Global Leadership Forecast 2018

13 Research Insights to
Fuel Your People Strategy
EuropeGlobal Leadership Forecast 2018

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Global Leadership Forecast 2018
The eighth instalment in a continuing series oftrend research on the state of leadershipin business© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Actionable Intelligence for Leadership Imperatives
Global Leadership Forecast 2018—a three-way collaboration with Development Dimensions International (DDI), The
Conference Board, and EY—is the eighth Forecast since DDI began the stream of research in 1999. It’s also one of themost expansive leadership research projects ever conducted. This report summarises dozens of practical, evidencebased recommendations for critical business issues. These range from digital transformation to gender and generational
diversity to the roles of purpose and culture in building an effective, sustainable leadership strategy for a digital age.
This research integrates data from 25,812 leaders and 2,547 HR professionals across 2,488 organisations from all over the
globe. Not only are these perspectives numerous, but they are also diverse and highly representative of the business
context facing global enterprises. The research, which spans more than 1,000 C-level executives and 10,000 highpotential employees, includes 54 countries and 26 major industry sectors. Our full set of leader demographics is
depicted below.

Figure 1. Global: Leader Demographic© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

GLF Insights for Europe
As part of the larger Global Leadership Forecast 2018 study, this report highlights findings on the current state ofleadership and leadership practices in Europe. Based on survey responses from 1638 leaders and 93 HR professionals,
these results provide actionable insights specifically for European leadership context and business market.
Throughout this report, findings are presented for both Europe as well as the global sample of leaders. Where the global
results are presented, they will be accompanied by the global icon [] to indicate findings are based on the global

sample of leaders or HR professionals. Unless accompanied by the global icon or otherwise noted, findings throughout
this report can be assumed to be specific to Europe. Responses from both HR professionals and leaders have beensampled to more accurately represent the relative ratio of leaders in each country to the region.
Not all findings from the Global Leadership Forecast 2018 are specific to Europe and provided in this report. As such,please refer to the global report for the full set of actionable insights. The global report can also be used as acomparative benchmark for Europe-specific findings presented in this report. We are confident these results will provide
new insights for Europe’s leadership practices and hope the report will stimulate your own ideas about how to enhanceyour organisation’s leadership capabilities.

Figure 2. Europe: Leader Demographics© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

A Research-Driven Road Map for Leadership Acceleration
Europe insights from the Global Leadership Forecast 2018 centre on 13 findings (listed in the Table of Contents on thefacing page) about the state, context, and future of leadership. The findings are clustered into six categories:
1.

Leaders at the Core—leadership and talent are top agenda items for CEOs, and the readiness gaps continue to besignificant.

2.

Digital & Data—how digital and data-rich business contexts accelerate the need to build the right capabilities tothrive.

3.

Growth & Potential—proven practices for aggressively developing leader talent and bench through a robust
learning and growth engine.

4.

Leader Diversity—understanding and advancing gender and generational diversity in leaders to achieve thediversity dividend.

5.

Cultural Drivers—the powerful forces that can propel—or if lacking, will cripple—rapid, disruptive change.

6.

The HR Opportunity—how HR can elevate and extend its influence on business outcomes to deliver on this strategic
agenda.

Each of the 13 findings shares a common format: We describe the context for the business issue, visualise the key data,
describe the key leadership implications, and provide specific guidance for converting research evidence torecommended actions of two types:
First, “Where to Start.” Practical steps that organisations can take now to build, reinforce, or remedy theirfoundation for evidence-based leadership practices and systems, drawing on notable outcomes from theresearch. Typically, these are actions that many—but far from most—organisations have in place, but that areoften overlooked as key building blocks on which more advanced elements of leadership strategy rely. That is, though
they’re often common sense, they’re rarely common practice.

Second, “How to Excel + Differentiate.” The research’s wide-reaching scope includes hundreds of organisations
that are prototypes for rapid advancement towards one or more challenging leadership and businessobjectives: digital transformation, gender diversity, high-potential management, people analytics, and instillinga sense of purpose, among many others. This section of each finding shows how organisations can draw onproven, high-impact leadership practices to gain a sustained competitive advantage by harnessing their leaders’potential at all levels and from all backgrounds.

After the 13 findings, which are designed to be modular and self-contained so that they can be used
individually, we close the Global Leadership Forecast 2018 with two integrative summaries:•

First, an integrated view of six leadership megatrends—core, overarching themes that we found emerging again
and again across the findings—that collectively chart a course for the trajectory of leadership and serve as broad
guiding principles for leadership-directed action.

•

Second, a leadership practices scoreboard showing the “in-place” frequency of 34 leadership practices in Europe
and the links from each to three critical outcomes: Leadership Programme Quality (in the eyes of theleaders/learners who are the “customers” for these programmes), Leadership Bench Strength (supply of ready-now
leaders to fill critical roles over the next three years), and Financial Outcomes (an externally gathered composite ofoperating margin, EBITDA, revenue growth, and return on equity).

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Table of Contents> Leaders at the CoreFor CEOs, It’s Still About Developing Leaders: Strategy Is Nothing Without Effective Leaders to Execute ................................ 5
Leadership Strategy: The Forgotten Foundation of Business Planning ............................................................................................. 7> Digital & Data
Digital-Era Leadership: Ready or Not, Digital Competence Is Already Differentiating Winners from Losers ............................ 9
Accelerating the Digital Journey: Changing Old Leadership Mindsets and Ways of Working ................................................. 11> Growth & Potential
Rethinking Leadership Potential: Why Broader Is Better ................................................................................................................... 13
Making the Most of High-Potential Talent: Avoiding a Mismatch Between What They Want and Get .................................. 15
Want to Be a Leader? Get an Early Start ............................................................................................................................................ 17> Leader Diversity
The Rise of the Digital Natives: Are Millennials Ready to Lead? ...................................................................................................... 19> Cultural Drivers
Mentoring for Impact: How to Maximise a Critical Leadership Experience.................................................................................. 21
No Engaged Workforce Without Engaged Leaders: To Raise Engagement, We Need to Develop Leaders ........................ 23> The HR Opportunity
HR’s New Role: Are They Up to the Challenge? ................................................................................................................................ 25
HR Under Pressure: Falling Behind in the Race to Transform ............................................................................................................ 27
People Analytics: It’s Time to Show Business Impact ......................................................................................................................... 29
Leadership Megatrends and Payoffs ................................................................................................................................................... 31© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

For CEOs, It’s Still About
Developing Leaders
Strategy Is Nothing Without Effective Leaders to
ExecuteRebecca L. Ray and Bruce Watt
More than 1,000 C-level executives, worldwide, identified the issues they expect to command their attention in the coming
year. Of the 28 challenges from which they could choose, their biggest concerns weren’t headline-worthy global issues likepolitical instability, climate change, terrorism, or a global recession. Rather, the top challenges vying for leaders’ action
focused on their own leaders. Developing “Next Gen” leaders and failure to attract/retain top talent were rated in the top
five by 64 percent and 60 percent of global respondents, respectively. In Europe, these two challenges were identified as
key by 57 percent and 51 percent, respectively. Leaders clearly indicated that top talent and effective leaders will be neededto address the myriad current challenges and to position their organisations for future success. The global Top 10
Challenges are shown in Figure 3 along with the percent of global and European executives that rated each challenge intheir top five.
The two Europe CEO challenges that differed most from the global results were a heightened concern about Global
Political Uncertainty (Europe 30 percent versus Global 18 percent) and lower concern that outdated/insufficient
infrastructure would be a barrier to economic and business growth (Europe 3 percent versus Global 20 percent). As
expected, given the proximity of Europe to many of the world’s geopolitical tensions, managing business in the context ofpolitical uncertainty is a more common challenge in Europe. Further, Europe’s many multinational organisations mustfactor in political uncertainty as a key variable in their global business plans. Fifty-six percent of the European
organisations that participated in the survey were from Germany, United Kingdom and France. Hence, the relatively
greater historical investment in sophisticated infrastructure in western Europe explains the lower CEO concerns about
outdated/insufficient national infrastructure being a barrier to business.
Figure 3. Top 10 Challenges Identified by Global Executives and Their Representation in Europe

Top 10 Challenges Identified by Global Executives© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

These findings are consistent with The Conference Board’s 2017 CEO Challenge* study, which asks the same question of
global CEOs each year. In 2016 and 2017, the top two challenges placed among the top five choices globally. Senior leaders
are acutely aware of the importance of focusing on strengthening human—and, specifically, leadership—capital.
Of those European leaders surveyed in the Global Leadership Forecast 2018, only 38 percent believe their organisation’s
leadership development programme to be of high or very high quality, with 31 percent rating “leadership assessment” and28 percent rating “leadership performance management programmes” to be of high or very high quality. Average
programme quality translates into moderate confidence in leadership effectiveness. When asked to consider their own
effectiveness in the critical leadership skill of identifying and developing future talent, 59 percent of respondents rated
themselves highly effective or very highly effective, which leaves 41 percent of leaders (those who are only moderately
effective, or even less skilled) to shape the next generation. And with 66 percent never having been mentored, how do we
expect that they’ll know how to mentor others?

HR Paints a Bleak Picture
More than 2,500 HR professionals across the globe told us that identifying and developing future talent is the most criticalskill leaders will need in three years. In Europe, identifying and developing future talent was ranked as the number 2 skill
leaders will need in the next three years. A significant gap exists between the criticality of this leadership skill and leaders’own assessment of their ability to successfully master it. The net result would be a weakened leadership cadre. Only 34
percent of HR professionals in Europe rated their organisation’s bench strength—the supply to fill critical leadership
positions over the next three years—at any level of strength (slightly strong, strong, or very strong) and, on average, only
56 percent of positions could be filled by an internal candidate immediately. Twenty-six percent believe their succession
management system and processes to be of low or very low effectiveness.
In terms of quality, HR professionals’ assessments of their organisation’s leadership development programme were lower
than the leaders’. Responses do not signal a bright future:• Twenty-eight percent have a weak or non-existent relationship between annual strategic plans and their own plans togrow leadership talent.
• Forty-six percent do not have well-integrated and strategically aligned leadership development programmes orprocesses.
• Eighty percent see their leadership career planning/pathing systems as only moderately effective or worse.
• Seventy-eight percent do not believe their leaders have high-quality, effective development plans.
• Thirty-five percent do not use information from assessments and simulations to make leadership hiring andpromotion decisions.
• Twenty-one percent do not have a programme to develop high potentials, and half of those that do don’t measure theeffectiveness of the programmes.
• Eighty-one percent do not exercise negative consequences when leaders fail to develop leaders on their team.
• Forty-seven percent do not know the up-to-date status of leadership talent capability across the organisation.
* Mitchell, C., Ray, R.L., & van Ark, B. (2017, January), The Conference Board CEO Challenge® 2017: Leading Through Risk, Disruption andTransformation, New York, The Conference Board, https://www.conference-board.org

WHERE TO START•

With all stakeholders, begin with a candid assessmentof all leadership development programmes andprocesses at all leader levels.

•

Create a plan to integrate all efforts with the twin goalsof supporting leaders’ success now and building a solid
pipeline of successful future leaders against the profile
your organisation will need.

•

HOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATECreate or update a leadership capability model that isembraced by senior leadership and aligned with theorganisation’s strategic goals.

•

Ensure that leaders have the skills to identify anddevelop top talent.

•

Review and enhance other talent management
systems to support the creation of a strong cadre ofleaders.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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6•

Systematically monitor progress and gather data to
determine the business impact leadership development
processes have on advancing the organisation’s strategic
goals.

