As marketplaces grow more competitive and organizations rise to face new challenges, the need for strong talent is at an all-time high. It is no wonder then that many organizations are investing in high-potential programs. A CEB study shows that HiPo employees are twice as valuable to an organization than the rest of their staff, making leadership development a critical component of future success.
While HiPo employees are far more likely to achieve a senior leadership position – providing a vital source of future leaders for their organizations – the study also discovered that 80 percent of HR professionals were dissatisfied with their current HiPo programs. Therefore, the question remains: If HiPo programs are designed to create future generations of leaders, why are they failing to deliver?
“55 percent of HiPos will not make it through their developmental programs.”
Why Do Many HiPo Programs Fail?
While these programs may seem to be beneficial, in reality, more than half of HiPos will not make it through their developmental programs due to changing organizational needs and roles. Additionally, half of new leaders who make it through HiPo programs are unable to reach their set business goals in their new position. The hard truth is that most HiPo programs are producing very few ready-now leaders to adequately meet today’s evolving business needs.
Some of this disconnect is due to the fact that many current succession plans lead to positions that will not exist in a few years time due to evolving industry roles and focuses. Meanwhile, many leaders also fail to rise to their designated senior leadership roles, preferring to move to a competitor. Instead of trying to predict a small group of future leaders, many of the most dynamic organizations today are finding more scalable ways to expand their leadership development efforts.
Broaden the Scope of Rising Leader Development
Even with fixed resources, leading organization are broadening the scope of their development programs by taking three steps. First, they are taking advantage of online technology to deliver live, virtual learning experiences at scale. Second, instead of taking executives away from the job, they are delivering formal learning on-the-job. And finally, they are taking advantage of collaborative peer learning. By reaching more leaders, these organizations are able increase significantly the portion of leaders that will be ready for future roles.
If you are an interested HR professional, please speak with our team to learn more about how ExecOnline can broaden the reach of your rising leader programs.
