1. Building a succession ready
supply of leaders in the world’s
most dynamic region
Diversity & Inclusion Asian
Network, Business Community
April 2012, Singapore

2. What we will cover
•
•
•
•
•
•
A changed economic/business landscape
More than just a supply-demand issue
Limitations of current approaches
Strategies for accelerating & sustaining change
Concluding insights
Open discussion

3. A new self sustaining order....
A sustainable growth model for Asia with good supply of talent
Rebalancing through blend of domestic
demand, domestic investment & intra
region exports
GDP
2008
2009 2010 2011
China
9.6
8.7
10.0
9.9
India
7.3
5.7
8.8
8.4
Asia
5.2
3.5
6.9
7.0
US
0.4
-2.4
3.1
2.6
EU
0.6
-4.1
1.0
1.5
Source: IMF Work Economic Outlook Apr 2010, Asia Economic
Monitor, ADB 2010
Global distribution of the talent pipeline
by Region
5%
4%
2%
12%
10%
13%
53%
AP
C/EE
WE
NA
SA
Afr
MENA
Source: OECD/UNESCO 2006 (global talent pool defined
as all individuals around the world who were enrolled in
tertiary education in the year 2006
.........creating a new pace of competition for talent in
Asia....

4. Global & Asian....
The ‘new order’ will need a globally agile & exposed Asian leader
• who thrives in globalised and culturally
diverse environments, curious and insightful
about cultures (not just tolerating them)
• who has a global outlook to business and
globally networked (not just experience or
willingness to relocate)
• who enjoys leading through ambiguity and
management paradox (not just follows)
• who can cope with the challenges that
accompany a multiple time-zone/virtual
environment
Top 3 critical
skills in next 3
years*:
•Driving/managing
change
•Identifying/develo
ping future talent
•Fostering
creativity &
innovation
*DDI Global Leadership
Forecast 2011

5. The ‘new order’ will not guarantee previously
successful Asian leaders will continue to be successful
An experience gap that is not just time related*
Asia From
Asia To
Strategy
Adapt existing strategy to new
market context
Develop new strategy to meet
new market need
Execution
Scale up a proven platform with
limited localisation
Develop a new platform and
scale up in new and diverse
markets
Customer
Improve services to established
customer segments and needs
Build insights about new
customers & unmet market
needs
Skills
Build and scale up a highly
productive workforce with good
technical skill
Build and groom diverse
international pool of talent
with creative skills
Team/culture
Build the discipline of perf’ce and Build a high perf’ce team in a
results in a culturally
globally distributed, multihomogenous team
cultural environment
*Conference Executive Board suggests a 5-7 year experience gap between Asian leaders and equivalent global leaders

6. At its core lies a talent/pipeline management challenge
ASIA
Last decade
2010 and beyond
How to hire
•Fitting people to jobs
•Educational credentials
•Experience profile
•Fitting jobs to people
•Diversity of experience
•Behavioural profile
What to assess
•Personality /style
•Performance (deficits)
•Cultural sensitivity
•Cognitive & character strengths
•Potential (strengths)
•Cultural fluency*
What to develop
•Management skills
•Fixing development gaps
•Leadership skills
•Regulating strengths
How to develop
•Classroom training
•On the job learning
•E-learning
•Structured challenges/stretch
assignments
•Continuous feedback and
coaching
•Internal networking
Career growth
•Functional/linear
•Uni-dimensional
•Local
•Cross functional
•Multi-dimensional
•International
*cultural sensitivity relates to awareness, cultural fluency relates to skills

7. MNCs operating in Asia also over-rely on recruitment
solutions to close the experience gap
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bidding war & job hopping of experienced hires
Exacerbation of the experience gap
Shallow recruitment industry skills - “time to hire” mindset
Value placed on time in role rather than ‘new order’ skills
Risk appetite – preparedness to take punt on untested talent
Leaders who don’t see themselves as talent scouts; vacancy &
expediency driven
• Tactical approach to sources of supply
• Corporate inertia around localisation

8. Key levers for strengthening the Asian pipeline
requires an integrated approach
An over-reliance on
recruitment solutions
will not deliver
sustained results
‘Fit for
Purpose’
assessment
Building
cultural
fluency
Sustainable
pipeline to
meet Asian
growth
Better
management
of derailment
risk
Accelerated
development
interventions
Line leader
insight &
advocacy