•

Articulate the impact in terms of the organisation’s ability to
execute the strategy and create a plan to address
deficiencies.

•

Deepen the strength and quality of your leadership bench.

•

Partner with business leaders and the C-Suite to design,deliver, and assess the effectiveness of all leadership-related
actions. Enlist these individuals as coaches, mentors, andchampions.

•

Adapt performance management processes to hold leaders
accountable for successfully developing their teams,
particularly emerging leaders.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Leadership Strategy

The Forgotten Foundation of Business Planning
Adam Canwell, Richard Wellins, Joe Dettmann, Liz Collins and Bill Hester

Only 13 Percent of Europe CEOs Have the Leadership Talent to Execute Their Strategy
The data in the Global Leadership Forecast 2018 shows that organisations with effective leadership talent outperform theirpeers. Yet very few organisations manage this critical asset in an integrated, cohesive way. Even after spending more than
$50 billion annually* on developing their leaders, many companies wonder why they still don’t have the bench strength tomeet their future business goals. And despite the spending, investments are often fragmented and see a lack of return.
Leadership models and development programmes abound; few tie to business goals. Worse yet, there’s scant evidence thatthey even work. What’s needed is a coherent, integrated leadership strategy. A well-crafted blueprint—consistently
applied—ensures that companies have the right talent, at the right cost, and with the right capabilities to deliver today
and into the future. Yet, we found only 26 percent of HR professionals in Europe feel their organisations have an effective
leadership strategy. Companies that do have such strategies in place report better returns on their investment in talent.
They consistently feature deeper leader bench strength and stronger leaders at all levels.
Figure 4. Global Preparedness to Meet Key Business Challenges with an Effective and Ineffective Leadership
Strategy© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

What Differentiates Organisations with Effective Leadership Strategies?
The advantages of having a leadership strategy in place are enormous, beginning with leader preparedness to meetbusiness challenges. Figure 4 shows the leader-readiness advantages of an effective leadership strategy.

So, What is an Effective Leadership Strategy?
Senior line managers define “leadership strategy” as having a supply of capable leaders to meet both their short- and (everchanging) long-term business needs. A sound leadership strategy consists of the four elements defined below. We lookedat the effectiveness ratings for each element, comparing organisations that report having a leadership strategy in placewith those that do not.
• Defines the competencies required for success. We see a much higher level of effectiveness of this basic practicein businesses with a leadership strategy versus those with no strategy (82 percent versus 49 percent).
• Models supply and demand as part of the strategic planning process. Organisations with an effective leadershipstrategy are 4.3 times more likely to adeptly forecast future leadership demand than those without.
• Ensures that all core leadership processes align and are consistently reinforcing the appropriate
skills/capabilities/mindsets. All major talent systems are working more effectively in organisations with stronger
leadership strategies. For example, when there is a leadership strategy in place, 70 percent of organisations reporthaving effective development programmes versus 27 percent in those organisations with no strategy. The same
magnitude of difference applies to succession management practices (51 percent versus 15 percent). These systems
comprise the foundation for delivering a steady flow of leaders through the pipeline.
• Measures the impact of leadership spending on performance and potential. Companies with effective
leadership strategies are 4 times more likely to gather business-impact measures on their talent initiatives.

What Are the Performance Benefits?
We found that an investment in formulating and executing an effective leadership strategy can have a significant impact
in several other areas:• Working with the business to articulate a leadership strategy improves HR’s strategic impact. Organisations with aleadership strategy are 2 times more likely to rate their HR teams as strategic advisors.
• Of organisations with effective leadership strategies, 56 percent have overall high leadership quality versus 20
percent of organisations with less-effective strategies.
• Future bench strength, a critical lead outcome measure, is much stronger with an effective strategy in place (32percent versus a dismal 5 percent).
• Stronger ability to fill critical open positions with internal candidates (56 percent versus 38 percent). The cost ofeven a few senior positions remaining open exceeds the investment required to put a sound strategy in place.

Should HR Be Involved in Strategic Planning?
Leadership strategy should never stand alone from an organisation’s strategic plans, yet only 18 percent of HR
professionals are actively involved in strategic planning from its inception. This diminishes the role they can and shouldbe playing in connecting the business to required leadership capability.
* Kellerman, B. (2012), The End of Leadership, New York, HarperCollins.

WHERE TO START•••HOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE

Translate your strategic plans into leadership and talent
implications. Assess risks and areas where poor leadershipcapability will impede execution.
Focus on execution. Like any other strategy, leadershipstrategy often fails more due to lack of execution thanintegrity. Make sure to align all components of successful
execution: rewards, metrics, resources, and skills.
Look carefully at deploying initiatives across the enterprise.
Ensure the most efficient and effective deployment of yourlimited resources.

•

•

•

•

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Use robust predictive analytics to pinpoint the likely gaps inyour leadership supply chain. This will help you focus yourefforts.
Orchestrate all components of your leadership strategy. They
do not stand alone. Forecasting demand is worthless withoutaccompanying initiatives to close the gaps.
Prove the return on your leadership investment. Unlike every
other function, HR typically fails to seriously evaluate (andthus justify) the impact of their spend on organisational
performance.
For a straightforward yet comprehensive guide to the six key
components of a world-class leadership strategy, refer to thebook “Leaders Ready Now: Accelerating Growth in a Faster
World” by Paese, Smith & Byham (2016)www.ddiworld.com/glf2018

Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Digital-Era Leadership

Ready or Not, Digital Competence Is AlreadyDifferentiating Winners from Losers
Joe Dettmann, Adam Canwell, Richard Wellins and Vykinta Kligyte
It is difficult to find a company that is not impacted by digitisation. According to the 2016 World Economic Forum, fivemillion jobs will be replaced by technology by 2020, and 50 percent of job activities will be automated by 2055. According
to McKinsey, only 8 percent of companies’ current business models will remain economically viable if their industry
continues digitising. This puts leaders under pressure to act with urgency and manage change in a fast-paced, ambiguous,complex, and highly uncertain environment. Organisations with digitally savvy leaders, the pioneers, are alreadyoutperforming the organisations with less digitally capable leaders, the laggards. As our work world becomes increasingly
digital, that performance gap will only grow.

How Ready Are Leaders to Drive Digital Transformation?
The Global Leadership Forecast 2018 shows digital-era leaders focus their attention across five clusters made up of 16
competencies (see Figure 5). Averaging across all competencies, only 11 percent of leaders in Europe (in comparison to 22
percent globally) consider themselves effective in all five areas.
The right column of Figure 5 shows leaders’ ratings of their own effectiveness. They’ve reported relative strengths in
traditional leadership skills, typically associated with familiar transformational leadership. However, gaps are observed inrelation to the skills that serve as key differentiators in driving digital change. The European results are generally
consistent with the global findings, with one exception—leaders in Europe show stronger cultural curiosity than theirglobal counterparts. They demonstrate a better understanding of diverse factors needed to compete globally. They pursue
knowledge and stay abreast of current cultural, technical and political trends throughout the world, which may be a resultof European holistic education, deeply rooted in history and cultural diversity.
Figure 5. Traditional Leadership Competencies vs. a New Set of Critical Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

What Constitutes Digital Competencies?
Not every competency has the same impact on an organisation’s digital performance and digital leadership is not only
about being technically savvy. The middle column of Figure 5 shows the six competencies that were found to have thegreatest impact on organisational performance. Of these six most critical skills, European leaders are relatively strong only
in half of them:© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

• Lead with digitisation. Organisations need leaders who understand the impact digital technology can have on theirbusinesses and workforce management. They can communicate the vision and operationalise digital strategies toinfluence stakeholders to allocate resources and standardise or automate the processes for speedy execution. They are
sophisticated anticipators who understand what is and isn’t possible and, more importantly, what will be possible. Thisis a real weakness for leaders in Europe—slightly more than a third rate themselves as highly effective in this area.
• Adaptability is encoded in digital leaders’ DNA. Adapting means growing, changing, and learning. In the age of
disruption, what once was considered “right” will be labelled as "wrong" to develop the “new right.” To adapt means tostay relevant. It’s a defining characteristic which determines success or failure, business or obsolescence. Fortunately,
75 percent of leaders in Europe are confident in their ability to adapt.
• Execution. It’s one thing to anticipate change. But it takes another set of skills altogether to translate strategic
priorities into operational plans and tangible results. This is a relative leadership strength.
• Hyper-collaboration focuses on working cooperatively with diverse groups of people to break down silos andencourage ongoing dialogue and idea exchange. To solve complex problems in an urgent manner and drive ongoing
innovation to stay competitive is not feasible without taking multiple perspectives and varied points of view frominternal and external stakeholders and, especially, customers. Encouragingly, 62 percent of leaders rate themselves
high in this domain.
• Identify and develop new talent. Leaders need to spot potential and rapidly bring on board the necessary talent withthe focus on their future capabilities, which is getting harder to predict. With the rise of AI, leaders’ abilities to identify
their team members’ strengths and growth areas, and provide ongoing, timely, and targeted coaching and delegation
are becoming a key imperative. While leaders globally do relatively well in this area, only 42 percent of European
leaders rank themselves as high and 17 percent as very high.
• A 360 view. Leaders must be able to spot patterns and bring thinking together from multiple sources and perspectives.
They use predictive analytics to assess the likely consequences of alternative actions and make decisions based on acomprehensive understanding of the situation. This is a relative weakness for European leaders of whom only 10
percent claim very high and 48 percent report high level capability.

What Does This Mean for Performance and Potential?
Across the global sample, we found that the pioneers, digitally
savvy leaders, were more prepared than the laggards, lessdigitally capable leaders, to meet emerging business challenges.
Most notably, they’re better at anticipating and responding to
the competitive environment, navigating through complexity,
and using data and analytics to guide their decision making.

Figure 6. The Digital Leadership Performance
Premium

In Figure 6, we demonstrated a significant relationshipbetween global leaders’ digital readiness and theirorganisation’s financial performance. Looking to the near
future, every organisation will need to embrace newtechnologies, if their goal is not only to survive but thrive. And,
those with the most capable digital-ready leaders will continue
to stay ahead of the curve. In another section titled“Accelerating the Digital Journey,” we focus on how to ramp up
organisational and leadership digital capability.

