New leaders are not being developed effectively, according to the Global Leadership Forecast 2011, a survey of human resources professionals and leaders of organisations in 74 countries conducted by Development Dimensions International. Only one in four of the HR professionals was satisfied with the quality of leadership in their companies, and only 18% of HR professionals believe that their companies have the quantity and quality of leaders they will need to run their companies in three to five years’ time.
In the Australian highlights of the report, only 22% of HR respondents rated the leadership quality of their organisations as high, compared with a global average of 26%. A higher percentage of Australian leaders than the global average were rated as effective at driving and managing change and making difficult decisions, but a lower percentage than the global average were rated as effective at fostering creativity and innovation, executing organisational strategy and improving employee engagement.
With regard to effective management culture, Australian and New Zealand companies were rated significantly lower than the global average for commitment to sustainability and socially significant goals, management processes being a source of competitive advantage, flexibility of organisational structure, and open discussions around strategy and key business decisions. Overall the results suggest that Australian organisational leadership is weaker than the global average.