9. Some Companies are making great progress......
Organisation
The Challenge
The Approach
The Outcome
Top tier private bank
Market requires ‘new order’
skills, competence;
Leadership team unprepared
for the shifts
•Defining ‘from-to skills
•‘Fit for future’ assessment
•Strength based deployment
•Shared view
•Up-tiered management
team; Clarity about talent
criteria
Global investment bank
Patchy pipeline, lack of
diversity at Director/MD
levels
•Addressing root cause of
slow progression
•Targeting identified skill
gaps of high potentials
•Accelerated progression
Global engineering company
No shared view making
talent development and
deployment problematic
•Line managers talent
calibration skills
•Strategic projects as
platform for sponsorship
Work in progress
Global Commercial Bank
Slow progress of local talent;
silo’d development
•Challenging dominant
logic/organisational bias
through the talent
calibration process
Greater/more accurate
picture of the issues;
country specific plans
Global resources company
Derailment of lateral hires ;
localisation plan jeopardised
•Executive coaching program
•Supported by cross
divisional mentors
•Early warning system
•Reduced attrition through
better assimilation
Global FMCG company
Leaders sensitivity to diverse
markets & cultures
•Immersion program in
remote communities
•Challenged cultural
stereotypes
•Greater cultural fluency

10. Only 33% of Asian leaders & 21% HR professionals
rate leadership quality as high*
‘Fit for
Purpose’
assessment
Building
cultural
fluency
Sustainable
pipeline to
meet Asian
growth
Better
management
of derailment
risk
* DDI Global Leadership Forecast 2011
Accelerated
development
interventions
Line leader
insight &
advocacy
The employee view:
Only 24% of employees
in Asia agree with the
statement “my
employer has the
leaders needed to
succeed in the future”
Global Labour Market
Survey, Corporate Executive
Board

11. ‘Fit for Purpose’ talent identification/assessment
Tendency to employ expedient ‘one size fits all’ approach
• The opportunity
– Identifying talent that will thrive given region specific market, skill and
cultural distinctions (nature of potential)
• The challenge/barriers
– Assessment methodologies too generic
– Talent nominations based on one manager’s unchallenged perspective
– Over-reliance on personality based assessments
• Some solutions
– Skilling up managers in calibration skills; more direct role in
assessment
– Culturally neutral assessments
– A more rigorous ‘fit for purpose’ succession lens

12. ‘Fit for Purpose’ Assessment
Aligning competence, experience, strengths & derailers to market need
Market Leaders
Market Leaders
High Growth / Emerging Markets
Mature / Stable Markets
•
•
•
•
•
•
Strategic agility
Investment mindset
Speedy decision making
Risk taker
Value creation ideas
Astute investment
judgement
• Organisational discipline
Energised by investing
• Strategic execution
• Performance mind-set
• Stakeholder consultation /
engagement
• Risk manager
• Profitability
• Astute business
management judgement
• Organisational alignment
Energised by managing
Challenge: to understand deeply the nature of someone’s potential not just whether they are talented or not
© TalentInvest 2009, All Rights Reserved

13. A Case study: better fit between assignment & talent
Top tier private bank trying to ‘turbo-charge’ its Asian growth plan
• The challenge:
– Fundamental market distinctions, not properly acknowledged
– Senior hires parachuted in from parent company not successful
• Approach taken
– Facilitated ‘from-to’ conversation
– A ‘fit for future’ assessment of regional management
• Outcomes achieved
– A shared view of ‘fit for future’ regional needs
– Reassignment and exits of regional team members
– Market focused approach to talent management

14. While 52% of companies had increased their leadership
development budget for Asia, only 1/3 of leaders rated
efforts as effective*
‘Fit for
Purpose’
assessment
Building
cultural
fluency
Sustainable
pipeline to
meet Asian
growth
Better
management
of derailment
risk
*DDI Global Leadership Forecast 2011
Accelerated
development
interventions
Line leader
insight &
advocacy

15. High impact development/acceleration interventions
Only 32% of Asian employees expressed satisfaction with
alignment between current job & professional interests*
• The opportunity
– Providing inexperienced leaders accelerated development and high
impact in-job experiences
• The challenges
– Failure to use deployment as critical development tool
– Over-reliance on classroom training and rotations
– Shrinking HO means fewer HO stints available
• Some solutions
– Willingness to fit jobs to people rather than fit people to jobs
– High impact acceleration programs integrated with
mentoring, shadowing, dedicated sponsors, in-region stretch
assignments
– Better design of stretch projects
– Actively managed career paths e.g.
*Global Labour Market Survey 2011, Corporate Executive Board professional ladders

