External hiring, especially at senior levels, helps bring new ideas and approaches to an organisation. But it's now becoming a costly process, with 43% of organisations having to raise pay for hard-to-fill vacancies.
So, what’s the best way to identify and nurture a home-grown talent pool, so that colleagues remain galvanised and prepared for the long-term goal of senior leadership?
In this article, we explore why using a senior leadership ‘primer’ is the best course of action, allowing colleagues to learn more about life in the C-suite and to gauge their own suitability.
Who is in Your Talent Pool?
Historically, large organisations have relied on rigid, confidential succession plans designed to prepare internal candidates for top roles. However, with increasing uncertainty, rapid change, and flatter organisational structures, this approach has declined.
Today, approaches are broader, more inclusive, and recognise the need to identify and nurture critical talent at all levels, ensuring a more diverse and resilient leadership pipeline.
Most commonly, your talent pool will feature high-performing Functional managers who seem the most logical fit for the future Executive team. But ask yourself:
- How are you retaining, nurturing and challenging these high performers so they don’t grow complacent or go elsewhere?
- Are they aware of how Executive leadership differs from Functional management, and does this actually appeal to them?
- Are they curious about other business functions and adept at building networks beyond their own silos?
- Are you actively encouraging the less obvious candidates who would bring diversity of thought and lived experience? Might they actually have greater aptitudes for senior leadership?
A Long-term Approach
Whilst some organisations focus their talent management on key or high-potential individuals, others have shifted towards a more inclusive approach that considers the entire workforce.
Many organisations blend these strategies: they engage and develop all colleagues but place special emphasis on a core group.
Whatever the approach, fairness and consistency are essential to help colleagues clarify their long-term ambition, aspirations and purpose.
The CIPD’s research highlights the importance of structured selection processes. These increase the perceived value of talent programmes and participants’ motivation to perform.
However, lengthy leadership development programmes can be costly, time-consuming and conceptual rather than practical. They can also be a risky investment if colleagues don’t know why they’re there, or whether they are suited to the realities of senior leadership.
The consequence to investing in colleagues with a lack of purpose and direction could be presenteeism, a lack of real engagement, quiet quitting, burnout and ultimately resignation.
Instead, it might be worth considering a short programme or intervention to outline the expectations of Executive leadership, and to allow colleagues to determine whether this is the right fit, before committing to longer curriculums.
This would act as a ‘Litmus test’ and is especially effective when colleagues are invited to assess their own proficiencies and expectations first, rather than participating in some kind of audition process.
The other advantage here is that Talent Directors can challenge their own biases around their colleagues awarenesses and capabilities and ensure that opportunities aren’t missed.
Building Diverse Leadership Teams
Whilst some organisations focus their talent management on key or high-potential individuals, others have shifted towards a more inclusive approach that considers the entire workforce.
Many organisations blend these strategies: they engage and develop all colleagues but place special emphasis on a core group.
Whatever the approach, fairness and consistency are essential to help colleagues clarify their long-term ambition, aspirations and purpose.
The CIPD’s research highlights the importance of structured selection processes. These increase the perceived value of talent programmes and participants’ motivation to perform.
However, lengthy leadership development programmes can be costly, time-consuming and conceptual rather than practical. They can also be a risky investment if colleagues don’t know why they’re there, or whether they are suited to the realities of senior leadership.
The consequence to investing in colleagues with a lack of purpose and direction could be presenteeism, a lack of real engagement, quiet quitting, burnout and ultimately resignation.
Instead, it might be worth considering a short programme or intervention to outline the expectations of Executive leadership, and to allow colleagues to determine whether this is the right fit, before committing to longer curriculums.
This would act as a ‘Litmus test’ and is especially effective when colleagues are invited to assess their own proficiencies and expectations first, rather than participating in some kind of audition process.
The other advantage here is that Talent Directors can challenge their own biases around their colleagues awarenesses and capabilities and ensure that opportunities aren’t missed.
Engagement and Encouragement
Talent programmes are a way to signal long-term investment in colleagues, and to create a more proactive and personal dialogue between colleagues, HR and the current senior leadership. This promotes talent retention, and encourages colleagues to think of themselves as part of a bigger network that they can collaborate with and influence.
The Art of Stakeholder Engagement
Many professionals build a reputation based on a particular area of expertise or execution. By the time leaders reach C-suite, they may indeed have become experts in their function, but may not have recognised the need to look outside of their silo. Breadth of knowledge and understanding begins to supersede depth and this can be both confusing and unsettling. As Marshall Goldsmith put it “What got you here, won’t get you there”.
This is why so many executives say they feel unprepared for the networking and stakeholder engagement aspects of senior leadership.
In our research, 93% of respondents believed that, depending on the situation, prospective CEOs require more preparation specific to the top role.
Again, this is remedied by introducing talent programmes early on which outline all aspects of stakeholder management.
At School for CEOs, our proprietary Dimensions framework addresses five Dimensions of Management:
- Managing Up: forming the right relationship with your boss and other senior stakeholders
- Managing Down: leading both your immediate team and the wider organisation
- Managing Out: working with stakeholders outside your organisation
- Managing In: keeping your feet on the ground
- Managing Across: getting your peer group relationships right
Having this multi-lateral awareness prepares leaders to think operationally and strategically.
Talent programmes in themselves can be an opportunity for different functions and departments to interact, collaborate and learn from each other at an early stage.
Diverse Backgrounds and Creating Culture
Aligning talent management programs with diversity initiatives, for instance, ensures access to a broader and more diverse talent pool.
As well as including diverse thinking styles, talent programmes are an opportunity to include historically marginalised or underrepresented groups to ensure a more diverse executive team in the future.
This runs much deeper than achieving percentages. It’s an opportunity for all concerned to learn about diverse perspectives, and to improve cultural intelligence. It helps those with privilege to rigorously challenge their biases through connection, and for under-represented groups to break through their imposter syndrome. It also sets a precedent for colleagues at earlier stages to ‘be what they can see’ by observing those similar to them in senior roles.
Although a healthy culture contains diversity and innovation, long-term talent development also helps to maintain and promote a culture based upon core values. This is easier when developing talent internally, than externally hiring someone who may not be the right fit, or may require a lot development to be ‘on-message’.
Feeling Comfortable to Opt Out Early
Programmes invite candidates to think about their own 3-5 journey and to get crystal clear on purpose. Some might indeed realise that the executive team is not their preferred destination, giving them clarity on their desired path instead. But for others, the programmes inspire more deliberate and purposeful behaviours, giving vigour and motivation.
These realisations serve the succession plan, as colleagues feel more comfortable to talk about their desired outcomes, therefore clarifying who the candidates actually are. It also encourages leaders to think about who their successors might be, enabling the movement of the succession pipeline.
Is it time to invite your talent pool to think about their suitability for senior leadership?
We can help.
Find out more about our 24 hour programme HERE
