By: Maurice Gilbert
It used to be that past performance was the best predictor of future success. Perhaps not so anymore.
Executive search firm Egon Zehnder partnered with Harvard Business School to survey sizable organizations across diverse industries and locales and found that we are entering a new era of talent management – one in which strong, experienced managers are in short supply. Companies worldwide are seeking senior executives in the 35- to 44-year-old age bracket, but supply in that age range has been shrinking consistently for the past several years.
Results from the survey and subsequent analysis also revealed that by 2020, there will be more people at retirement age than fresh blood entering the workforce. Given the unemployment rate, this sounds like good news as more jobs would come available. The kicker, though, is that on the whole, companies are not developing pipelines of future leaders.
Marry these issues, and you have quite the challenge for recruitment teams, who will, in the next few years, be charged with sourcing talent externally and considering a horde of less experienced candidates. One potential solution will be to shift focus away from competency to potential.
In this new era, hiring managers will have to shelve concerns such as experience level and past performance to some extent and instead look primarily at a candidate’s adaptability, his potential to grow to match evolving needs, to develop new knowledge and skills as circumstances change. Emotional intelligence will be as important as ever, and with it, the following are likely to be among the most desired qualities in potential leaders:
• Motivation
• Curiosity
• Insight
• Engagement
• Determination
Is your firm ready for this new era of talent management? The time could be right for bringing in the experts…
Maurice Gilbert is Managing Partner of Conselium Executive Search, which specializes in placing Compliance Officers and Legal Counsel for clients in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Maurice is also CEO of Corporate Compliance Insights, a worldwide publication devoted to governance, risk and compliance issues. Maurice can be reached at maurice@conselium.com or maurice@corporatecomplianceinsights.com.