WHERE TO START
•
•

•

•

HOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE

Start by identifying critical leadership roles and assess readinessof your talent to embrace and pioneer digital transformation.
Rethink your competency framework to include emergent
knowledge and skills to focus leader development. Manycompanies going through unprecedented change have not reexamined their competency models.
Develop digital accelerator leadership-immersion programmes.
This is an excellent approach to building both technical knowhow and leadership capability.
Move beyond simply “doing digital” via discrete technology
implementations to “being digital,” an embedded leadershipmindset and way of working.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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•

•

•

Some of your current leadership bench will be unable
to acquire a new mindset. They may need to be
replaced with more digitally capable leaders.
Lead for the future of the organisation. Nurture anddevelop leaders as much as those running thelegacy business. New leaders will not only require atechnical mindset, but also the imagination andvision of how technology can enable theirorganisation’s competitive position.
Foster a digital ecosystem for leaders to thrive. This
includes new approaches to learning, rewards, useof space, and elimination of hierarchies. Place great
digitally ready leaders in a traditional culture, andthey will surely fail.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Accelerating theDigital Journey
Changing Old Leadership Mindsets
and Ways of Working
Joe Dettmann, Adam Canwell, Richard Wellins and Dave Mayer
In our section, “Digital-Era Leadership,” we put forth a new model of leadership and demonstrated that leaders who are
more digitally capable exert a positive impact on their organisation’s performance. We also showed that this new-era
digital leadership requires a full and complex range of skills, including interpersonal, analytical, and technical. To thrive inthis new era, most organisations will need to build new skills and capabilities; they’ll also need to overcome old mindsets
and ways of working. This won’t be achieved by the delivery of formal training and learning alone. The workplace must
become the learning environment. To assure this transition, everyone in the organisation will need to be learning every
day.
Figure 7 shows the level of preparedness of digital pioneers (top 25 percent in digital leadership skills effectiveness) tomeet the workplace challenges compared to digital laggards (bottom 50 percent in leadership skills effectiveness). Higher
level of impact can be observed with all workplace challenges for digital pioneers in Europe. They particularly stand out as
being more prepared compared to laggards to act decisively without always having clear direction and certainty (3.2 times
more confident) and operating within a highly digital business environment (4.8 times better prepared). Interestingly,
being a digital pioneer is a larger differentiator for the level of preparedness for leaders globally than for leaders in Europe.
Figure 7. Level of Preparedness to Meet New Workplace Challenges© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

How Do Organisations Accelerate Their Digital Journey?
We explored dozens of organisational operating environments that elevate the bar from simply “doing digital” to truly“being digital.” Three emerge as critical:• New learning cultures. Building digital-era leadership capability requires a workplace where everyone learns everyday. There’s a heavy emphasis on experiential development. As mentioned, within Europe, when we look at thedifferences between highly capable digital ready leaders, the pioneers, and their peers who aren’t as skilled, we findno major difference between the two. Digital pioneers in Europe are only slightly more likely to provide input togrow the business (56 versus 50 percent) than digital laggards and seek it from others to grow themselves (89 versus
81 percent). This would indicate that the impact of being a digital pioneer in Europe is less profound than in otherregions globally.
However, getting the culture right delivers more able, confident leaders to face the challenges as outlined in Figure 7.
Digitally adept leaders are more confident than the digital laggards in handling every challenge.
• New working environment. Today’s high-performing operating environments are purpose-driven and team-based,with shallower hierarchies. They enable workforce mobility and deliver a consumer-grade technology experience tointernal workers, aligning modern performance and rewards practices to the right behaviours.
Developing the right environment drives productivity and learning, but does it drive engagement within Europe?
Digital-ready leaders are only slightly more likely to respond that they are “definitely engaged” at work (56 versus 47
percent), whereas globally it is clearly a differentiator between pioneers and laggards (75 versus 22 percent). Digitalready leaders are though much more likely to see their organisation as embracing or even rewarding failure in pursuitof innovation (34 versus 19 percent). Additionally, 84 percent of digital-ready leaders have a strong sense ofaccountability for effectively leading their people, compared to only 70 percent for leaders who are not ready.
• New role of HR. Building digital organisations requires a
reset of talent and leadership infrastructures. The HR
function must transform to become nimbler, data-driven,tech-savvy, and tied to the evolving business needs.
Yet, HR is one of the least effective functions. In Europe,
only 15 percent of HR professionals report being very
prepared to operate in a digital environment. This is quite
ironic: How can digitally challenged HR leaders take thepoint on modernising the way talent will need to be
developed, engaged, and deployed in the future?

Figure 8. Impact for Organisations in a HighState of Digital Maturity

Analysis of the global data reveals a considerable payoff foraccelerated digital transformation. Figure 8 examines fiveelements essential to operating in a highly digital workplace.
Digitally mature organisations (those farther along in theirdigital transformation) have stronger overall cultures than theirless-mature counterparts—by a factor of 10.5. As we mentioned
above, they’re more likely to encourage and reward
experimentation and far more focused on future possibilities, notpast constraints. And, they’re nearly seven times more likely tolead with agility. Finally, data-driven decisions are used moreheavily.

WHERE TO START•••HOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE

Examine every aspect of your talent management system.
Make sure it’s building capable, future-ready digitalleaders.
Ensure that you’re reinforcing a culture where people
continuously grow and learn. The workplace, not theclassroom, has become the primary learning environment.
Invest resources to build HR leaders’ skills in using digitaltechnologies and predictive analytics. As they become
more adept, they’ll embrace the new way of working.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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•

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Measure and work on your organisation’s learning
culture.
Take an integrated approach to building a future
workplace. Use rewards, workforce mobility, andtechnology experiences and leverage physicalspace and structure to drive collaboration andinnovation.
Stop talking and start transforming. You need tostand shoulder-to-shoulder, starting with HR as
custodians of your organisation’s assets.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Rethinking Leadership
Potential
Why Broader Is Better
Evan Sinar and Vykinta Kligyte
Organisations that thrive in today’s competitive global market succeed because they have the right people to innovate andexecute the company’s strategies. Developing “Next Gen” leaders and the failure to attract/retain top talent were identified
as two primary business concerns by over 1,000 senior level leaders globally, which outranked such paramount challenges
as slowing economic growth in emerging markets, labour relations, and global recession. Therefore, it is not surprisingthat long-term success focused companies invest significant time and financial resources into high-potential programmes
to drive the people imperative. In Europe, companies spend an average of €3,300 and 36 hours per high-potential leader –translating into an annual investment of €3,300,000 and 4,500 person-days for every 1,000 high-potential leaders.
Although this is an encouraging statistic, the investment is not always focused on delivering measurable businessoutcomes. Our research shows that only 50% of organisations in Europe measure the effectiveness of their high-potential
programmes and only 26% collect objective data on high-potentials’ capabilities, potential and readiness. This begs thequestion: “how do we know high-potential programmes work?”.
Figure 9. Top 10 Practices for Boosting High-Potential Leader Success Rates© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Delivering on the Promise
On a positive note, high-potentials’ success rates in Europe have increased from 65 to 74 percent since 2014. Furthermore,high-potential programmes have become more gender-diverse. An increase from 18 to 26 percent in female representation in
high-potential programmes demonstrates a positive shift in the mindsets of European organisations. Interestingly, however,even if we observe an increase in the success rates of high potentials, the overall evaluation of high-potential programmes isdisappointingly low. Despite 79 percent of organisations having high-potential programmes, 63 percent rate them as lessthan highly effective. It is an alarming finding, considering that the primary purpose of these programmes is to address theCEO’s people agenda focused on building a strong pipeline of future-ready leaders. Currently only 13 percent oforganisations in Europe feel they have a strong bench (a slight decrease from 15 percent in 2014), and only 56 percent ofcritical roles can be filled rapidly by internal candidates (a slight increase from 51 percent).

Top-Heavy Focus
To explore why so few organisations succeed in accelerating their talent we first looked at how the programmes were set up.
38 percent of European organisations limit their potential focus to senior levels. This percentage has not changed since 2014
and is concerning, because organisations do not become great by focusing solely on the select few to grow. In today’s
rapidly changing business environment it is critical to empower employees to practice leadership behaviours at every
corner of the organisation despite their level or role. Globally, organisations that opt to extend their development of highpotential talent below senior levels are 4.2 times more likely to outperform those that don’t on a financial composite ofrevenue growth, operating margin, EBITDA, and return on equity.

Do Bigger Pools Provide Better Outcomes?
The conventional wisdom that high-potential efforts need to be restricted to an exclusive top 3-5 percent of employees
isn’t supported by the research. Recent findings show that larger pools tend to be more effective (surfacing about 40
percent of leaders). On a positive note, European companies designate 30 percent of their leaders as high potentials (aslight increase from 24 percent in 2014). However, just including more leaders into the pool doesn’t guarantee success.
Use of analytics, peer and mentor-driven coaching, long-term developmental assignments, and personalised learning
propel organisations to outperform companies with a narrowly constrained view of potential. Larger pool sizes alone
aren’t the answer; rather, a full reshaping of a company’s orientation towards potential is required.

Best Practices Aren’t Just About the Pool
Turning to the practices themselves, Figure 9 shows the top 10 practices linked to higher success rates for high potentials
around the world, Europe included. Most companies don’t use them all; in fact, only 18 percent of companies worldwide,
use all, and over a third use half or fewer. Note that not even half of the practices driving success are specific to highpotentials. Instead, they deal with core themes of development, diagnosis, and objectivity for all, representing an
inclusive, systematic view of potential. The key focus in Europe should be on driving managers’ accountability forsupporting high-potentials, as 37 percent of HR report low manager engagement. In addition, coaching and mentoringtargeted at addressing specific high-potentials’ needs is reported as lacking by 36% of HR professionals in Europe.

Driving Returns on Potential Investments
As noted earlier, high-potential programmes and individuals require outsized investments. When pairing these financial
figures with an average success rate of 74 percent for high-potential leaders in Europe, it translates to wasted expense (forthe 26 percent not successful) of about €860,000 and 1,170 person-days. By employing proven practices, organisations candramatically boost return on their investment in potential.
WHERE TO START
•

•
•
•
•

HOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE

Broaden the potential pool. It’s neither sufficientnor financially responsible to limit the highpotential view to the organisation’s top level(surface 40 percent).
Target diversity, not just numbers. When
companies expand their view of potential, they
increase gender diversity for leaders at all levels.
Don’t invite more without building objectivity.
Bigger pools are more likely to be data-driven,
boosting inclusivity along with head counts.
Create a culture of coaching. Companies with more
successful pools use peer coaching and external
mentors heavily.
Use scalable tools for deeper diagnosis. It’s rarethat the same tools used with a senior leader-onlyview will be appropriate for a full-pipeline talentreview; introduce new tools accordingly.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Hours over money. Hours spent on high-potential
development has a 68 percent stronger relationshipto leadership and business outcomes than money
spent, including a significant link to the financial
composite that doesn’t exist for money spent.
Prioritise immersive, personalised learning. Formal
learning that incorporates personalisation to thehigh-potential learner and well-planneddevelopmental assignments increases success rates.
Strengthen your analytics backbone. High-potential
success rates rise with benchmarking, forecasting,results metrics, and data visualisation in place.
Track return on the potential investment. Highimpact practices can yield high returns, but only
when integrated, sustained, and monitored.

www.ddiworld.com/glf2018

Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Making the Most ofHigh-Potential Talent
Avoiding a Mismatch Between What
They Want and Get
Amy Lui Abel, Amanda Popiela and Dave Mayer
Globally, organisations spend more money developing high potentials than any other group of leaders, including thesenior team. High-potential leaders also spend more hours per year in formal leadership training than any otherleadership group. In Europe, companies annually spend an average of €3,300 and 36 hours per high-potential leader. Given
the money and time expended, how can organisations ensure that they’re reaping benefits of cultivating these would-be
high performers?
Knowing what high-potential leaders want from their development experiences can shape a company’s strategy and leadto positive outcomes. High-potential respondents to our survey were clear: They’re looking for tailored development.
From a list of 10 development types (see Figure 10), four of their top five preferences are types of learning that are tailoredto their own needs. Coaching from external mentors tops the list, and short-term and long-term development assignments
and coaching from current managers are also in the top five. High-potential leaders also desire formal workshops andtraining courses, the type of learning that’s provided most frequently by organisations.
Figure 10. Mismatch Between Leadership Development Offerings and What High-Potential Leaders Desire in Europe© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Identifying High Potentials
Many organisations are caught in the same dilemma: how to
identify high potentials, how to develop them as leaders, andwhen to promote them. The benefits to having them are obvious,
but how can organisations maximise their contribution and keepthem engaged?

