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SHL Global Leadership Study Reveals UK Talent Time Bomb

August 14, 2012

London, UK  - SHL today launches its first Global Leadership study, providing a worldwide view of leadership potential. The study identifies the top 25  countries based on the analysis of over a million people from SHL’s global Talent Analytics™ database. Hong Kong, Germany and the UK have more effective leaders today than any other country in the study whilst Denmark, Brazil and Norway have the lowest supply.

The landscape of leadership potential changes significantly when analysing the supply of leadership talent for tomorrow *. Mexico, Turkey and Egypt have the greatest source of potential future leaders. In contrast, the UK drops 18 places to fall out of the top 20 and Hong Kong falls from poll position to 20th whilst Mexico and Brazil jump 19 and 21 places respectively, with Mexico topping the table.

"Despite having a strong supply of leaders for today, the UK has a leadership time bomb on its hands if it doesn’t invest in learning and development to cultivate its future leaders and remain competitive," said Paul Levett, chief product officer, at SHL. "Rising education standards and a culture of entrepreneurialism are some of the many environmental factors that are driving emerging economies such as Brazil, India, Mexico and Turkey up the rankings for future leadership potential. These nations have a huge growth opportunity if they can identify, nurture and develop this potential."

"Companies need to build greater intelligence about the leadership talent within their organisations and be aware of opportunities outside their domestic markets. Understanding the supply of leadership where organisations operate is crucial for adapting leadership development and talent mobility programmes so that companies remain competitive in the global economy."

SHL recommends a five pronged approach to cultivating leadership success across an organisation:

• Firstly, identify the behaviours and skills which make a successful leader in your organisation
• Have a full picture of the leadership potential across your organisation and don’t restrict that view to only those you think are high potential 
• Using scientific data, benchmark your people against competitor talent and identify leadership shortages to avoid succession risk
• Focus on development interventions including where to spend learning and development budgets and apply this across the business
• Take a global view of where your leadership talent is located and be prepared to use creative strategies to source talent across borders to fill leadership gaps

Supply of leadership potential as a % of population: Top 25 countries
Ranking	Effective Leaders Today		Potential Leaders of Tomorrow		Ranking change between leaders for today and leaders for tomorrow
1-25	Country	%	Country	%	↑or↓
1	Hong Kong	14%	Mexico	54%	21↑
2	Germany	13%	Turkey	50%	16↑
3	United Kingdom	10%	Egypt	44%	New entry*
4	Australia∞	10%	Switzerland	43%	2↑
5	United States	10%	Brazil	42%	19↑
6	Switzerland	10%	India	41%	New entry
7	Canada	10%	Italy	41%	10↑
8	Japan∞	9%	United States	41%	3↓
9	Singapore∞	9%	Germany	40%	7↓
10	New Zealand∞	8%	Netherlands	40%	New entry
11	Sweden	7%	China (Taiwan)	39%	1↑
12	China (Taiwan) ∞	7%	United Arab Emirates	39%	9↑
13	France∞	7%	Denmark	39%	10↑
14	Thailand&infin	7%	Sweden	37%	3↓
15	Finland∞	7%	Portugal	37%	New entry
16	Belgium∞	7%	Russia	37%	New entry
17	Spain	6%	Spain	37%	No change
18	Turkey	6%	Ireland	37%	New entry
19	Italy	6%	Indonesia	37%	New entry
20	South Africa∞	6%	China (Hong Kong)	37%	19↓
21	United Arab Emirates	6%	United Kingdom	37%	18↓
22	Mexico	6%	Norway	36%	3↑
23	Denmark	5%	Poland	35%	New entry
24	Brazil	5%	Canada	35%	16↓
25	Norway	5%	China (Mainland)	34%	New entry

∞Indicates those counties ranked in the top 25 leaders today but not listed in the top 25 for leadership potential tomorrow
*New entry – those countries not ranked in the top 25 leaders today but listed in the top 25 for leadership potential tomorrow

Additional findings from the study:

• Globally, only 1 in 15 (6.7%), managers and professionals qualify as leaders today. 1 in 3 managers and professionals have the next tier of leadership potential but for this level of people the journey to realise that potential is longer and needs targeted investment.  The value of investing in these people is substantial because there are six times as many managers and professionals with this level of potential than leaders for today
• In China (Taiwan), Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and United States, the supply of leadership for today and tomorrow is stronger than the average global supply. While competing for leadership talent remains a challenge in these geographies, the odds of finding effective leaders for today are significantly higher at 1 in 10 vs. the global average of 1 in 15

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Notes to editors

Effective Leadership

Effective leaders are those individuals with many of the following attributes: the ability to direct, influence, motivate, communicate and work harmoniously at peak performance to achieve an organisation’s goals.

Effective Leaders today

An effective leader today is an individual who currently has many of the key leadership characteristics identified by SHL research including:

• The ability to build relationships
• The ability to solve problems
• The ability to communicate effectively
• The ability to think laterally
• The ability to influence
• The ability to respond positively to change
• The ability to organise
• The ability to motivate and be motivated

Potential Leaders of tomorrow

Leaders of tomorrow are those individuals who exhibit some of the key leadership characteristics (outlined above) but require additional development to realise their full leadership potential.

Talent Analytics

SHL Talent Analytics™ is the first ever offering of its kind and draws on more than 25 million assessments annually from over 50 countries. It is the largest global database of scientifically-based talent assessment data and people intelligence available today. The data provides companies with answers to the most critical talent questions – from the effectiveness of recruitment and employee development strategies to industry and regional comparisons on how their workforce stacks up against the competition. This database has the ability to benchmark talent globally against industry norms, providing evidence-based and scientifically researched data to give businesses the actionable insight they need to make effective talent management decisions.

Methodology

One million five thousand SHL assessments were taken from its Talent Analytics database and analysed. The data set is based on assessments from 37 countries between 2006 and 2011. SHL’s Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) data from graduates, managers, professionals and senior leaders was analysed to determine the findings of SHL’s Global Leadership Study.  The assessments were taken by job applicants or those currently employed by organisations ranging from FTSE 100 companies to small businesses.

About SHL

SHL is the leader in talent measurement solutions, driving better business results for clients through superior people intelligence and decisions – from hiring and recruiting, to employee development and succession planning. With a presence in over 50 countries, SHL delivers more than 25 million assessments annually in over 30 languages – allowing over 10,000 business customers to benefit from both global expertise and local insight. Along with its world-class consulting practices and 24-hour support centre, SHL clients can access over 1,000 assessments through an easy-to-use technology platform. Headquartered in London, UK, the company has offices in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia/New Zealand. For more information, visit www.shl.com.
 

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