16. Case study: addressing root causes in the pipeline
Global Investment bank concerned about lack of diversity in
Director/MD pipeline
• The challenge
– Perception of “lack of leadership potential” and “lack of communication
skills” could not be explained by job performance/qualifications
– Personality and style issues standing in the way of promotion (loudest
duck metaphor)
• Approach taken
– 2 day facilitated workshop focused on more ‘universal’ attributes
– Opportunity to openly explore cultural nuances in how success is
defined
– Promotion panel training
• Outcomes achieved
– 250 Asian VPs/Directors; improved pipeline over 18 month period
– Now rolled out to other regions

17. 88% of companies with effective talent management
systems reported active senior sponsorship &
involvement, compared with 19% with ineffective
systems*
‘Fit for
Purpose’
assessment
Building
culture that
values
Difference
Sustainable
pipeline to
meet Asian
growth
Better
management
of derailment
risk
*DDI Global Leadership Forecast 2011
Accelerated
development
interventions
Line leader
insight &
advocacy

18. Insight & advocacy of senior leaders
Dominant logic/institutional bias can often stand in the way of new
behaviours
• The opportunity
– Ensuring talent management is business led (not HR led)
• The challenge/barriers
– Leaders who may not fully grasp the significance of the issues
– Fly-in fly-out visits by senior executives with no time to take deep dive
– Autocratic , command/control style of some Gen X Asian line
managers
– Transparency and disclosure*
• Some solutions
– Challenging the dominant logic of senior teams
– Use of action learning projects (senior sponsored) as platform for
exposure
– Rethinking mentoring; introducing accountable sponsorship
* only 1 in 3 companies in Asia tell their talent they are talented)

19. Developing skilled & insightful advocates
Creating awareness is not enough
Focus of intervention
Leading Change
Challenging dominant
logic & institutional bias &
removing barriers to
change
Skill building
Skills in building diverse
and inclusive
relationships
Awareness raising
Awareness of my
own filters and
biases
Level
Organisational
Interpersonal
Individual
Most
organisational
efforts now
focused here

20. Case study: driving greater leadership
advocacy
Global Commercial Bank concerned about local representation in
leadership roles
• The challenge
– Expedient, under-leveraged hiring; time in role mindset; only 14% of
talent were locals, STAs* going to ‘safe pair of hands’
• Approach taken
– CEO led global talent calibration offsite in Shanghai
– Pre-work structured into a ‘philosophers walk’ exercise
– Explored and actioned 6 identified organisational biases
• Outcomes
– Deeper insight about real issues
– ‘change starts with me’ plan
– Country specific localisation plans
*STA – short term assignments

21. Case study: line manager skills & sponsorship
Global Engineering Firm trying to improve skills of its talent managers
• The challenge
– Talent review meetings reflect a level of inexperience of local line
leaders’ conversations about talent, let alone calibration ; no shared
view – silo’d and biased
• Approach taken
– Local leaders skills in talent calibration; HR partners’ master class
– Strategic (action learning) projects as sponsorship platform; paired
with advocate from different division and 2 levels up
• Outcomes intended (WIP)
– Better quality talent review conversations leading to greater talent
differentiation
– More direct knowledge of talent through sponsored project work

22. New leaders in Asia are 4 times more likely to derail
than the global average*
‘Fit for
Purpose’
assessment
Building
cultural
fluency
58% HR Professionals
picked risk aversion &
44% picked approval
dependence as the 2
key derailers
Sustainable
pipeline to
meet Asian
growth
Better
management
of derailment
risk
Accelerated
development
interventions
Line leader
insight &
advocacy
*Source: Corporate Executive Board

23. Better management of derailment risks
Only 26% of companies had formal programs to manage leadership
transitions*
• The opportunity
– Accelerated development often accompanied by higher derailment
risks
• The challenge/barriers
– ‘Face saving’ tendency and propensity to soldier on with “I don't need
help” makes early detection difficult
– High approval seeking and risk averse behaviour
• Some solutions
– Skilling up local line leaders to be better coaches
– Concrete support for key transitions going beyond ‘meet and greet’
induction
– Support of internal mentor from Day 1
– Externally sourced executive coaching support for complex transitions
*Source: Corporate Executive Board

