The Aberdeen Group19 found evidence to
support the importance of a Leadership
Pipeline approach in a 2008 report on succession
management. They found the bestin-class
organizations they studied are 40
percent more likely than all other organizations
to focus on developing a Leadership
Pipeline across all levels of the organization.
A more encompassing approach to managing
talent is also essential to proactively
manage career transitions. Each level in our
model has different, but overlapping,
Success Profiles, as well as its own set of
transitional challenges. Effective talent management
requires not only developing people
for their current roles, but also getting
them ready for their next transition. For
example, individual contributors being considered
for frontline leadership positions
must make a critical transition from defining
success based on their own performance to
the performance of the team they manage.
Similarly, the operational leader being
groomed for a strategic leadership position
must shift from a business unit or functional
perspective to that of an enterprise guardian.
A planned approach to transitions is especially
important as organizations place more
emphasis on “growing their own leaders”
rather than making often risky outside hires.
The bad news is that few organizations have
proactive succession processes in place at
lower leadership levels. Our Global
Leadership Forecast study revealed that only
28 percent of the companies we surveyed
have a system in place for key individual
contributors and just 38 percent have one
for frontline leaders.20
Best Practice #5: Talent Management
is not a democracy.
Bank of America has a philosophy: Invest in
the Best. Many companies do the opposite,
and make a mistake by trying to spread limited
resources for development equally
across employees. We’ve found that organizations
realize the best returns when promising
individuals receive a differential focus
when it comes to development dollars.
So who should get these benefits? Two
major categories: high-potential leaders and
individuals who create value for their organizations.
For example, Sunoco places special
emphasis on mid-level plant managers
because these leaders are, for the first time,
managing multiple functions. Extra development
increases their success in these pivotal
roles. 21 Countless other organizations mine
their mid-level ranks for leaders with the
potential to advance into strategic or senior
roles. And some companies focus on value
creators such as engineers or sales associates
whose results are most beneficial for
their employers. These groups are most likely
to return the most on any investment in
their development.
Best Practice #6: Potential, performance
and readiness are not the same thing.
Many organizations understand the idea of
a high-potential pool or a group of people
who receive more developmental attention.
But sometimes, they fail to consider the differences
between potential, performance,
and readiness.