Figure 11. How Organisations in Europe Approach
Managing High-Potential Talent

Simply identifying high potentials within the organisation iscorrelated with positive business results. Companies that know
who their high potentials are have greater bench strength, andleaders who have been notified of their high-potential status are
more engaged and more likely to commit energy to growth anddevelopment opportunities. In Europe, turnover is also lower
among high potentials (9 percent per year) compared to theglobal leadership population (11 percent).
Many organisations are seeing this benefit. About 79 percent (21percent higher than globally) of European companies wesurveyed identify high potentials, and of those organisations,almost 61 percent inform them of their special status. While HR
professionals mostly agree that their identification methods areunbiased (71 percent), their evaluation methods are sound (74percent), and that their programme is targeted to specific needsof this group (82 percent), about 24 percent of respondents
disagree with each of these statements (see Figure 11). Even moreworrisome, 27 percent of respondents note that theirorganisation’s process for identifying high potentials isinconsistent—although it’s not all bad news, as European
organisations are slightly less inconsistent than their global counterparts (33 percent).

Are High Potentials Getting the Learning They Want Most?
In some cases, high potentials get the desired learning, but not often enough. In Europe long-term developmental
assignments rank as the number 3 most-desired learning method, and 53 percent of high-potential leaders have completed
at least one international assignment. About half (51 percent) have had a formal mentor. That said, 49 percent of leaders
not identified as high potential also have had a formal mentor, and 47 percent of those individuals have completed aninternational assignment. There is much greater mobility for leaders within Europe, with 55 percent more high potentials
having completed at least one international assignment than globally. Do European organisations value thesedevelopment assignments more than other regions, or is this purely a geographical consequence of the size of European
countries and the free trade available through the European Union? What impact will Brexit have in the future?
The data suggests that organisations are not putting a differential learning focus on high-potential leaders from those not
identified with high potential within Europe. Additionally, though coaching from external mentors ranks number 1 on listof desired developmental experiences for high potentials, it ranks number 6 in terms of what companies provide.
Organisations can provide more targeted learning opportunities for high potentials by increasing coaching anddevelopmental assignments for them.
Among several key activities to identify and manage high potential, most HR professionals agree that their organisation
evaluates high potentials’ performance, but measuring effectiveness of programmes is a weakness (see Figure 11).
WHERE TO START•••HOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE

Consistently identify high potentials. You can do this via
clear evaluation criteria around competencies andexpectations.
Evaluate high potentials’ success. Measure the success ofhigh-potential development programmes to ensure thatofferings satisfy these leaders’ learning needs andpreferences.
Evaluate selection and promotion processes for bias andconsistency. This was an area of perceived weakness by HR
leaders in our study. If it’s a concern in your organisation,
work with leaders to ensure that consistent, quantitative
measures of leader success are applied across theorganisation.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Give high potentials the tailored learning experiences
they crave. This means external coaching, short-termand special projects, or rotational-placement
programmes. Some experiences can be provided at low
cost.
Provide simulations of major events or decisions. Theseexperiences allow leaders to practice reacting torealistic scenarios. Networking events to expose highpotentials to senior leaders and mentoring programmes
can have significant impact as well. Designing theseexperiences may require greater creativity andthoughtfulness than typical development programmes,
but they can lead to greater returns.

www.ddiworld.com/glf2018

Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Want to Be a Leader?
Get an Early Start

Richard Wellins and Nadine Keppler
For the past few decades, we’ve talked about the degree to which experiences shape leadership behaviour. In the Global
Leadership Forecast 2014|2015, we showed the specific types of job experiences that shape leadership behaviour.
Experiences that impact a leader’s career can occur well before a promotion to leadership or before that person enters theworkforce. This finding examines earlier life experiences, an area not previously addressed in our research.

The Earlier, the Better
Figure 12 shows the frequency of seven experiences and motivations. Parents as working leader role models may haveinfluenced 45 percent of leaders and 48 percent tried out their leadership skills in a formal mentor role before taking on aformal leadership role. The international mobility of leaders in Europe is remarkable compared with their peers globally—
44 percent, compared to only 28 percent of global leaders, completed international assignments.
Early motivation to lead plays a significant role in a person’s decision to pursue a leadership position. Slightly more than73 percent of European leaders surveyed had leadership ambitions early in their life or working careers.
The recent study by DDI* supports this finding. The survey of over 300 parents around the world rating the frequency
with which their children—aged 2 to 22 years old—demonstrate 10 leadership potential characteristics, showed thatleadership potential can be identified earlier than one might imagine, and there are ways to catalyse this potential before
would-be leaders graduate from school. The study also found that toddlers demonstrate higher motivation to lead(displaying an upward ambition to influence or pursuing formal/informal leadership opportunities) which drops during
middle school period and restores unevenly for boys and girls en route to adulthood.
Figure 12. Percentage of European Leaders Who Had Experience and Motivation© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

These findings are also supported by a recently completed study with The Conference Board, DDI, and RW2 Enterprises
on Millennial leaders* that involved interviewing leaders at all levels in several Fortune 500 companies about experiencesthat shaped them. One leader cited her parents’ role in providing lessons in how people should be treated, and noted how
this helped mould her character. Another respondent recalled a leadership position in school government.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” This quote from Benjamin Franklin is again
verified when looking at the involving experiences leaders pursued early in life, like having experienced previous
leadership opportunities such as serving in leadership positions before (52 percent) and mentoring someone else (48percent). Having had a mentor is only true for 34 percent of asked leaders. There is certainly an opportunity to growleaders further as mentorship continues to provide considerable value on that journey. The lower percentage (14 percent)of involvement in family-run business might well trace to lack of opportunity rather than the value of the experience itself.
Finally, international assignments can occur anytime during a leader’s work life. Over 44 percent of European leaders
completed at least one international assignment. This is positioning Europe’s leaders as more savvy working in a global
environment than the global benchmark of 28 percent.
Figure 13. Early Experiences and Motivations
with the Greatest Impact

Globally, there was a small gender difference for two of the earlyexperience values. Female leaders were more likely than maleleaders to have had parents in a leadership role. Males, on theother hand, had more of an opportunity to serve in a pre-career
leadership role. Perhaps gender role modelling becomes morecritical for females in a male-dominated leadership work
environment. And, opportunities to lead may be less available tofemales before they enter the workforce.

Does It Make a Difference?
Figure 13 shows the global links between previous experiences,motivations, and outcome variables, with a check mark indicating
a positive relationship. We looked at leadership engagement andretention, leadership self-confidence (a leader’s perception of hisor her own abilities versus those of peers), number of promotions,and designation as a high-potential individual. Both leadershipself-confidence and high-potential status have strong
relationships.
We also asked all leaders if they felt prepared to deal with ninechallenges associated with working in a complex working
environment. Examples of survey items included operating in adigital environment, anticipating/reacting to speed of change,
and acting decisively without clear direction. While not universal
across all items, leaders across the globe are better prepared toperform in today’s complex work environment when they’ve had some of the pre-career experiences.
* Creedy, V. (2017, January), From Classroom to Boardroom: Early Identification and Development of Leadership Potential, DDI.
https://www.ddiworld.com/classroom2boardroom* Ray, R.L., Sinar, E., Wellins, R., Wright, E., Popiela, A., Ye, A., & Paese, M. (2017, January), Divergent Views/Common Ground: The Leadership
Perspectives of C-Suite Executives and Millennial Leaders, New York, The Conference Board.

WHERE TO START••HOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE

Consider previous experiences as you makeleadership selection and placement decisions.
Motivation to lead is essential and often a reason
many new leaders are happy to return to a role asindividual contributor. Instruments and interview
methods exist that accurately assess motivation to
lead.

•

•

•

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

18

Seek opportunities to place employees in informal
leadership experiences before they apply for or are asked
to fill a formal leadership role.
Explore the use of biodata to get a better read on an
individual’s probability of success as a leader. Artificial
intelligence (AI) soon will play a larger role in examining
pre-work and work variables in predicting leadership
success.
Like marketing, IT, or any other profession, think ofleadership as a profession. Never underestimate theimpact and influence you can have on your children or
the younger generation in encouraging them to consider
leadership roles inside and outside the work place.

www.ddiworld.com/glf2018

Global Leadership Forecast 2018

The Rise of theDigital Natives
Are Millennials Ready to Lead?
Amanda Popiela and Elizaveta Belfer
Millennials are digital natives and seem to embrace technology in all aspects of their lives. Although we often take for
granted that this generation will lead us in digitisation, are Millennials in Europe up to the challenge? Perhaps not as muchas we would hope. When comparing preparedness to meet nine critical business challenges, Millennials—the generation
born between 1982 and 2000—generally agree with their Baby Boomer and Generation X counterparts about the challenges
for which they feel most and least prepared. Figure 14 shows the ranking of leader preparedness by generation to meet thebusiness challenges of their organisations. Higher rank indicates that more leaders rate themselves as being prepared tomeet the challenge.
Figure 14. Ranking of How Prepared Leaders in Europe Are to Meet Nine Business Challenges of Their Organisations

Put Client Perspectives at the Heart of Digitisation
Millennial leaders in Europe stand out on the global arena in reporting higher preparedness to a whole cluster ofchallenges faced by organisations and their leaders during the period of rapid digital transformation—maintaining
effectiveness, anticipating and reacting to change and surprises, navigating through complexity, chaos and confusion, andacting without certainty and clear direction. While this might be received as a reaction to the current environment inEurope, at which cost do these ratings prevail? Organisations succeeding in the world of digital put customers at thecentre of what they do, anticipate and adapt their strategies to act on the data they gather and process. Millennial leaders
globally reported being most prepared to understand and act on changing customer needs and perspectives; however,© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

their European counterparts appear to lack focus on this. They also report being less prepared to use data to guidebusiness decisions. Combined, these challenges might become issues for Europe as digitisation unfolds.

Are Millennials Ready to Lead with
Digitisation?

Figure 15. Europe’s Leader Assessment of Effectiveness atThree Digital-Leadership Skills.

Millennials feel more prepared to operate within a highly
digital business environment than do Baby Boomers and
Gen Xers. For Millennials in Europe, it ranks in the
middle, also slightly higher than for their global
counterparts (rank 5 in Europe versus rank 7 globally forMillennials).
Given that Millennials grew up with technology, we
might think that the digital skills would be second
nature. However, while this generation reports higher
comfort levels in working in the digital environment, they
do not stand out from other generations when
considering their level of effectiveness at the skills
associated with digital leadership. It seems that they needadditional preparation and training to really excel atleading others in the digital space, as much as Generation
X and Baby Boomers do. For Millennials in Europe it
might be the overall lack of experience in managing
individuals and especially teams that affects their lack ofconfidence in leading with digitisation and leading virtual
teams (see Figure 15).
Since not even half of Millennial leaders and their older
colleagues in Europe consider their digital leadershipskills as strengths, organisations will need to step up to
prepare leaders to keep pace with rapidly evolving
technology advancements and upskill them to use data while maintaining focus on the changing customer needs andperspectives. They would be wise to arrange additional training or to revamp hiring and collaboration strategies to flow
digital experts able to make data-driven business decisions into more functions.

