Are you in the battle for your talent?

A common message and reality that all businesses have become accustomed to hearing and experiencing is that they face an imminent or current shortage of all types of personnel - including leaders - as the demographics of our population and our workforce go through significant change.  However, in the battle for talent is your business cultivating and managing its own home ground?  Does your organization know what talent it already has?  Are you taking steps to cultivate and preserve that talent as your existing leaders leave or retire?  Based on what I've seen and experienced in my work I'm going to suggest the gap between the perception of a talent gap and actions to close that gap are significant and growing.

One of the first challenges facing any organization is understanding not only the leadership requirements they face today but, more importantly, the leadership requirements they will require years into the future.  A fundamental need then is for an organization to ensure some base level of understanding of the entirety of its business environment into the murky future.  All the more challenging when business cycles are shorter, more dynamic and unpredictable than ever before.  Who would have predicted oil at under $50 a barrel just a few weeks ago?  Too often within the context of this downturn a common business reaction is reduction or elimination of leadership development and other training programs if not outright layoffs.  Leadership development in this context is not seen as an investment, rather it is seen as a forgo-able cost.  The longer-term cost to the organization - lost talent, lost capacity for mentorship and succession planning - is outweighed by short-term considerations.

Another challenge that organizations face - perhaps particularly if large and well-established in their industry - is recognizing and accelerating the development and upward movement of its internal talent.  Often time this is because a "future" leader doesn't look anything like our current leaders.  Essentially, organizations become biased or blind to the prospective leaders in their midst.  Senior leaders and mid-level managers are inclined to look for their mirror image - whether defined by age, educational background, or other variables.  They are unable, or unwilling, to appreciate that the leadership of the past or of today is going to be significantly insufficient for the challenges being experienced today and into the future.  Even worse, current leaders can be sufficiently threatened by the up and comers to consciously hold them back.  The results can be a loss of future talent to a competitor that comes calling.  The battle for talent lost even before it starts.

How can organizations make sure they are competitive in the battle for talent?  How can they ensure they stand a chance of not losing the talent already in their midst?  First, there must be a clear understanding of the business demands, realities and strategies to be implemented in the mid- to long-term future of the organization.  As noted above, this is a daunting challenge all its own which likely means that an organization must be particularly attuned to identifying and developing innovative, creative and highly adaptive prospects in their midst for whatever skills and abilities one might anticipate needing in the future.  Moreover, it is just as likely that new skills and abilities will be required beyond the current line of sight.  Organizations are advised to seek out and foster leaders that are not only comfortable but can thrive in an environment of constant change and ambiguity.

Organizations should also ensure alignment of all systems that may support or impinge upon retention of prospective leadership talent.  In particular, incentives and structures should be established or adjusted to ensure that existing leaders can identify and support the next generation of leaders.  This also entails some level of investment in current leaders to assist them in identifying and supporting future leaders.  Just as not all current managers make good mentors we should not hold out expectation that they have the ability to identify future leaders.

Similarly organizations need to structure a variety of learning and development experiences that transcend traditional classroom settings.  There must be dedicated and protected time for top prospects to gain experience beyond their current roles.  The top prospects must be afforded the ability to develop and widen their skills and perspectives within the broader canvas of the organization and its business environment.

How seriously are you taking the battle for talent?  Are you even aware of the battle you are in?  Are you more likely to bend to short-term cost considerations versus sustaining a long-term investment in your talent pool?  Can you overcome your own biases and preconceptions about what future leadership looks like or needs to be?  Can you mentor and foster leaders who don't look like you? Can you effectively pass the torch and win THE race?

The success of your organization depends on your leadership vision and your ability to foster the leadership that will carry you forward.  It is ALL about leadership.
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Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.