In a recent study conducted by OI Partners, the data indicated that 54% of the companies surveyed do not have enough leadership successors in place and 14% of the companies are not sure if they have enough leadership successors in place. These findings confirm that many organizations are not prepared for the future, which means their organizations are not as sustainable as current management may believe. Closing the knowledge and talent gap needs to be a management strategy during good or interesting times in business.

The benefit of investing and growing employees for the future provides staggering long-term results for the entire organization. Some of the outcomes of employee development management should never lose sight of include:

• Maintaining or growing competiveness in the market
• Sustaining or increasing overall employee and organizational performance
• Building capabilities required to win when business circumstances change
• Sustaining the organization’s culture
• Shortening the time needed for an employee to make an important role transition
• Building strong leaders breeds sustainability
• Creating strategic alignment between the strategy, the employees, and the internal processes
• Innovation
• Creating loyal employees which in turn helps create a loyal customer base

The last point listed is particularly important. Revenue and profitability, albeit critical, are predictors of past decisions. Creating and growing a loyal customer base is a predictor of future success and sustainability. A key to creating and growing a loyal customer base is creating loyal employees. An employee’s loyalty to the organization is enhanced by working with each individual to create a personal development plan. Tim Shoonover, Chairman of OI Partners, said in a recent article “To sustain growth in your company, there must be a path to leadership. If an employee doesn’t have a leadership development plan in place and isn’t able to see her career progression she is less likely to be engaged or to expend discretionary effort.”

Right now organizations have a bit of an advantage, as employees are not as quick to pursue new career opportunities. But as economic conditions improve, disengaged employees will begin comparing and perhaps looking for new career opportunities. Therefore, creating and committing to an employee leadership and development plan is not only critical to organizational success it also plays a significant role limiting employee turnover to a minimum.

Employees who see a commitment to their growth and development are employees who give the organization 110%. That extra 10% is where innovative ideas come from that could propel your organization to new heights. What is creating an employee development process worth to your company?

Here are some questions that may be useful as you review your company’s employee development strategy.

1. If you had to fill a key leadership position in your company tomorrow, is there someone ready and able to fill the position? Are you confident he/she has the right skills, knowledge, and attitude or are you guessing?
2. Does your organization have a published employee development plan?
3. Do you or your team of managers have a documented development plan for each employee they manage?

If any of your answers to the questions listed above cause you concern or you just do not know the answer, then perhaps it is time to make employee development a priority. The sustainability and success of your organization depend, on it!

Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through leadership development and executive coaching. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.

Albeit some Boomers may be reevaluating their time line based on the economic changes, but there is no question that a high percentage of the 77.5 million Boomers will be vacating corporate America in the next five years. (Study conducted by AARP-2008)

56% of business and industries’ Boomer population hold leadership positions. Conversely, there are only 46 Million Gen X and Gen Y’s to take the place of those vacating Boomers. These numbers reflect why business and industry need to be so concerned about brain drain and develop a strategy to combat it.

A recent report conducted by OI Partners state that 54% of companies surveyed said they did not have enough qualified candidates working for them to succeed their executives and managers and 14% weren’t sure if they have enough leadership successors in place. The survey included responses from 212 primarily large and mid-sized employers throughout North America.

The luxury of time is gone. Organizations must get prepared and begin implementing a leadership succession plan. Having prepared leaders at all levels of an organization is a management strategy and a competitive business advantage. Organizations achieve sustainability and growth through their leadership and the quality of that leadership. The important skills necessary to lead a company to succeed in the upcoming years will be different. In addition to being able to lead people, new leaders will need to plan strategically, inspire commitment, and manage unyielding change. However, to be an effective leader takes much more than skill. It also requires the appropriate attitudes and behaviors. There are many tactical skills of leadership, but without the appropriate attitudes and behaviors, the skills are almost meaningless. We talked in a previous post about how actions speak louder than words. It is difficult to inspire commitment in a team when the leader’s body language, tone of voice, and behaviors reflect something entirely different. Managing change becomes very difficult if a leader’s attitude is “this too shall pass.” In order to manage unyielding change a leader needs to be aggressive, innovative, and responsive. And yes, it takes certain skills to be aggressive, innovative, and creative, but success in these areas requires the right attitude equally as much as the right skills.

In working with clients to develop their leadership bench strength we have found the following formula works extremely well:

In order for your business to achieve Improved Results (IR) there needs to be Positive Behavior Change (PBC). We have found a successful way to achieve Positive Behavior Change (PBC) by customizing a process unique to the client that addresses the needed Attitudes, Behaviors, and Skills (ASK) combined with a Goal Accomplishment (Goals) model that drives Positive Behavior Change (PBC) which leads to measurable and improved results.

As your organization develops future leaders for your organization, you need to ensure there is a solid base of leadership skills is important. What attitudes and behaviors do you want people in leadership roles to exhibit? What messages do you want them to send when they are not talking? What example do you want them to set when no one is officially watching? To identify a true leader, observe his/her behavior and attitude as it will tell you a great deal more than an evaluation of their skills.

Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, and executive coaching, and youth leadership. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.