Differences Due to Generation or Life Stage?
In 2017, The Conference Board and DDI collaborated on the research report Divergent Views/Common Ground: The
Leadership Perspectives of C-Suite Executives and Millennial Leaders.* In that report, we found that much of the difference
we often attribute to generation is more closely related to career or life stage. Millennial preferences are not largely
different from those of previous generations at similar points in their careers.
We found this to be true in the Global Leadership Forecast 2018 as well. As leaders climb the management ladder, they rate
their effectiveness at mastering leadership skills higher. Higher-level leaders, regardless of generation, are more effectiveat connecting ideas, driving execution, and aligning towards common objectives. But there are some generational
differences as well. Millennial leaders across the globe:• Rate their intellectual curiosity higher than other generations.
• Are more likely to seek feedback and input from colleagues and mentors.
• Are more likely to want “stretch” assignments.
* Ray, R.L., et al.(2017, January), Divergent Views/Common Ground: The Leadership Perspectives of C-Suite Executives and Millennial Leaders,
New York, The Conference Board.

WHERE TO START••HOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE

Build programmes that leverage Millennial strengths. Millennial
comfort with digitisation and strength in navigating the worldof change can enhance digital skills across the organisation.
Take advantage of Millennials’ digital ability. One way to do
this is through reverse mentoring programmes. Millennials canshare digital literacy and social media savviness, while moreexperienced employees can share their organisational
knowledge to ensure that it’s not lost.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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•

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Define your company’s current digital capabilities.
Consider the digital skills leaders of all generations willneed to move the organisation forward. Then,
articulate your digital strategy to the organisation sothat leaders can improve their own skills as needed.
Ensure that your leaders are equipped to lead withdigitisation. Create a task force of Millennials to
involve them as part of the strategy development. If
additional expertise is needed, evaluate options forbuilding or acquiring it.

www.ddiworld.com/glf2018

Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Mentoring for Impact

How to Maximise a Critical Leadership Experience
Stephanie Neal and Nadine Keppler
For many reasons, mentoring is one of new leaders’ most sought-after development experiences. Not only does it enable
them to gain broader, deeper perspective and knowledge of their business, but it also allows leaders to network andconnect with people outside their immediate functional groups. And its benefits extend beyond the individual being
mentored. Organisations that operationalise mentoring gain connections between new leaders and mentors, keep
practical experience and wisdom in house, and break down silos between functional groups. Yet, despite the potential
impact, less than a half of organisations in Europe (45 percent) have a formal mentoring programme for their leaders.
What distinguishes the successful organisations, and what is the impact of engaging more leaders in formal mentoring
relationships? Figure 16 depicts some of the benefits and sheds light on why more organisations and leaders should engage
in mentoring.
Figure 16. Organisational Benefits of Having a Formal Mentoring Culture© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Seven Findings on the State of Mentoring
We explored the state of mentoring across the full set of 2,488 organisations that participated in the Global Leadership
Forecast 2018. We found that few factors differentiate the organisations that offer formal mentoring beyond the benefits
they and their leaders are receiving (see Figure 16). Here are the top seven findings about mentoring from leaders andorganisations from Europe:
1. Two out of three leaders have had no mentor. Only 34 percent of the leaders in Europe have had a formal
mentor, slightly less than their peers globally.
2. Fewer early leaders have access to mentors. The majority (72 percent) of first-level leaders in Europe have not
had a formal mentor. This represents a wasted opportunity, given the proven payoff.
3. Less Millennials in Europe have had mentors. Only a quarter (25 percent) of the European leaders from thisgeneration already have had a formal mentor, as compared to 37 percent of Gen X and 30 percent of Baby Boomer
leaders. Compared with the global benchmark of 49 percent of Millennials having already had a formal mentor,
European organisations can easily benefit from all the positive payoffs of mentorship when adding this instrument
more proactively and effectively to their HR toolbox. What competitive advantage could it bring only from closing
the mentoring gap in Europe’s organisations to the global group?
4. Mentoring is gender neutral to a point. About as many men and women have had mentors (35 percent and 31
percent, respectively) and have mentored others (50 percent and 42 percent, respectively). Among leaders in higherlevel and senior-executive roles across the globe, more women have had mentors than men, indicating that this is a
critical experience for women to advance their careers.
5. Not all senior leaders are mentoring. Although 45 percent of senior leaders have had mentors, a large portion are
not passing on their experience or knowledge to junior members in their organisations. Slightly more than one-third(35 percent) of European senior leaders reported they have not formally mentored anyone.
6. More financially successful organisations offer mentoring. Globally, 54 percent of organisations in the top thirdfor financial performance have formalised mentoring programmes, compared to only 33 percent of organisations in
the bottom third.
7. Nearly half of the European organisations offer formal mentoring for their leaders. In Europe, 45 percent of
the organisations provide formal mentoring and are better set up to benefit from mentorship payoffs than theirglobal counterparts (only 36 percent). However why then have fewer leaders in Europe had a mentor? Some possible
questions to raise in order to understand this more deeply would be: which level of leaders is being targeted withthose mentoring programmes? Is mentoring offered to all leaders or only to a selected few? Is mentoring and being
mentored mandatory? Are organisations putting enough focus on creating the mentoring framework for first-level
leaders and for Millennial leaders? It’s not enough to formalise the mentorship programme, you need to engage moreleaders in formal mentoring relationships.

Broader Knowledge Networks
When designed to cross organisational boundaries, mentoring programmes can facilitate an exchange of knowledge andexperience that informs younger employees. These programmes also put mentors in touch with other parts of theorganisation, elevating knowledge transfer between disparate sections. In fact, organisations that encourage mentoring
are already benefitting more widely from these guided interactions. Across more than 25,000 leaders in our global study,
those from organisations with formal mentoring programmes were 1.7 times more likely to feel well prepared for capturingorganisational knowledge before it’s lost than were leaders from organisations without formal mentoring.

WHERE TO START•

Encourage formal and informal mentoring. Although formal
mentoring programmes should establish and foster guided
connections and interactions between junior and seniorleaders in your organisation, it’s also valuable to encourage
leaders and non-leaders to seek informal mentorships,
especially in the reverse with senior leaders seeking out theirjunior colleagues to gain new perspectives.

•

Develop mentoring contracts. Mentoring is a valuable
investment of a leader’s time to share knowledge andexperience. Provide mentors and mentees with examples of
how to clearly communicate expectations for the mentoring
relationship, and also set guidelines in advance for the
mentorship.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

HOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE

22•

Build mentoring networks. Organisations can go only so
far in connecting and establishing mentorships. Foster
peer learning by establishing mentoring networks, sothat when there isn’t formal guidance on a specificquestion or need, leaders can seek the help andsupport of others throughout the organisation.

•

Make mentoring a retention strategy. Leverage
mentoring connections to foster retention. Be
purposeful about matching mentors to junior leaders
who are at greater risk of turnover.

www.ddiworld.com/glf2018

Global Leadership Forecast 2018

No Engaged Workforce
Without Engaged Leaders
To Raise Engagement, We Need to Develop Leaders
Rebecca L. Ray and Jo Lane
The good news is leaders in Europe understand the direct link between engagement and bottom-line results. This is borneout by 76 percent of respondents in Europe citing engaging employees as a focus to drive better business performance.
Given the leader is the biggest driver of engagement it’s encouraging to see 96 percent of leaders in Europe telling us they
feel engaged with their roles as a leader and that 92 percent want to stay on with their organisation to make an impact.
However, there are challenges identified in the table below (see Figure 17) which reveal important areas where someorganisations and leaders are falling short in delivering on the execution of several cornerstones of employee engagement.
Two thirds of leaders do not have an up-to-date development plan and 43 percent feel that their managers lack the skills
to support their development. It therefore comes as no surprise that 40 percent feel they need to change organisations toadvance their career. The data provides us with a clear set of messages but as we know “you can’t fatten a pig by weighingit” and survey results alone will not solve this challenge. It is time for discipline and focus.
Figure 17. Organisational Practices that Drive Organisational Agility© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Responses from HR professionals in Europe corroborate the evidence supplied by the leaders. Fewer than one quarter ofHR leaders report that their leaders have high-quality, effective development plans (much lower than the global average),and less than half of these plans are reviewed on a regular basis. No wonder many are unclear about their leadership pathand feel they must leave the organisation if they are to advance! In addition, as Millennial leaders grow in number in thework place, it is important to recognise that this group is slightly more inclined to leave than leaders in other generations
and thus ways to engage the talent of the future will become increasingly critical. Whilst the adage that “people don’t quit
their jobs they quit bosses” stays true, the opposite is also true in that inspiring leaders create more team engagement.

Forewarned is Forearmed and HR Needs to Step Up
To succeed in this most critical of business challenges, leaders at all levels need support and HR has a key role to play inthis. Engagement—and in turn, retention—doesn’t happen by accident. It takes concerted organisational effort, amotivated leader, and employees who take responsibility for their own engagement. To provide the right environment foreveryone to engage, there needs to be frequent open communication, and clear links between individual goals andorganisational direction. On another somewhat alarming note, HR respondents also called out that only 54 percent of theleadership development programmes they supervised were connected to business priorities and two thirds of leaders in
Europe have never had a mentor (though 48 percent mentor others).
Here’s good news: when rating their eﬀectiveness in using inspiration (motivating increased employee energy and effort)
and empathy (deepening relationships with others by perceiving and acting on their emotions), 95 percent of leaders said
they were at least moderately eﬀective in using each skill which together are hallmarks of an engaging leader. Surprisingly,
however, only 60 percent of companies surveyed in Europe have articulated vision, mission, and purpose statements andonly just over half report they have an employee value proposition. Here, with appropriate development focus, leaders canplay a much stronger role in making the connection between the job an employee does and the organisation’s vision,
mission, and purpose—a significant engagement driver.
In summary, the direct link between engagement and results is clear to leaders and most view as common sense. In fact,
there is a science to highly engaged employees yet the research highlights that many of the ingredients in this formula are
still not getting the focus that is required for maximum impact, demonstrating that a paradigm shift is required before
becoming common practice. Here is where HR clearly has a crucial role in equipping leaders with the framework, tools
and behaviours with which to succeed.
The findings in this study corroborate engagement-related research at The Conference Board*. The 12 behaviours
mastered by highly engaging leaders include:
Provides a strong sense of meaning and direction by:
1. Developing a compelling vision of what people canaccomplish.
2. Communicating in a way that brings people along.
3. Setting a clear strategic direction for direct reports.

Builds a high-performance environment by:
7. Setting high standards.
8. Creating a sense of urgency.
9. Empowering employees.
Unlocks employees’ full potential by:
10. Building relationships one person at a time.
11. Providing clear and consistent rewards/recognition.
12. Driving development and growth.

Brings out collective brilliance by:
4. Building trust and acting with integrity.
5. Challenging the status quo and inspiring creativity.
6. Fostering a culture of collaboration.

* Ray, R.L., Hyland, P., Pressman, A., Dye, D.A., & Kaplan, J. (2016, February), DNA of Engagement: How Organizations Build and Sustain Highly
Engaging Leaders, New York, The Conference Board, https://www.conference-board.org

WHERE TO STARTHOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE•

Build engaging leaders. Forge a robust leadershipdevelopment programme that will develop, retain, andempower leaders at all levels.

•

Build an engaging culture. Start with the senior-most
executive leaders becoming champions for change.
Like everything else, the tone starts at the top.

•

Ensure that the basics are in place: job descriptions,behavioural anchors, custom development plans, ondemand and formal training programmes, experiential
learning opportunities, and continuous feedback.

•Embed messages about the business case forengagement into all communications. Monitor progressand celebrate successful milestones.

••

Align strategic projects with leadership development efforts toensure that leaders are exposed early on to real-world
challenges.

Leverage your engaged leaders by asking them tomentor other leaders, participate in development
initiatives, and coach their peers.

