The aspirations of today’s workers are much different than they were in the past. Employees no longer have their sights set on earning a corner office in the C-suite. Instead, only 11 percent of employees want C-level positions, according to a new survey by Saba. As more workers are saying ‘No’ to the executive team, employers need to quickly adjust to help fill this leadership gap. There are three strategies employers can use to start to identifying and developing future talent in their company.
Help Young and New Employees Create a Career Path
One of the best ways to start identifying future leadership talent is to have a conversation with young and new employees about their future career path. Find out their long term and short term goals, and where they see themselves at your company. Helping younger employees identify even a two-year goal can help them stay engaged and increase retention. Also, employees may have big plans for their future, but don’t know how to get there, or don’t know all their options. Help employees work backward from their goal and build the leadership skills they need to get there. And finally, this shouldn’t be just a one and done conversation. There should be consistent monthly and yearly reviews to help employees stay on track and motivated.
Identify Employees Closest to Leadership Roles
Next, start identifying top talent that could eventually move into leadership roles. Do you have someone that could move into an a leadership position in six months, a year, or even three years down the road? Even if you’re not expecting a leadership position to open up for another four years, it’s important to have a potential replacement lined up early on. Once you’ve identified this top talent, you can then evaluate what further training or skills they will need before they move into a leadership role.
Create an Internal Leadership Development Program
Finally, consider creating an internal leadership program. The program should help top talent build the necessary skills needed for these executive positions. It will also set the appropriate expectations of moving from an entry level position into an executive role, and what knowledge and experience it takes to get there. Having an internal leadership program shows your company is serious about promoting from within, and will help attract goal-oriented candidates in the future.
Identifying and developing the leadership skills of your internal employees will take a lot of time and training. If you need top leadership talent now, but don’t have anyone to fill the position, consider hiring outside leadership. Contact Naviga today to have a conversation about the needs of your business and how working with an Executive Search firm to find your Executive Candidates can benefit your business.
