Building Management Depth
Chief Executives have a primary responsibility to maintain and build management depth. This is about creating a sustainable pool of rising leaders, ready to replace existing leaders to lead key strategic initiatives for their organisation.
Closely related to this focus is retention: keeping those targeted for development within the firm and fully engaged. Over the long haul, there is no more important priority for businesses than this.
A number of initiatives are typically taken in the service of these imperatives. Each of the activities summarised below taken on their own will be incomplete - but in combination, a program with these elements will most likely deliver the outcome desired.
The building of management depth requires actions across a number of fronts, and sometimes reconciling competing perspectives and demands for investment. A comprehensive approach in all areas will yield better results than differing annual priorities, addressing perhaps one or two lines of attack.
Management depth is built by focussing on:
- Recruitment - Remembering the adage that effectiveness is all about having the right people, doing the right things, at the right time to get results, the first priority is to run a really effective recruitment process. Selection, placement and subsequent promotion needs to be underpinned by clear statements of deliverables for each key role, and how success will be measured. Recruitment courtships need care and attention.
- Construct a leadership and human resources strategy - As a derivation of the overall business plan, the work of talent development needs to be closely aligned with the key priorities of the CEO.
- Assess current capabilities and culture - Are we expecting a modest array of current talent to fly like an eagle? Understand the collective abilities and gaps or shortcomings, and routinely benchmark and ask others for their assessments. Take a helicopter view of the organisation, its context and its competitors and ask the tough questions.
- Enrol senior line managers in the task - Senior line managers should lead a "talent council" and take ownership of the availability and development of talent, operating with the best advice they can call on. Talent development is not an HR accountability: it is one for the top management team as a whole. A top level steering committee can ride over the top of silos and protective positioning. It can challenge assertions and require (and resource) robust development plans for those in the high potential pool.
- A succession plan for all business units - Talent initiatives need to be fostered, and excessive optimism tested. Attention can be directed to vulnerable business areas, and to future initiatives not currently supported with management capability.
- Sponsor a range of training activities and organisation capability development - Funding is required to invest in building capability. Experience in key roles and projects should be seen as the primary driver of capability. There should be a continuing movement of talented people across key areas of the business to gain experience - even at the cost of short-term priorities.
- Create the context in which individuals are engaged in their own development planning and in setting themselves development goals - Processes to support development planning by individuals are critical, using managers as coaches and mentors.
- Create performance development and feedback processes which work - Not to be compromised by overloading them with reward distribution and forced rating systems.
Hugh Davies is the Managing Director of Macfarlan Lane. This organisation provides high quality, open ended career development and career transition services to senior managers and professionals. Their website is at www.macfarlanlane.com.au, and Hugh can be reached at 1300 852 788.
First published: 28 February 2008.
Last updated: 28 February 2008.