Despite substantial investments in leadership development, organizations don’t have the required leadership benches need to meet current and future needs.
Most organizations attempt to create a strong leadership bench by managing a pipeline of successors who have the potential to fill a specific position or type of role, but this approach breaks down in today’s environment.
To improve bench strength, organizations must move from a pipeline management approach to a portfolio management approach in four key ways:
- Shift from supply-driven to demand-driven planning.
- Broaden, not just deepen, search for future leaders.
- Identify and develop future leaders for a few different roles, not infinite agility.
- Rebalance leadership team regularly, not assume that succession ends with placement in role.