••

Communicate the path for leaders as well as the skills tomaster along the way. Set up a mentoring programme andteach managers how to coach so that their now-enhanced
engagement is contagious.

Reward and celebrate your highly engaging leaders;
they are the factory for your leadership cadre.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

HR’s New Role

Are They Up to the Challenge?
Richard Wellins and Verity Creedy
In the Global Leadership Forecast 2014|2015, we put forth the concept of a new role for HR, moving from the overused termof “partner” to “anticipator.” Only a small number of HR professionals, worldwide, considered themselves Anticipators.
Even fewer leaders thought their HR colleagues fell into this category. Not more than six months after the release of theForecast, Harvard Business Review devoted an entire issue to the role of HR. The provocative title of the lead article? “Why
We Love to Hate HR and What HR Can Do About It.”* The opening salvo of this piece summarises the state of HR: Recent
complaints about the HR function have touched a nerve in a large, sympathetic audience. The most vocal critics say that HR
managers focus too much on “administrivia” and lack vision and strategic insight. Let’s take a deeper dive into HR’schanging and evidence-based actions to build their competence and credibility.
Figure 18. Perceptions of HR’s Role in Europe and Around the World© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

HR Professionals: A New Role
We defined three categories for HR professionals:• Reactor: Sets and ensures compliance with policies; responds to business needs; installs basic initiatives to manage
talent.
• Partner: Works towards mutual goals with line managers; shares information with the business about talent issue
gaps; provides HR solutions.
• Anticipator: Uses analytics to forecast talent needs; provides insights and solutions to ensure high-quality supply of
talent; links talent planning to business planning.
Every HR professional must perform some tasks in each role. However, while over the past decade HR professionals havefocused on their function’s operating models, policies, and systems, they now must refocus on how to manage talentstrategically. HR must make the transition to the Anticipator’s role, and that hasn’t happened. In fact, our global research
indicates that the HR function has regressed from the vantage of business leaders—from 20 percent being considered as
Anticipators in 2014 to just 11 percent considered Anticipators in 2017.
Figure 19. Eight Practices that Anticipators Do
More Effectively Than Partners

When it comes to this role, the European HR community islagging even further behind the global average. The results are
depicted in Figure 18. Leveraging the perspective of businessleaders to whom HR are supporting, the percentage of Reactors
is higher in Europe (49 percent) than globally (41 percent) andEurope enjoys even fewer Anticipators with only 7 out of 100
HR associates being considered able to use analytics to forecast
talent needs, provide insights, align talent planning withbusiness plans.

Making a Difference
So how can HR professionals make progress?
Based on data from over 2,400 organisations across the globe,
we looked for talent practices that differentiate the three
categories of HR professionals. While dozens of practices set
Reactors apart from Anticipators and Partners combined, we
wanted to focus on those practices that statistically separate
Partners from Anticipators. These are shown in Figure 19.
Too often there’s a weak link between strategic and HR
planning. In fact, only 28 percent of global HR respondents
feel that this connection is tight and starts early in theplanning process. Throughout the Global Leadership Forecast
2018, we’ve highlighted the importance of predictive analytics,
which are the Anticipator’s lifeblood. And, for the first time,
the technology is in place to better advance analytics.
Analytics are essential to maximising your investments towards improving leadership quality and supply.
* Capelli, P. (2015, July), Why We Love to Hate HR and What HR Can Do About It, Harvard Business Review, www.hbr.org/2015/07/why-welove-to-hate-hr-and-what-hr-can-do-about-it

WHERE TO STARTHOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE•Take a step back and gauge. Which of the three roles bestreflects HR in your organisation? Don’t forget to seek input
from line managers.

•

Move towards the Anticipator role by improving HR capability
in the eight evidence-based practices described in the figure.

•

Ensure that HR is well represented in your company’s
strategic planning process.

•Step up to greater accountability by providing businessleaders with the support and tools they need to bolster
engagement, employees’ sense of purpose, and growth.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

26•

Ensure that you’re building stronger predictive analytic
team capability.

•

Consider more rotation of respected line leaders within
and out of the HR function.

•

Step up to greater accountability. HR’s role is to createbusiness value through talent. They own thisimperative.

•

Deploy smart HR technologies to enable leadershipeffectiveness while freeing up HR professionals’ time toconcentrate on the more value-added tasks theirbusinesses require.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

HR Under Pressure

Falling Behind in the Race to Transform
Richard Wellins, Sayed Sadjady and Verity Creedy
The future of work is not tomorrow. It is now, and the implications for our workforces are profound. New career paths,
evolving organisational structures and business models, analytics, and digital disruption are trends every HR professional
faces. Never has the role of HR leadership been more important in making this transformation happen. Business leaders
no longer need to be convinced how important talent is. In a recent article, “The CEO’s Guide to Competing ThroughHR,”* the authors conclude that HR needs to step out of its traditional silo and embrace a strategic role, using talent todrive value rather than just responding passively to the needs of the business. While HR leadership should be in an enviable
position, in reality it’s losing the race. Their organisations are changing faster than they are, putting them even farther
behind. We’ve devoted two findings to HR leadership. The section “HR’s New Role: Are They Up to the Challenge?”
identifies the evidence-based practices that drive better HR performance. Here, we address the changes HR leaders areexperiencing and how prepared they are to meet key workplace challenges relative to leaders in other roles.
Figure 20. How European HR Leaders’ Jobs and Attitudes Have Changed over the Past Three Years© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

HR in the Pressure Cooker
For Europe, 93 HR professionals completed the HR-specific version of the Global Leadership Forecast 2018, along with
1638 leaders who responded to the leader version. Additionally, seven percent of the leader population were in HR,
giving us another rich source of data.
We started by asking HR professionals how their jobs and attitudes have changed over the past three years (see Figure 20).
HR professionals reported a considerable increase for every experience or challenge. In fact, only two items rated relatively
low: intention to leave current job and available budget. Most notable, by far, is the impact of digital disruption on the HRrole in the form of an increased need to up their game in applying both HR technology (74 percent) and analytic skills (65percent). Pressure to demonstrate financial impact, also requiring keen analytic skills, was on the rise at 63 percent. Near
the top of increases was the need to become a trusted senior advisor with 72 percent reporting increased pressures. As wesaw in the section “HR’s New Role,” perceiving a need to change is far different than making one. For HR professionals, 24
percent are thinking more about leaving their organisation. However, on a more positive note, 47 percent felt moreengaged which is encouraging, although not as high as the 64 percent increase in job engagement identified globally.
Data visualised in Figure 21 is based on the global sample of HR
leaders’ responses to the leader survey. They were asked to rate
how well-prepared they felt for each of seven items
characterising the ever-changing work environment (volatility,
uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity). The number depictedin the graphic represents the difference between the “veryeffective” responses of leaders who are in an HR role versus allother leaders. In every case, HR leaders felt less prepared thantheir peers in other leadership roles. These responses areconcerning. The work world is experiencing considerable
upheaval, yet only one in five HR leaders, on average, felt very
prepared to handle the challenges on the graphic.

Figure 21. HR Leaders Versus Other Leaders on
Key Challenges

Worse yet, the biggest differences are in their perceived
effectiveness to operate in a digital environment and use
analytics, despite the increased pressure they’re feeling to do so.
For example, more than 37 percent of leaders worldwide felt very
prepared for a digital workplace. Not an impressive number. By
comparison, only 16 percent of HR leaders felt the same way.
Consider this: The digital age will exert a more profound impact
on our workforce in about one-tenth of the time of any othermassive economic shift. Yet, those HR leaders who should betaking charge to prepare tomorrow’s leaders are farther behindthan those they’ll need to support.
* Bafars, F., Ellsworth, D., & Gandhi, N. (2017, July), The CEO’s Guide toCompeting Through HR, McKinsey Quarterly.

WHERE TO STARTHOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE•

Focus on building capability in business acumen, advanced
analytics, and new HR technologies. Elsewhere in this report,
you’ll see that the areas where HR leaders are feelingpressured correspond to areas where their performance isperceived to be lacking.

•We suspect that HR leaders may be under-investing in theirown learning as they strive to meet the growing learningneeds of leaders in other functions. In reality, HR should be firstin line for increased resources and in a continual learningmode.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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As “owners” of leadership development, one of HR’s
chief roles is to prepare leaders for digitaltransformation. Yet, HR leaders are less prepared thanleaders in other functions. Building HR’s digitalleadership skills is essential not only to develop others,
but also to manage impending radical changes in HR
technologies.

•

HR professionals often label themselves as the enablersof talent development, while line managers are thereal owners. HR leaders need to take primaryownership for ensuring that their organisations have thetalent in place to meet current and future businesschallenges.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

People Analytics

It’s Time to Show Business Impact
Evan Sinar and Shannon Lawrence
Pressure on European HR functions to adopt and excel in people analytics—defined as “the systematic identification andqualification of the people drivers of business outcomes, with the purpose of making better decisions”*—has been intense
for several years. Analytics are increasingly viewed as being critical to greater strategic influence and a ‘seat at the table’,the thirst for deeper analytics understanding continues to grow.
With the increased focus on HR analytics, it would seem reasonable to anticipate that HR has grown its proficiency since
the Global Leadership Forecast 2014|2015? Unfortunately, that is not the reality. This current Forecast took a detailed viewof analytics progress and practices across nearly 2,500 global organisations to ask: What’s the status? What’s emerging?
and What works to drive HR—and the enterprise—forward?
Figure 22 presents the state of people analytics practices in Europe as compared to the global data [ ]. The two rows
marked with the [ ] sign present the percent of European organisations succeeding in each analytics practice along withthe associated three-year success trend. The bottom two rows [ ] show the impact of each analytics practice in terms ofan organisation’s leader bench strength and financial performance based on the global data set of over 2,400 companies.
Figure 22. People Analytics Practices: Success, Trends, and Impact© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Time to Shift From Hindsight to Foresight
Organisations in Europe outstrip their global counterparts on the use of efficiency/reactions metrics by almost double.
But this is not something to celebrate. While it is interesting to know whether people are satisfied with leadershipprogrammes, this data will unlikely secure ongoing investment in leadership initiatives, unless it can be supported by ROI
data. Here, Europe is only half as successful as the rest of the world, and the global success rate is only 18 percent—not anaspirational benchmark. There is a decline in success in Europe on using business impact metrics—and this needs to beaddressed by European HR teams wanting to add value to their businesses. Europe also slightly lags behind the global data
in its success in forecasting future talent needs.
The Global Leadership Forecast data for Europe shows that there is a big opportunity for HR teams to shift the focus of
their analytics efforts from data which looks in the rear-view mirror, to those which can provide foresight to businessleaders and drive stronger organisational performance.
To put these declines in context, it’s important to gauge whether this is a true backward step in effectiveness or a higher
standard for success. Our data shows that it’s likely a case of the analytics bar rising faster than HR can leap over it.
Despite low success rates, 65 percent of HR professionals in Europe reported an increase in their analytics skills and datadriven decision making (a lower rate than reported globally). Yet, this clearly isn’t enough to keep pace. This may explain
why we have anecdotally noticed an increase in the number of requests from clients to help them to build the capability of
their HR functions globally, with analytics as a core part of the learning objectives.

