The frenzied end of the football transfer window got me thinking about parallels with the travel industry.
All too often, we are minded to look externally for our business leaders, tempted by their star quality and reputations. Doubtless the top job at Thomas Cook will go to an outsider, if only to placate those who lobbied for Manny Fontenla-Novoa’s departure.
Yet, it is likely that those best suited to lead an organisation through big change are the incumbents, those who know the business best – albeit aided by external consultants and non-executive input.
Recent research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development reveals that only 36% of UK leaders and 18% of UK human resources professionals rate the quality of leadership as ‘high’ in their organisations.
I wonder what the equivalent percentage is in our industry – try this in your office.
In addition the research found only 38% of companies had effective leadership development programmes.
Three key drivers of leadership were identified
- Leadership development
- Talent management
- Management culture
It seems, especially when budgets are tight, there is insufficient investment in grooming people for senior leadership roles. This is despite the fact that external appointments have higher failure rates and shorter service terms than internally developed people, which when coupled with their cost of recruitment means it’s almost always cheaper to grow your own.
As demonstrated by the high-profile, expensive transfers of Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll, top players don’t always perform when torn apart from the managers and cultures that nurtured them.
Aah, I hear you cry, look what’s happened to Arsenal, champions of the DIY policy (if not anything else). Arsene Wenger has, however, achieved enormous success in developing young talent whilst spending significantly less than his competition – arguably, all he got wrong this season was his succession policy.
So nurture your talent and invest properly in your people’s development, especially at this time. It’s a strategy that will serve your business well in the race for league survival and hopefully the odd trophy.
Richard Carrick is currently a consultant and chairman of private jet booking portal PrivateFly. He is a board yrustee of People 1st, the government sector skills council for hospitality, leisure travel & tourism in the UK.