SHL talent measurement – SA on the list

• International leadership indices reveals talent time bomb in South Africa
• Female leaders rank 14 in the world for capability but gender divide can’t be broken 

 

SHL, the global leader in talent measurement, today announces the release of the first annual Talent Report, providing an unrivalled worldwide view of the capability and potential of talent pools across industries, regions, and job functions. SHL has analysed data from four million candidate and employee assessments from 205 countries and territories held in the SHL Talent Analytics™ database.

Exploring the global availability of current and future leaders[1], the Report reveals Hong Kong, Germany and the UK have more effective leaders today than any other country in the study; South Africa ranks 20^th while Denmark, Brazil and Norway have the lowest supply.

 

“The strength of supply of leadership talent in South Africa is ahead of other BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) but leadership levels lag behind developed G8 nations and the global average,” said Eugene Burke, chief science and talent analytics officer at SHL.

 

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 stark contrast, South Africa falls out of the top 25 ranked countries, the UK drops 18 places to fall out of the top 20 and Hong Kong falls from poll position to 20^th. Mexico and Brazil jump 19 and 21 places respectively, with Mexico topping the list.

 

Commenting on local leadership challenges, SHL South Africa, head of science and research, Kim Dowdeswell said: “Despite having a strong supply of leaders for today, South Africa has a leadership time bomb on its hands if it doesn’t invest in learning and development programmes to cultivate its future leaders.”

 

Adding to this Burke said: “As the global landscape changes economically and socially, nations in the newer economies have a huge growth opportunity if they can identify, nurture and develop the leadership potential they have.”

 

SHL’s indices also reveal South African women as ranking 14 globally in leadership capability today, and despite the research showing negligible differences in capability between the sexes, the gender divide in leadership positions is vast with only 28% of leadership roles held by women and just 8% of businesses led by a female CEO[1].

 

However there are stark differences in critical motivational factors that distinguish people in senior positions worldwide, which may be preventing women from progressing to the top. The findings expose men in leadership positions as being more motivated by power and fear of failure, whereas women are motivated by a constructive working atmosphere and receiving recognition.

 

“With three men to every one woman in leadership positions on average globally and men being motivated by power and a fear of failure, SA boardrooms are self-perpetuating an unbalanced culture, which is likely to naturally disengage women from aspiring to reach a senior position,” said Dowdeswell.

 

It is evident that females are becoming increasingly demotivated as they progress in their careers. At companies with more than 1,000 employees around the globe women’s representation diminishes significantly as responsibility and titles increase: 48% of junior-level positions are held by women, which drops to 36%for mid-level roles and just over 26% for senior level jobs including senior vice presidents and above according to CEB research.[2]

 

Burke said: “Do the math. If you do not tap into the leadership potential of women, and given that every other person is a woman, then companies are making the search for effective leaders even more difficult for themselves. What odds would you prefer: 1 in 15 or 1 in 30? For businesses to remain competitive in the global economy, the C-suite culture will have to change to encourage more women to continue their career path to the top. Moving away from an organisational culture framed by fear of failure to one founded on recognition for contribution and performance will be a stronger attraction for potential female leaders.”