75% of HR Executives say they are concerned about their organization’s ability to develop future leaders.  That’s a huge number.  Further research shows that many US companies have slowed their focus on leadership development because of the time and money it requires.  That makes little sense and is clearly a short-term fix for a longer-term problem.

Julie Cook Ramirez, in the August 2008 issue of HR Executive Magazine, wrote an article called “Feeding the Pipeline” which discussed the fact that the majority of US employers are not investing or developing future leaders from among their own ranks.    The ISHR Group was fortunate to be interviewed for this article.  The article highlighted several companies who haven’t lost this focus on leadership development, and, if anything, have placed an increased priority and emphasis on developing their future leadership pipeline.  We have several clients we consider success stories in their focus on continuing internal leadership development measures. 

One client in particular, Gexpro, has asked us to partner with them to develop a four-tier leadership curriculum that brings leadership development in at the entry-level and continues with that development through a premier Executive Leadership Course.  Gexpro has it right.  “The day anybody starts with the organization, we begin by asking, ‘Is this somebody who has the potential to do something great within the business?’ says Dave Pasternak, Director of Organization Development. 

I was quoted as saying, “With young employees spending less time at each employer than the generations that preceded them, it’s incumbent upon organizations to identify potential future leaders early in their careers, get them started on an appropriate development path and convince them of the opportunities that await them before they start thinking about greener pastures elsewhere.  … With early career high potentials, you’ve got to spend time developing them with the hope that they’ll see the path you’ve paved for them; thus, making it more likely they’ll stick around.”

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

I invite you to read the entire article at:

http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=114154901