The development and promotion of talent are important success factors for a company and therefore also belong on the agenda of the board of directors. Those who deal with an internal talent strategy in good time are well prepared for future personnel requirements.
What can board presidents do if it is foreseeable that their chief financial officer will retire at the end of the year? Even before the recruitment process for a successor is initiated, the first step should be to discuss the most important fundamental questions, such as: What requirements must the new CFO meet? What kind of personality would fit into the management team? Would an internal candidate also be considered?
A survey conducted by swissVR Monitor among 420 boards of directors in Switzerland shows how important it is to address the issue of talent strategy. According to the survey, a regular exchange of views on HR issues is one of the most important success factors when boards of directors are positioning their companies for the future in terms of human resources. However, the vast majority of board members believe their company is well equipped to meet the challenges of talent management.
This optimism is remarkable considering that companies are facing major challenges: the omnipresent shortage of skilled workers, demographic change, increasing aging, and the need to further develop their own staff due to technological progress. This results in risks that every BoD should identify and assess for its own company. However, in reality, few boards formulate a talent management strategy and regularly review the achievement of the goals set out in it. This could be due to the fact that while the board discusses fundamental issues related to talent management, corresponding strategies and measures are formulated and implemented at the executive management or human resources level.
A talent strategy should formulate the principles for talent management and, in particular, for the development of future leaders. An important goal of such a strategy is therefore to further develop the competencies of the employees in the company. In this context, BoDs want above all to strengthen employees' personal responsibility, entrepreneurial thinking, and digital and technological skills. To achieve this, companies must create framework conditions that enable employees to develop these skills, and they need a corporate culture that demands and promotes this. Some skills, such as digital and technological competencies, can be taught in appropriate training courses.
The survey mentioned at the beginning of this article also shows that boards of directors want to focus more on diversity and variety in the future and recruit internal talent for management positions more often. In this context, it is important to take a broader view - also within one's own organization - and to explore new avenues in recruitment. If one were to follow the swissVR Monitor, then the most important competencies of a manager would be communication skills, persuasiveness and strategic thinking in the job advertisement for the new CFO. These skills are discussed intensively in many studies: they are essential when it comes to leading one's own employees and managing other hierarchical levels or stakeholders. Professional skills are mentioned far less frequently, as they are taken for granted.
Batterman Consulting Basel AG
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