Academics have written a guide to help companies develop their global leaders and broaden their outlook through challenging local assumptions.

16 January 2006

AMSTERDAM - Academics have written a guide to help companies develop their global leaders and broaden their outlook through challenging local assumptions.

International Management Development, written by Dr Michael Dickmann and Dr Hilary Harris and published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), aims to help multinational organisations attract and retain talented individuals, and nurture them into successful leaders.

Local managers too focussed on local priorities

Research shows that global talent management and development in multinationals may be held back by local managers with local priorities, reports the CIPD. This leaves multinational organisations facing the major challenge of finding capable individuals to lead across a range of countries and cultures.

The new guide highlights some of the challenges multinational organisations continually face in developing and retaining talent. This includes concerns surrounding lack of manager buy-in, which could cause employers to lose high performers to competitors.

Introducing corporate talent development

"Many local operators don't see the benefits of engaging in corporate talent development," said Hilary Harris.

"They are often small and too cost-conscious to want to spend time developing individuals who will be moved elsewhere within the organisation. Likewise, many managers in local or regional operations are reluctant to let outstanding performers move on to other roles outside their area because they cannot see the direct benefits," she said.

Employer branding and talent management closely linked

Co-author Micheal Dickmann added, "Employer branding and talent management are intimately linked and just as important - the ability to recruit the most talented leaders from around the world relies on the organisation's image and brand values.

The guide points out that when creating an international management strategy, the top HR priority for many chief executives and other organisational leaders is "developing leaders who can manage the increasing complexity of running global organisations."

The case studies we used in the guide show how some companies [Nestlé, Cadbury Schweppes, Siemens, HSBC, United Nations] have successfully managed to broaden their leader's outlooks," said Dickmann

Visit http://www.cipd.co.uk/guides to access the full guide.

[Copyright Expatica HR]