The last decade has brought significant change for most high-level decision makers in business. This change has created a significant amount of strain on their careers from several factors. The economic rise of China with products and India with services and the consequent increase in competition has led to moving operations offshore and has dramatically changed the landscape that executives must navigate through.
The Challenge Facing Today’s Managers
Other influences they must deal with now are seen with the continuing shift to services in the US economy and an aging workforce that has become another reality that executives must now address. The growth of a knowledge-based workforce has led to a greater focus on people performance rather than asset performance and has changed how they will be managing the workplace.
The rise of shareholder value as a primary measure of company performance and the growing influence of the corporate governance movement have also had a dramatic impact on the way executives think and act.
Other challenges will come from dealing with different age groups of employees. Over the next 15 years, there will be three different generations in the workplace at the same time, each with very different needs and aspirations. Baby Boomers will no longer dominate and Generations X and Y will play a much larger role.
Managers will be expected to manage a workforce spanning these three age groups and acquire specific leadership and management skills including managing a generation of older workers who, thanks to the economic collapse and recession, will not retire in the traditional manner.
Globally, mangers will have to come to grips with a world economy increasingly shaped by the emergence of China and India as major economic powers. They will face global labor markets and complex environments generated by moving operations overseas and other strategies for operating in several different countries.
Preparing Them to Meet These Challenges
The next ten years promise further transformation and with that change will come a new agenda for executive education and development. As a result, they will need more sophisticated strategies to engage in the global market. They will travel frequently and spend a greater part of their business careers outside the United States. To help prepare them for this expanded role they will need to be proficient in:
- Recruiting, hiring, and developing talent around the world
- Acquisition and diversification strategies encompassing a global outlook
- Business and market expansion opportunities worldwide
- Understanding international politics
- Managing global supply chains
- Environmental challenges that will vary greatly by country
- Communication across the organization in several different languages
- Organizational change challenges in different cultures
- International Law and exchange rates
- Risk management priorities in different parts of the world
A sound understanding of these and other considerations that will surely come forth will be essential should these managers want to get any sleep at night. This knowledge will be the result of extensive preparation and will come from:
- Challenging job assignments around the world
- A sound educational base that is developed by continuous learning
- Mentoring relationships
- Organizational wide development resources similar to General Electric's John F. Welch Leadership Center at Crotonville
- A formal and comprehensive talent management and individual development process
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