Research from US consultancies DDI and The Conference Board found that just 37% of leaders in manufacturers were rated as high quality and only 16% rating their future supply of leaders as high, a decrease from 18% in 2011.
Dr. Jill George (pictured), DDI manufacturing practice leader, said: "Manufacturers are facing some serious people challenges as they deal with a wide range of issues, from baby-boomers retiring, to changing technology in the industry affecting the skills required. In order to respond to these challenges effectively, manufacturers need to do more to optimise their talent supply chain."
She suggested that organisations rethink their processes and take action to respond to a dramatically shifting business environment in innovative and agile ways: "An organisation's people are at the forefront of making such change happen and they, and in particular leaders, need to be empowered with the skills they need to deliver a shifting business strategy.
"The manufacturing industry is always looking at ways to improve process efficiency and there are huge potential gains to be made in talent processes if those organisations approach talent management with the same rigour as they do production."
The financial returns from improving talent supply in manufacturing are considerable. DDI analysis shows that companies with high leadership quality and engagement are nine times more likely to outperform their peers financially.
The Global Leadership Forecast includes survey responses from 13,124 leaders around the world and 1,528 global human resource executives. The manufacturing analysis is drawn from 3,143 leaders and 332 human resource executives.
The manufacturing report can be downloaded here and the Global Leadership Forecast here.