24. Quality of development support is critical in
preventing costly & painful derailments
Rapidly evolving markets & pace of organisational change effort are
fertile ground for derailment
High
High risk appointment
(high probability of
derailment)
Development
Challenge
A safe pair of hands
(little organisational
payback)
Low
Source: TalentInvest
Good fit appointment
/assignment
(highest organisational
payback)
Poorly leveraged
appointment
/assignment
(Over-deployment of scarce
development resources)
Development support
available
High

25. Case study: assimilating lateral hires successfully
Large global resources company, known for its strong company culture
• The challenge
– 6000 senior managers in the region held accountable for Localisation
plan (as one of 3 D&I commitments)
– high proportion of lateral hires derailing within first 12
months, jeopardising localisation plans
• Approach taken
– Skilled executive coach with experience in organisational culture/
knowledge of Asia on 2 year retainer to provide combination of face
to face and virtual coaching support for lateral hires
– Accountable cross divisional mentor for 1st 100 days
• Outcomes achieved
– Coaching program as early warning system allowing company to
recognise issues and deal with them before they became derailers

26. 68 % of Western leaders, compared to 91% of Asian
leaders, felt managing culturally diverse people &
operations required different skills*
‘Fit for
Purpose’
assessment
Building
cultural
fluency
Sustainable
pipeline to
meet Asian
growth
Better
management
of derailment
risk
*2007 Conference Board Study: Painting with 2 brushes
Accelerated
development
interventions
Line leader
insight &
advocacy

27. A culture skilled in intercultural communication
Awareness of cultural differences does not go far enough
• The opportunity
– Cultural fluency is best learnt in the ‘field’ (not the classroom)
• The challenge/barriers
– Minority oriented thinking standing in the way of progress
– Program driven rather than culture change driven
• Some solutions
– Shift away from awareness training to skill building
– Accreditation of promotion panel members; license to hire module for
hiring managers
– Exposure to reality on the ground e.g. through Vox Pop sessions.
Reverse (group) mentoring etc
– Immersion experiences to deepen cultural understanding/fluency

28. 8 ‘universal’ cultural drivers most likely to improve
talent retention in a ‘hot’ talent market
Structure: is the organisational
culture hierarchical and rigid or
fluid and flexible?
Bureaucratic: are management
processes bureaucratic or a
source of competitive advantage
54%
Decisions: are key business
44%
Innovation: are the
decisions closed or open for
discussion?
opportunities to innovate only
for senior leaders or for
everyone?
Power: is power held by people 38%
Values: are values shared and
who value the status quo or
people who value innovation?
Goals: are organisational goals
43%
meaningful to employees or are
they not?
Influence: is influence based on 37%
61%
a personal formal position or his
or her abilities?
32%
41%
focused on bottom line growth or
do they include other goals?
percentages denote leaders who agreed with the negative sentiment
(global data from Gary Hamel Management Lab)

29. Case study: Building cultural fluency
FMCG company supplying household/hygiene products in some of the
world’s poorest regions
• The challenge
– How to develop its leaders’ engagement and fluency across different
cultures while getting ROI for the business
• Approach taken
– 6 week immersion experience in remote community to create shift in
root perspective and build collective/societal purpose
– Complete isolation from current role, little or no access to home base;
designed to ‘disturb’ institutional thinking and generate ‘disruptive’
ideas/learning
• Outcomes achieved
– Challenged cultural assumptions/stereotypes, fresh insight about
markets and opportunities
– Greater cultural fluency

30. A combination of high-touch, high-impact
development interventions required to close the
experience gap
‘Fit for
Purpose’
assessment
Building
cultural
fluency
Sustainable
pipeline to
meet Asian
growth
Better
management
of derailment
risk
Accelerated
development
interventions
Line leader
insight &
advocacy

31. Concluding Insights
• Over-reliance on recruitment solutions won’t deliver success
• But there are plenty of examples of progress/success to learn
from
• Building a pipeline of a new breed of Asian leader requires us
to:
– Challenge current notions of what to develop
– Challenge current notions of who to develop
– Challenge current notions of how to develop
• Creating the right management culture, challenging dominant
logic & fostering cultural fluency

32. Open Discussion......
• What talent management principles have you found
endure irrespective of environment?
• How have you addressed the need for a new breed of
Asian leader?
• What is your biggest challenge in creating a
compelling experience for your most talented Asian
leaders?
For more on these or other ideas on leadership contact meena@talentinvest.com.au
or visit www.talentinvest.com.au to access resources and to read our leadership
blog or follow me on twitter @CapableLeaders