Building an international management team

In building your international management team, which approach will you most emphasize over the next three years?

Note: Overall base = 810; C-suite = 371; manager = 162;
scores shown = percentage of respondents who strongly agree

Limited availability of high-quality graduates in rapid-growth markets, companies must develop their own.

Companies in rapid-growth markets are building their international management teams through the development of internal pipelines as well as recruitment from other organizations.

While building an internal pipeline requires time and investment, the latter can result in high turnover and salary inflation.

Given the limited availability of high-quality graduates emerging from the universities in rapid-growth markets, companies must develop their own. Yet in order to plug the gaps, firms frequently also have to recruit from their rivals.

The process may be self-defeating by worsening high turnover rates and salary inflation – hardly desirable after the firm has invested in developing internal candidates – but companies argue they have little choice.

Securing talent from other organizations, while not the top recruitment method, ranks as quite important on our respondents’ list. Tellingly, the latter is valued more highly as a tool by respondents within the C-suite than by managers (by 40%, as opposed to 30%).

Building an international management team
In building your international management team, which approach will you most emphasize over the next three years?

Note: Overall base = 810; C-suite = 371; manager = 162;
scores shown = percentage of respondents who strongly agree

Response: align business strategies with individuals’ objectives

Companies must identify talent needs across markets and align opportunities to those with the right skill sets at the right time in their career. Additionally, employers must evaluate the ambitions of individuals.

Part of the response lies in integrating a company’s talent strategy with its global mobility strategy to achieve the best blend of global and local expertise. However, it is also important to find the right people with the right skills at the right time in their careers, with consistent personal career goals and ambitions.

Only 17% of our respondents believe their companies are doing this effectively, and just 20% believe their organization is good at planning for future talent needs across all markets.

“This is a growing issue with global and globalizing organizations today – what resources, skills, competencies and experiences are needed in what markets and how we identify and develop those in the most effective and efficient ways,” explains Leisy.

Practical responses to the problem include recognizing the different skills needed in different markets, matching these with career opportunities, exploring the widest talent pools both globally and locally, and focusing on practical coaching and training at the individual level.

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