Challenges Facing Organizations in Developing Leadership Talent

Retirement of Baby Boomers

Retirements over the next five to ten years, led by the Baby Boomers, is of immediate concern.  “By the year  most of today’s senior leaders will be eligible to retire or will have retired.  Their successors will be sourced from the members of Gen X and the members of the Millennials, Gen Y. Our newer employees are members of Gen Z

The pandemic, which started in,  has caused all business to rethink how work is accomplished and how talent is identified and developed.  The methods utilized in the past may be inappropriate for the near and possibly the long term.

Corporate growth planssuggest the need to hire leaders into as many new positions as we currently have.  Since generation X, which follows the Boomers, has approximately 12% fewer people, perpetuating past ways of developing leadership talent will not result in an adequate supply of candidates. Furthermore, the methods of developing leaders from the Millennial and Z generations will likely need to be different from prior generations.

The workforce is more demographically and culturally diverse than before.  That trend will continue.  It is essential that all leaders be cognizant of that diversity and be skilled in how to create cohesive, inclusive teams.

Decline of Loyalty and Organizational Commitment.  “The present generation of new leaders and professionals is expected to change jobs from 7 to 10 times in their career. While job changes can be developmental and within the firm, they sometimes result in a loss of talent for the organization.  Turnover in mid-to-senior level leadership positions has been high in some regions.” 

Loss of Knowledge and Social Capital.  “More retirements and turnover translate into a loss of the company specific knowledge along with each departing executives’ social capital and contact network.  Much of ADV’s business rests on establishing and perpetuating effective working relationships with customers, clients, suppliers, and buyers.  How can we overcome those critical losses?

 Loss of Talented Women.“Prior to the pandemic, too many women were leaving ADV just before advancement into senior positions due to quality of life and child rearing issues. Many cited the in-office time commitment and extensive travel required of senior leaders for various meetings. That caused a large drain on our talent pool as well as loss of knowledge and social capital with some stakeholders. That situation may reappear after the pandemic…or not.  What can be done to minimize those losses?”

Increasing Technical and Global Complexity.  The advances in technology and globalization have made it impossible to conceive of leadership talent in non-technical and non-global terms, requiring more time and developmental assignments to prepare leadership talent that is technically and globally savvy