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A very well-known high-tech
company (who will remain
nameless) went through a lot
of changes quickly and started
to notice a disorganization
within its ranks. The problem
was a leadership gap among
young leaders: employees
were applying for and getting
leadership positions because
they wanted to get promoted,
not necessarily because they
wanted to lead.
The company started a new
policy—if you wanted to be
a team leader, you would not
get a promotion. This led
to employees moving into
leadership roles because
they wanted to lead, not
because they wanted more
money. This small change
saved the company time and
a lot of money. Who would
have thought?
LEADERSHIP
“The job market is very
hot right now, and the
unemployment rate for highly
skilled people is very low.
This means there’s a war for
talent.”
And, most interestingly,
employees are looking
for strong culture and
engagement over leadership.
Companies are struggling
to build an attractive
environment to attract
employees, and at the same
time many businesses—
especially the bigger ones—
are struggling with income
and equality. Most big
companies are struggling
too with the best way to
raise wages for lower-skilled
employees. And although
salaries on average are going
up, they lag behind the
economy. Add these to that
growing list of problems we
started a couple of pages ago.
Not everyone is doing it
wrong though, and Bersin
was enthusiastic about
the potential for HR, talent
management, and employee
retention for the future.
Companies have realized
they have to raise wages;
there’s been a huge explosion
of online learning offerings,
and many are free. All HR
departments have to do is
catch up.
Many companies are realizing
the need to upgrade their
technology, and Bersin is
impressed by the increasing