New Talent Management Facts #29

“42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.” 

Steven Wright

Another addition of leadership and talent management “facts” from all over the world.  Some intuitive and some not….what do you think?

1. A recent study of 440 leaders at more than 300 global companies by Interaction Associates on trust levels finds that in 2012 only 23% of respondents said that their companies’ leadership is consistent, predictable and transparent, compared with nearly 40% in 2009. Employees at high performing companies are 19% more likely than employees of low-performing companies to say their leaders reflect realistic optimism and confidence in the future, and that they have specific and measurable goals that are clearly linked to the organization’s strategy.

2. The 2012 International Coach Federation Coaching study (12,133 responses from 117 countries with 4,400 from non-ICF members) found that the profession of coaching is growing but 43% of the respondents expressed concern about untrained individuals becoming coaches.  Key issues facing the coaching industry include increased awareness of benefits (36%), credible ROI data showing evidence of coaching effectiveness (28%) and improved general perception (14%).

3. The AMA Succession Planning/Talent Management study of 2012 consisted of 1,098 senior and mid-level businesses, human resources, and management professionals located in the U.S. (96%) and in Canada (4%).  Forty-six percent of respondents said their companies are “not at all” transparent with succession planning and 43% said they are “somewhat” transparent. Only 11% said their organizations are very transparent on this initiative. Similar to this issue, 38% keep their high-potential selection criteria secret and another 28% said they do not share information on admission to leadership programs. In contrast, with respect to employee survey findings, 41% of respondents reported that their organization is very transparent and 35% reported similar openness on corporate strategy.

4. Employees committing fraud typically display one or more behavioral “red flags” according to some new research: 1) In 81% of the cases perpetrators appear to be living beyond their financial means or experiencing financial difficulty; 2) The longer an employee works for an organization, the higher the fraud loss tends to be (those with a decade or more caused a median loss of $229,000); and 3) Those with levels of authority caused the laregest losses (median loss by business owners and executives was $573,000).

5. In Deloitte’s most recent 2012 global survey of employees (Talent 2020: Surveying the talent paradox from the employee perspective), 80% indicated they plan to stay with their current employers in the next year (compared to 35% in 2011) yet at the same time, nearly one-third (31%) of surveyed employees reported they are not satisfied with their jobs.

6. Research by PDI Ninth House n 2012 based on 37,398 leaders across 147 companies suggest that four personality factors are essential to minimize or eliminate for leaders looking to advance in organizations): 1) Passive agressiveness; 2) Micro-managing others; 3) Manipulation; and 4) Attention to detail.

7. A 2012 survey by Dr. Gary Blau of Temple University explored the reactions of employees who were laid off.  Those who were made to understand how the layoff decisions were made and felt they were treated fairly were still likely to refer their previous employer to others and 45% reported they would return to work with the employer if given the chance.

8. According to the 2012 Society for Human Resources Management 2012 Job Satisfaction and Engagement Survey, “opportunities to use skills and abilities” now holds the highest spot among drivers of job satisfaction (job security ranked second). Other top five included: 3) Compensation and pay; 4) Communication between employees and senior management; and 5) Relationship with one’s immediate supervisor.

9. ManpowerGroup’s Right management and its partners recently conducted a study of more than 1,400 CEOs and HR professionals at 707 domestic and foreign companies.  Most CEOs come from operations (64%), finance (56%), and sales (49%).

The top competencies seen as most important for CEOs included: 1) Creating a strategic vision (92%), inspiring others (62%), developing a comprehensive review of the business (40%) and decision making (55%).

Derailment factors for CEOs included: 1) Failure to build relationships and a team (40%), mismatch with the company culture (32%), and failure to deliver results (25%).

10. A 2012 Robert Half International survey of 1,400 telephone interviews with CFOs about slackers revealed that: 1) On average, supervisors spend 17 percent of their time — nearly one day per week — overseeing poorly performing employees; and 2) 35% of respondents reported that making a poor hiring decision “greatly” affects the morale of the team and 60% responded “somewhat” providing some validation that slackers do harm both directly and indirectly.

Back to research some new talent development facts….Be well….

Ken Nowack

Kenneth Nowack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (PSY13758) and President & Chief Research Officer/Co-Founder of Envisia Learning, is a member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Ken also serves as the Associate Editor of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. His recent book Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It is available for free for a limited time by signing up for free blog updates (Learn more at our website)