Global Study From DDI Finds That Innovation and Global Acumen Need to be Higher Priorities for Leaders
SINGAPORE, Aug. 28 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Confidence in leaders is at a 10-year-low, according to the 2008-2009 Global Leadership Forecast, a bi-annual study conducted by Development Dimensions International (DDI), a global human resource consulting firm.
Since 1999, when the Leadership Forecast first measured organizations' perceptions of their leaders, HR confidence in leaders has declined steadily, with only 35 percent citing high confidence in the most recent survey. "This deterioration of confidence is a sign that leaders aren't meeting the needs of the organization," said Steven Lau, Country Manager of DDI Singapore. "Every business leader needs to take note of this if they want to grow their organization."
DDI conducts the Leadership Forecast to measure the impact of leadership development programs around the world. More than 13,700 leaders and HR professionals from 76 countries participated this year, making it the most comprehensive study on organizational leadership practices in the world. In Singapore, 330 leaders from 55 organizations participated in the Forecast.
Some of the major findings of the report are:
Leaders are dissatisfied with their development. 62% of leaders surveyed in Singapore don't feel they're getting the development they need, which is a key obstacle to leadership confidence. Leaders want more opportunities to learn on the job, but senior management seldom takes responsibility for making this happen. "Great leadership doesn't happen by accident-organizations need to start listening to their leaders and make the right development investments if they want different results than they're getting now," said Lau.
CEOs aren't sending the right messages to leaders. Innovation and global acumen represent two large gaps in leaders' and CEOs' priorities, according to research from the Global Leadership Forecast and a recent DDI/Economist Intelligence Unit* study. Leaders don't feel they're respected for innovation or the ability to work across cultures-while CEOs rated these high on their list of what is needed. "The message isn't clear if CEOs think these are the traits they need in the next five years, but leaders don't think these are respected," said Lau. "Leaders are focused on the bottom line because that is the message they are hearing loud and clear."
Singapore lags behind most of the world in succession planning for lower-level employees. Globally, only half of organizations have succession plans for their leadership team. While Singapore organizations were higher than the global sample to have succession plans for top-level management, they were much less likely to have succession-planning programs for lower-level employees. Failing to assure that the best among the lower-level employees rise to the next rung of management could leave Singapore organizations with a less than optimal pool of candidates for senior positions. "This is scary, considering the high rate of retirements we're expecting over the next 5-10 years," Lau said. "Organizations will have empty seats in key leadership roles if they don't begin planning for their future leadership."
But having succession plans isn't the whole story-HR professionals indicated that one in three succession candidates fail. "These aren't good odds for programs that are supposed to increase success," Lau said. "Organizations need to look at how they're developing those individuals and identify why the failure rate is so high."
Leaders who cross borders are unprepared. Organizations continue to expand their global footprint and Singapore has a higher percentage of multinational leaders compared to the rest of the world. Half of all Singapore leaders surveyed have some multinational responsibilities or work on projects that require a great deal of collaboration with associates in multiple countries. Yet these leaders are ill-prepared for the roles ahead of them, as two out of three multinational leaders consider their development for this role poor or fair.
"We're sending leaders into key multinational roles in rapidly growing industries and geographies' without the tools they need," Lau said. "They're facing new cultures and ambiguous environments without much preparation."
More information about the Global Leadership Forecast can be found at http://www.ddiworld.com/thoughtleadership/globalleadershipforecast2008.asp .
*Growing Global Executive Talent: High Priority, Limited Progress was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), on behalf of DDI, in September and October of 2007 with 412 senior leaders in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. To complement the quantitative findings, eight C-suite executives, or its equivalent, were interviewed on their perceptions on talent management.
About DDI
Founded in 1970, Development Dimensions International, a global human resources consulting firm, helps organizations close the gap between today's talent capability and future talent needs. DDI's expertise includes designing and implementing selection systems, and identifying and developing front-line to executive leadership talent. With more than 1,000 associates in 75 offices in 26 countries, the firm advises half of the Fortune 500. For more information about DDI visit http://www.ddiworld.com/aboutddi .
CONTACT:
Fiona Cheong
Tel: +65-6226-5335
Email: fiona.cheong@ddiworld.com
