Leadership Development Trends: Findings and Implications

1. Leadership Development Trends: Findings and Implications Presentation to the Leadership Symposium Ian Cullwick • Vice-President, Leadership and Human Resources Research • The Conference Board of Canada • The University of Winnipeg • Wednesday, October 30, 2013

2. Agenda • Context - CEO Challenges and Strategies • Leadership Development – An Overview • Practices and Priorities • Learning and Development Outlook 2013 • Implications and Conclusions

3. Context - CEO Challenges and Strategies CEO Challenges

4. Context - CEO Challenges and Strategies CEO Strategies Human capital and leadership underpin four of the five top CEO strategies

5. Context - CEO Challenges and Strategies • Unlike previous annual trends, CEOs are focused on operational and productivity-driven strategies. • Canadian CEOs are adopting a “small business owner” approach to their leadership and management styles – spending time on the front lines. • CEO focus on building high-performance organizations that are efficient and engaged. • Growing talent internally is viewed as the number one human resources strategy for Canadian CEOs.

6. Leadership Development – An Overview Leadership Development in Canada – A Snapshot A major Conference Board of Canada research initiative Examines leadership priorities and practices across 14 industry sectors Also identifies opportunities for improvement and better practices A two-phased initiative – broader Canadian overview and “deep dive” into select practices

7. Leadership Development – An Overview Business Issues Driving Leadership Development HR governance Leadership capability and capacity Succession planning Talent management and engagement Increasing growth Like today’s global CEOs, Canada’s human resources leaders are clearly concerned with improving internal capacity and developing talent, particularly leadership talent.

8. Leadership Development – An Overview Impact of Economic Environment on LeadershipDevelopment Many organizations have reduced or cut back their leadership development programs in response to fiscal challenges

9. Practices and Priorities Leadership Development Programs by Employee Segment Few Canadian organizations (39%) have a leadership development program for high potentials. This has significant implications for succession planning and talent management. Source: The Conference Board of Canada.

10. Practices and PrioritiesOverall Leadership Development Practices Use and Effectiveness The leadership development activities perceived to be most effective are not necessarily the ones that are used most often.  Source: The Conference Board of Canada.

11. Practices and Priorities Opportunities for High Potential Development Organizations are not using the most effective development activities for high potentials: Stretch Assignments, Planned career assignments, and Coaching. Source: The Conference Board of Canada.

12. Practices and Priorities Opportunities for Executive Development Largest opportunity gaps for leadership development at the executive level: Job rotations, Facilitated leadership conversations, Coaching, Action learning and Planned career assignments Source: The Conference Board of Canada

13. Learning and Development Outlook 2013 The 12th edition of the Learning and Development Outlook A total of 198 organizations completed the survey Provides an overview of the current state of learning and development practices and programs across Canada About the LDO:

14. Learning and Development Outlook 2013 Key Drivers of a Stronger Learning Environment Creating and maintaining a strong learning culture Ensuring that learning is a top priority Offering diverse learning delivery Providing learning supports Aligning learning with organizational strategy

15. Learning and Development Outlook 2013 • Learning culture is comprised of key factors that address the degree to which organizations: Creating and Maintaining a Strong Learning Culture • Prioritize learning • Align learning with organizational objectives • Promote/Support the delivery of diverse learning methods • Have strong leadership support for learning Organizations were categorized into weak, moderate and strong learning cultures based on survey responses to key drivers of learning culture. Source: The Conference Board of Canada

16. Learning and Development Outlook 2013 Effectiveness of Leadership Development Practices In 2012, only 32 per cent of organizations rated their leadership development practices as effective. Source: The Conference Board of Canada

17. Learning and Development Outlook 2013 Effectiveness of Leadership Development Practices by Learning Culture Organizations with strong learning cultures are far more likely to have effective leadership development practices. Source: The Conference Board of Canada

18. Learning and Development Outlook 2013 Organizational Performance Relative to Competitors, by Effectiveness of Leadership Development Practices Organizations with effective leadership development practices rate their performance as superior to their competitors across all organizational performance areas. Source: The Conference Board of Canada

19. Learning and Development Outlook 2013 Organizational Performance Relative to Competitors, by Overall Leadership Performance Organizations with strong overall leadership performance rate their organization as superior to their competitors across all organizational performance areas. Source: The Conference Board of Canada

20. Conclusions and Implications Strong leadership is critical for organizational performance Organizations are not confident that current leadership development practices are effective While succession planning is a key driver of leadership development, high potential employee identification and development is not a top priority for many organizations Effective leadership development requires an integrated approach to learning, development and talent management

21. Implications and Conclusions Succession Planning Ratio of high potential successors to positions

22. Implications and Conclusions Blended Strategy for Leadership Development 90% of development is informal Source: Centre for Creative Leadership, “Blended Learning for Leadership: The CCL Approach,” 2013, 2 and 5.