for today.
In China (Taiwan), Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and United States, the supply of leadership for today and tomorrow is stronger than the average global supply. While competing for leadership talent remains a challenge in these geographies, the odds of finding effective leaders for today are significantly higher at one in 10 vs. the global average of one in 15.
Effective leaders are those individuals with many of the following attributes: the ability to direct, influence, motivate, communicate and work harmoniously at peak performance to achieve an organisation's goals.
An effective leader today is an individual who currently has many of the key leadership characteristics identified by SHL research including:
* The ability to build relationships
* The ability to solve problems
* The ability to communicate effectively
* The ability to think laterally
* The ability to influence
* The ability to respond positively to change
* The ability to organise
* The ability to motivate and be motivated
Leaders of tomorrow are those individuals who exhibit some of the key leadership characteristics (outlined above) but require additional development to realise their full leadership potential.
With a presence in more than 50 countries, SHL delivers more than 25 million assessments annually in over 30 languages - allowing over 10,000 business customers to benefit from both global expertise and local insight. Along with its world-class consulting practices and 24-hour support centre, SHL clients can access over 1,000 assessments through an easy-to-use technology platform. Headquartered in London, UK, the company has offices in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia/New Zealand.
16th August 2012