Talent by definition is in short supply. So why would an organisation allow half of its talent to go to waste?
The harsh financial climate means it has never been more important to ensure that our most talented managers rise to leadership positions within the organisation. Why would any organisation allow so many of its most talented managers to “drift” around the middle ranks of the organisation doing a good job but not doing the job they could do? When difficult times require us to get the best out of the best why would we underutilise this talent?
Most organisations appear to be happy to answer this question by saying well they may be talented but they don’t want the senior posts. Can we afford to be so nonchalant about wasting talent in the current financial climate? Of course we can’t.
Who are these talented individuals who are occupying posts which don’t do justice to their skills, abilities, experience and potential? Mostly they are women but they also include people from ethnic minority groups and people with a disability. It is well recognised that women are underrepresented at a senior level- women made up only 12% of Directors of the FTSE top 100 companies in 2009. In a typical public sector organisation women make up 80% of the workforce but only 20% of senior managers are women. My own small survey of 50 women managers in a large local authority confirmed that the reasons could not be dismissed as overt discrimination. The women in the survey gave a number of reason why they were not seeking the top jobs these included the long hours culture which did not fit with their family commitments, the perceived macho management style of senior management which they did not feel comfortable with and a tendency to undervalue their skills. Occasionally they referred to a “boys” culture where meetings started with a discussion of the weekends football results but no one stated that their career opportunities had been restricted by overt discrimination or prejudice. It would appear that no one these days is saying women can’t do senior management jobs what they are saying is women don’t want to.
A recent report by InterExec following interviews with over a 100 head hunting organisations concluded that the majority of these recruiters thought that women could fill senior management posts and that organisations wanted more women in senior posts but that women would have to put career before family if they were to be successful. The head line in the Observer news papers business section captured this view
”Women told to forget about babies if they want to win the top jobs”.
This does not seem a very businesslike approach. Here we are struggling to meet some of the biggest challenges we have faced in generations and we are content to waste 50% of our most talented managers because they are not prepared to fit in with the way we have traditionally operated! This despite the fact that most organisations agree the long hours culture is counterproductive focusing on time in the office rather than achievements and that a macho management culture has no place in an organisation that wants to foster partnerships with other agencies and needs mangers who are innovative and enabling. In addition there is growing awareness that a diverse organisation better reflects its customers, understands them better and as a result offers them a better service.
If an organisation wants to make the most of the talent it has then it needs to convince individuals their skills are valued for example show it is serious about job shares for top jobs. The organisation needs to judge people by what they deliver not make assumptions about “commitment” based on how many hours they put in at weekends or evenings. The organisation needs to spot those first line and middle managers who inspire their staff and show leadership skills and encourage them to aspire to the top jobs. Most of all organisations need to recognise they are wasting talent and they need to do something about it.
Blair McPherson was until recently a Director in a large local authority and is author of People management in a harsh financial climate. www.blairmcpherson.co.uk