Highest-Impact Analytics Practices: Opportunity for Europe
Though success rates are similar across analytics types, distinctions between them become clearer when linking toleadership and business outcomes. By doing so, we can show which forms of effective analytics outperform the others. The
graphic at left shows the link between various types of analytics and two critical outcomes: bench strength (the ability to
rapidly fill critical roles with qualified internal candidates) and a financial composite of revenue growth, operating margin,
EBITDA, and return on equity.
Every type of analytics showed a notable link with one or both outcomes, led by benchmarking internally, creating
leadership-planning models, and using data visualisation/storytelling techniques. On average, companies excelling inthese analytics were 6.5 times more likely to have high bench strength and 3.1 times more likely to outperform peers
financially.
There is some good news for Europe around the use of data visualisation and story-telling, where 20 percent oforganisations are succeeding with these methods versus 16 percent globally. Focus on improving success in this area will
have high pay-off.

Bottomline: Analytics Build HR Reputation
Analytics accelerate HR professionals deploying them: across the globe, those succeeding with advanced analytics are 6.3
times more likely to have new advancement opportunities and are 3.6 times more likely to have a stronger reputation withsenior business leaders.
And analytics accelerate talent practices, making good ones even better. Companies that create leadership planningmodels, gather results metrics, and are adept at data visualisation and storytelling see a higher return on their talent
investments than those that neglect or struggle with these practices.
WHERE TO STARTHOW TO EXCEL + DIFFERENTIATE•

Confirm business questions. Analytics that fail to start withbusiness (not just HR) questions will be challenging to
execute and, often, wholly unpersuasive to stakeholders.

•

Build skills in visualisation and storytelling. These are powerfulways to communicate data; such messages are morememorable and persuasive than numbers or text.

•

Align effort towards highest-impact methods. Internalbenchmarking, leadership planning, andvisualisation/storytelling had the strongest outcome links in
our research.

•

Recognise analytics as change management. Numbers
mean nothing if they don’t drive action; pair analytics withinteractive data views to build engagement about apractical path forward.

•

Staff for data savvy. Analytics is a team sport; develop andhire not just for abilities in data science, but also businessacumen, visualisation, and ethics.

••

Adopt proven methods such as key driver analysis, text
analytics, survival analysis, decision trees, and scenario
planning.

Predict future talent needs. Sophisticated, high-impact
workforce planning matches talent needs to growth
projections, ensuring that talent is where it’s needed and
when.

•

Build internal and external networks. Seek partnerships with
data-minded individuals across functions, local interest
groups, and internal analytics centres of excellence.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Leadership Megatrends and Payoffs
The research summarised in this report shows the powerful and pervasive—yet rarely fulfilled—impact of leadership
practices on organisations striving to meet their business challenges, now and in the future. In our global report we’vedelved into over two dozen findings focused on how these enterprise-level objectives are achieved. Each finding includes
precise, practical recommendations for learning from top-performing companies and for listening to and maximising thepotential of leaders themselves. Now, it’s time to take a step back: first, to see the overarching trends emerging from theresearch as consistent guiding principles flowing broadly into all aspects of leader talent management; and second, for
an integrated look at the links between practices and payoffs as fuel for assembling a comprehensive leadershipstrategy.

Six Leadership Megatrends from the Global Leadership
Forecast 2018
Digital Reshapes the Workforce: Across nearly every facet of the research, we saw the influence of digital readiness.
Digitally advanced organisations and leaders are already outperforming their less technologically savvy peers, whorisk being left behind, permanently.
Data’s Power Extends Beyond the Numbers: We expected to see data as an increasingly valuable commodity forpeople and business decisions. But we didn’t anticipate the heavy influence data and analytics have on business’
human side: inclusivity, agility, and fairness.
Culture Looms Crucial: Leadership strategies will fail without solid cultural cornerstones—clearly grasped andenlivened purpose, peer coaching, experimentation, psychological safety, and fully incorporated, diverse genderand generational views.
DIY is DOA: Leaders who stand (and learn) alone—not given access to or eschewing coaching from peers andmentors, and failing to adopt a collective, shared, and team-centric view of leadership—may survive in theworkplace, but they surely won’t thrive.
The Potential Pool Swells to a Lake: Organisations taking a broad view of potential—expanding their reach toactivate and accelerate leadership talent—prove more financially successful, feature stronger top leaders, andemploy more women at every leader level.
HR Navigates a Challenging Road Ahead: HR’s reputation as an Anticipator has taken a hit along with its declining
rates of analytics success. Also, HR’s own digital readiness is lacking. If this isn’t addressed soon, HR’s ability to drive
digital advancement will be crippled.

Leadership Practices Scoreboard
Across 2,400+ organisations, which practices have the strongest payoffs for leadership and financial performance? The
table on the facing page shows 34 leadership practices across four categories. The percentage of organisations using thepractice is indicated along with the impact that each practice had on three outcomes from the research: Programme
Quality (aggregate leader-rated quality of assessment, development, and performance management programmes);
Bench Strength (supply of capable leaders for critical leadership roles within the next three years); and the organisation’s
Financial Performance (composite of operating margin, EBITDA, revenue growth, and return on equity).

Key
No circle = nominal impact© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

= moderate impact

31= strong impact

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Leadership Practices Scoreboard
Links to Outcomes Based on Global Data Set
Percentage of Organisations in Europe Using Each Practice
10% ≥ global rating-10% ≤ global rating
Programme
Quality

Leadership PracticeBenchStrength

Financial
Performance

Percentage
Using

Talent Management
Leadership development programmes begin with a diagnosis of leader strengths/weaknesses.
Leadership competencies serve as the foundation for multiple leadership talent management
systems.
Talent review processes have a reputation for being fair and objective.
Competencies required for success in key leadership positions are clearly defined.
Information from assessments and simulations is used to guide leader development plans.
Information from assessments and simulations is used to make leadership hiring and promotion
decisions.
Individual leadership initiatives, programmes, and processes are well-integrated and aligned to key
business priorities.
Systematic processes (e.g., strategic talent planning) are used to identify the quantity and qualityof leadership required to drive future business success.
We know the up-to-date status of our leadership talent capability across the organisation.
We use a formal process for identifying employees who could become global/multinational
leaders.
We use formal programmes to ensure smooth leadership transitions at all levels.
Formal mentoring programmes are available for leaders.

76%
63%
65%
62%
66%
65%
54%
58%
53%
51%
31%
45%

Performance Management
We have a fair and transparent performance management system at all levels.
Performance management discussions occur ongoing rather than just once a year.
Performance management discussions include a heavy focus on personal development planning.
Ratings have been eliminated from our performance management process.

75%
46%
49%
19%

Development
Leaders practice and receive feedback on key skills with their managers.
Leaders are offered a library or learning system from which they can choose on-demand courses.
Leaders receive development personalised specifically for them rather than as part of a cohort.
Leaders regularly review their development plan with their managers.
Leadership development modules are positioned with leaders as a planned sequence rather thanas independent events.
We have a dedicated learning experience manager (someone who designs and sequences
personalised, engaging learning for leaders).
Our leaders have high-quality, effective development plans.
Managers who fail to develop their leaders receive negative consequences as a result.

63%
38%
61%
40%
61%
31%
22%
19%

High Potential

We measure the effectiveness of programmes for developing high-potential leaders.

73%
82%
71%
74%
64%
73%
64%
61%
50%

The identities of leaders labelled as high-potential are well-known within the organisation.

33%

High-potential leaders’ performance in developmental assignments is carefully evaluated.
Developmental activity for high-potential leaders is targeted towards their specific development needs.
Our process for identifying high potentials is unbiased and non-political.
We collect objective assessment data on high potentials’ capabilities, potential, and readiness.
Managers are held accountable for supporting high-potential leaders.
The process for identifying high potentials is consistent across the organisation.
We have a mentoring/coaching programme specifically for high-potential leaders.
High-potential leaders are told and aware of their special status.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Appendix: Demographics
Organisation Characteristics© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
Board Inc., EYGM Limited, 2018. All rights reserved.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Leader Characteristics

HR Benchmarks
We asked HR participants to provide general information about the makeup and turnover and success rates of theirleaders. The figure below provides median benchmarks from organisations across the globe. The bars represent thegeneral range of responses received from HR respondents (between the 10th and 90th percentiles); the green dots
indicate the average of all organisations; and the yellow stars indicate how leading organisations (represented by thosewith the highest leader quality and bench strength) responded on average.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

About DDI
With 1,100 associates strong worldwide, we work side by side with clients to build a sustainable pipeline of leaders tomeet business needs—today and in the years ahead. Because, like you, we believe better leaders lead to a better future,
we have dedicated ourselves to the science and practice of leadership for nearly five decades. Our solutions draw fromour four areas of leadership expertise: Strategy | Selection | Development | Succession Management.
We’ve worked with clients to define and achieve great leadership at every level, from aspiring leaders all the way to the
C-Suite. Our promise remains constant: Together, we can co-create a solution that is unique to your organisation andaimed squarely at meeting your business goals. To learn more about DDI, join us at www.ddiworld.com

About The Conference Board
Founded in 1916, The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working
in the public interest. Our agenda is simple: to help leaders navigate the biggest issues impacting business and better
serve society. We believe in innovative approaches that make you think—and act—differently. And everything we doreflects the input of our members and their real-world challenges.
We do this by delivering business insights. We connect senior executives across industries and geographies to shareideas, and our experts create fact-based research and consensus-driven policy statements to help leaders address theirmost important business issues.
Because we are independent, nonpartisan, and non-profit, our work is trusted. If you learned it at The Conference Board,
you can count on it. To learn more about The Conference Board, visit us at conference-board.org

About EY’s People Advisory Services
EY’s People Advisory Services believes a better working world is helping our clients harness their people agenda—theright people, with the right capabilities, in the right place, for the right cost, doing the right things.
We work globally and collaborate to bring clients professional teams to address complex issues relating to organisationtransformation, end-to-end employee life cycles, effective talent deployment and mobility, gaining value from evolving
and virtual workforces, and the changing role of HR in support of business strategy. Our EY professionals ask better
questions and work with clients to create holistic, innovative answers that deliver quality results.

© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

About the Global Authors
Evan Sinar, PhD, is DDI’s Chief Scientist and Vice President. He designs and executes analytics linking
leadership programmes to business outcomes and produces actionable insights about talent trends andpeople practices, including leading DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast and High-Resolution Leadershipresearch programmes. He is a top influencer for analytics, data visualisation, and people science, frequently
authoring on these topics for major conferences and publications. His work has been featured in Chief
Learning Officer, Training Magazine, and numerous other publications. Evan holds a Ph.D. in industrial andorganisational psychology and is a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology.
Richard S. Wellins, PhD, is a leading expert on teams and leadership. He recently completed a 35-year
career at DDI, where he was head of global research and marketing. He currently serves as a senior research
associate for HR.com, DDI, and EY. Rich received his Ph.D. from American University. He has authored six
books, including the recent Your First Leadership Job. He speaks at major conferences around the world andhas published more than 50 articles. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Fortune, andthe BBC.
Adam L. Canwell, a Partner, People Advisory Services, Ernst & Young and a global leader of EY’s leadershipoffering based in Melbourne, Australia. He has more than 20 years’ experience in providing people advisory
services to clients. He has delivered transformation programmes across multiple product and service
industries – working with FTSE 100 (or their equivalent) organisations. Adam has an MSc in coaching andconsulting for change from HEC at Oxford University and an M.A. (Oxon) Politics, Philosophy andEconomics from Oxford University.
Rebecca L. Ray, PhD, serves as the executive vice president, knowledge organisation, for The Conference
Board. She oversees the research planning and dissemination process for all three practices areas (Corporate
Leadership, Economics and Business Development, and Human Capital) and is responsible for defining the
research agenda that drives the company’s business planning process. She is responsible for continuing
integration of The Conference Board’s research and engagement efforts. Rebecca is author of numerous
articles and books, including her co-authored works Measuring Leadership Development (McGraw-Hill) and Measuring
the Success of Employee Engagement (ATD).
Stephanie Neal, MA, is a consultant in DDI’s Leadership Reach Center. She conducts research to explore
workplace and leadership trends, including topics focused on executive leadership and gender diversity.
Stephanie is the author of “Your Next CEO Should Be a Social CEO” and a co-author of Ready-Now Leaders:
Cultivating Women in Leadership to Meet Tomorrow’s Business Challenges and Women as Mentors: Does She
or Doesn’t She? A Global Study of Businesswomen and Mentoring.
Amy Lui Abel, PhD, is managing director of Human Capital at The Conference Board. She leads research
efforts focusing on human capital analytics, leadership development, labour markets, strategic workforce
planning, talent management, diversity and inclusion, human resources, and employee engagement. Amy
has been published in People & Strategy Journal, The SAGE Handbook of Workplace Learning, Human
Resource Development Quarterly, and ATD’s TD magazine.
Amanda Popiela is a researcher for Human Capital at The Conference Board. She conducts research in avariety of areas, including talent management, employee engagement, and diversity & inclusion. Her recent
reports include Mental Health and Well-Being in the Workplace and Divergent Views/Common Ground: The
Leadership Perspectives of C-Suite and Millennial Leaders.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Joe Dettmann, PhD, a Partner/Principal, People Advisory Services, Ernst & Young LLP and a North
American leader of EY’s leadership offering. He has a Ph.D. in industrial/organisational psychology and has
spent his career as a human capital and talent management consultant. At EY, Joe has been instrumental in
the Future Work Now transformation offering and helps clients design for the future of work and optimise
their human capital by activating modern talent strategies. As part of that, he has been the architect of EY’s
Future of Work Readiness Index technology and has led the development of EY’s Digital Leadership offering.
Liz Collins, MS, is a Senior Manager in People Advisory Services, Ernst & Young LLP. She has a Masters inorganisational psychology from Columbia University and has spent her career working with clients todevelop data supported workforce strategies in tandem with the client’s talent management programmes,
people key risk programmes, and organisational and leadership development activities. Liz works primarily
with Financial Services clients across Banking, Capital Markets and Insurance.
Louise Rolland is Executive Director, People Advisory Services, Ernst & Young. She came from academia,
and her work focuses on all aspects of workforce and talent strategy. As a labour demographer, she has led
an internationally focused research agenda to investigate the impact of demographic change and global
labour trends on business. She is a thought leader and pragmatic strategist who works closely with clientson designing practical responses to the changing world of work and the implications for leaders and theirpeople.
Tony Cotton is a Senior Manager, People Advisory Services, Ernst & Young LLP. He is an organisational
psychologist and psychometrician with over 30 years’ experience. He has conducted workplace research inAustralia, Canada, and the UK. Tony has worked directly with senior leadership groups in organisations
across a range of sizes and functions providing high level workplace research and statistical analysis of
workforce survey data. For five years, Tony was responsible for the design and analysis of one of the largest
workplace surveys in the Southern hemisphere.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

About the European Authors
Bruce Watt, PhD, is Vice President for DDI’s operations in Europe, India, Australia and DDI’s MNC Global
Centre of Excellence. An expert on a broad range of leadership practices, Bruce provides business relevant
counsel and consulting to a diverse range of both multinational and regional organisations identifying
needs and proposing solutions primarily in the areas of leadership development and succession
management. He is an experienced coach of C-suite business leaders and his counsel is often sought from
Boards on business-critical senior leadership decisions.
Shannon Lawrence is the Consulting Leader for DDI in Europe. She has been in leadership roles for 20
years in various industry sectors. Shannon combines her experience as a leader, specialist knowledge in thefield of leadership development, and passion for enabling leaders to grow and enhance their impact, tocreate commercially relevant solutions for clients seeking to accelerate their leaders. She recently coauthored a blog on leadership in the digital era.
Verity Creedy is DDI’s European Sales Leader. Clients remark on her enthusiasm and creativity forenhancing their leadership capability through selection, development, and succession. She is particularly
motivated by accelerating the ability of an organisation to achieve their strategic goals through effective
talent management. Verity is a regular writer for DDI’s blog series and her thoughts can also be found on
Twitter @VerityDDI
Elizaveta Belfer is DDI’s Marketing Leader for Europe. As a millennial herself Elizaveta is passionate about
generational diversity, realising organisational potential, and leadership as an accelerator for businesses.
Having worked out of several DDI offices around the world, Elizaveta keeps uncovering cultural similarities
and differences within and outside of DDI, and this helps her and her team create global digital marketingstrategies.
Bill Hester leads the relationship with a small number of DDI’s largest global MNC clients. A Senior
Consultant and Occupational Psychologist with 25 years’ experience, Bill helps multinational companies
take pragmatic and economical decisions to make the very best of their human capital and sustain marketleading positions.
Dave Mayer is a Leadership Consultant in DDI. He partners with multinational clients to build leadershipcapability across the pipeline. Having worked at DDI for the last 14 years, Dave has extensive knowledge of
DDI’s solutions, how they work and the value they can offer, bringing this to life for his clients in a simple
but effective way. A recent blog from Dave explored the role of new frontline leaders—Catalyst Leadership:
A Winning Proposition.
Jo Lane is a Leadership Consultant, based in DDI’s London Office. With nearly 30 years’ experience inleadership and consulting roles, she works internationally to assess and develop leaders against everchanging business priorities. She is passionate about supporting individuals in their growth, particularly attimes of transition and in parallel working with executive teams to ensure they have the right talent inplace to deliver on their strategy.
Nadine Keppler is a Leadership Consultant at DDI in Germany and consults with multinationalorganisations to align their leadership strategy to support their business strategy. She is vocationallytrained as banker and owns a diploma in Business and Economics Education. Nadine provides guidance toclients across various industries in the planning, design, and implementation of leadership solutions,designs and facilitates workshops and as master trainer also enhances the facilitation skills of others.
Vykinta Kligyte, PhD, is a Leadership Consultant at DDI’s London office. She applies strategic andanalytical approach to helping Fortune 500 clients enhance organisational effectiveness and drive culturaltransformation through the best practice approach to leadership development. She holds a Ph.D. inindustrial and organisational psychology and has co-authored conference papers and articles in peerreviewed journals, such as Human Resource Management Review, Cognition & Emotion, and Science &Engineering Ethics.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Sponsors
Association for Talent Development
The Association for Talent Development (ATD, formerly ASTD), is the world’s largest association dedicatedto those who develop organisational talent. These professionals take the knowledge, skills, and abilities ofothers and help them achieve their full potential. ATD’s members come from more than 120 countries andwork in public and private organisations in every industry sector. ATD supports the work of local professionals in morethan 125 chapters, international strategic partners, and global member networks. Visit www.td.org

CNBC
CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, is the recognized world leader in business news and financial
information, providing the latest real-time market information, unrivalled coverage of breaking news, indepth analysis and interviews with business leaders and political figures from around the world. CNBC has a
distribution of approximately 409 million households worldwide. Visit www.cnbc.com for more information.

HR Certification InstituteFor more than 40 years, top executives have put their trust in fully accredited HR Certification
Institute® (HRCI®) credentials when making hiring and promotion decisions. As a result, more than
500,000 HR professionals worldwide have strengthened and advanced their careers and strategic
value by meeting HRCI’s rigorous certification standards. Visit HRCI at www.hrci.org

HRoot
HRoot is a leading human resources media and Internet company in China, with brands andservices such as www.HRoot.com, Human Capital Management magazine, Overclass, Society for
HR Executives, and more. More than 20,000 people have attended HRoot’s offline events eachyear, while its publications have a readership of 30,000. HRoot serves more than 20,000 customers now, including morethan
95 percent of the Fortune 500 companies in China. Visit www.HRoot.com

Human Resource Excellence Centre
Human Resource Excellence Centre (HREC) is China’s upmarket, professional, and influential
membership-based organisation for HR professionals. By the end 2017, more than 3,500 companies
had joined HREC as corporate members. HREC member services include events, magazines, survey
reports, public and in-house training, corporate visits, etc. HREC is a premier resource for leading HR professionals in
China to achieve organisational goals and boost individual growth.

Manufacturing Leadership Council
Founded in 2008, the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s vision is to create and inspire a
global community of manufacturing executives who believe in the proposition that
manufacturing is the fundamental driver of economic and social prosperity, and that its
growth will lead to a better future and a higher standard of living for all people. The MLC’s mission is to inspire
manufacturing executives to achieve transformational growth for themselves, their companies, and for the industry atlarge through enlightened leadership.

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Global Leadership Forecast 2018

Acknowledgments
This study was a true global effort between three partners. The authors would like to acknowledge the invaluable
contributions of the following people:
Executive Stakeholder Team
Evan Sinar, Gina Dickson, Richard Wellins, Rebecca Ray, Amy Liu Abel, Sayed Sadjady, Adam Canwell
Project Management Team
Beth Gillen, Amanda Popiela, Liz Collins
Research Advisors
Mike Kemp, Sarah Mogan, Kirsten Jaeger, Frank Steemers, Ben Cheng
Graphic Design
Janet Wiard, Kelli Passalacqua
Cover Design
Susan Ryan
Editorial
Bill Proudfoot, Mike Gillen
Project Contributors
Ashley Heinrichs, Elizaveta Belfer, James Court, Daphne Luchtenberg
WebMark Hamilton, Stacy Infantozzi, Joe McBride, Keri Hritz
Global Participant Recruitment
Sinem Bahceli, Lucero Barbosa Martinez, Stella Chang, Elizabeth Chivers, Michelle Emanuele, Alex Fasken, PriscillaGiglio, Frisca Harmala, Chiqui Ho, Julie Hogan, Yumi Ikeda, Sirin Kont, Sofía López de Aréchaga, Christal Martin,
Gayatri Patankar, Amy Reed, Charna van der Merwe, Sarah Zhu© Development Dimensions International, Inc., The Conference
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About

About

About

DDI

The Conference Board

EY

We work side by side with people who arerelentless about identifying anddeveloping leaders who perform and will
leave an enduring legacy. Because
better leaders lead to a better future,
we’ve been obsessed with the scienceand practice of leadership for nearly five
decades. We help clients uniquely define
and achieve great leadership at every
level of their organisation, from aspiring
leaders all the way to the C-Suite. Our
promise remains: Together, we can cocreate a solution that’s aligned with yourbusiness context and aimed squarely at
your business goals.

The Conference Board is a global,
independent business membership andresearch association working in the public
interest. Our mission is unique: To provide
the world’s leading organisations with thepractical knowledge they need to
improve their performance and better
serve society. The Conference Board is a
non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity
holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in
the United States. www.conferenceboard.org

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax,
transaction and advisory services. The
insights and quality services we deliver
help build trust and confidence in thecapital markets and in economies theworld over. We develop outstanding
leaders who team to deliver on our
promises to all of our stakeholders. In sodoing, we play a critical role in building abetter working world for our people, for
our clients and for our communities.

> Strategy> Selection> Development> Succession Management

EY refers to the global organisation, andmay refer to one or more, of the member
firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited,each of which is a separate legal entity.
Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK
company limited by guarantee, does notprovide services to clients. For more
information about our organisation,please visit ey.com.

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