Developing the Next Generation of Top-Performing Leaders

Primary research findings developed in partnership with Jamie Turner, founder and CEO of Sixty and 60 Second Marketer, and Reshma Shah, Associate Professor in the Practice of Marketing at Emory University Goizueta Business School

The State of Leadership Development

If you’re like most executives reading this, you can hardly remember a time when business was more challenging. We’ve confronted COVID-19, the Great Resignation, and, now, inflation. As a result, you may have found that recruiting new employees as well as retaining, engaging, and developing your current workforce has grown more difficult. The data supports this premise. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.25 million people quit their jobs in January 2022, up from 3.3 million in 2021. And an international research study conducted by Future Forum reports that 57 percent of knowledge workers are open to seeking a new job within the next year.

Times are tough. However the world’s leading organizations aren’t taking this lightly. Instead, many of them are using this as an opportunity to work even harder on leadership development programs that can help retain and recruit top talent.

Key Findings from International Research

This research, which was conducted with 275 high-level executives from North America, Latin America, and Europe, uncovered best practices that differentiate top-performing organizations from lower-performing organizations.

There are several findings from the research that are worth examining.

1. It’s harder to attract new employees: More than 79% of survey respondents said it is harder to attract new employees today than it was 5 years ago.
2. It’s harder to retain existing employees: 77% of survey respondents said it is harder to retain existing employees today than it was 5 years ago.
3. The need for training and development is important: 80% of survey respondents said that the need for training and development ia greater today than it was 5 years ago.
4. Training and development budgets are increasing: 54% of those surveyed said they were likely or very likely to see an increase in their budgets in the coming year.
5. Top management is focused on training and development: 21% of those surveyed meet with top management about training and development on a weekly basis. Another 30% meet with top management on a monthly basis.

Use the comments section below to share your thoughts on these research insights. What trends are you seeing at your company?