Building Mid-career Bench Strength
By Elizabeth Olsen, Senior Associate
Clients are more frequently asking Kincannon & Reed to locate mid-career management talent to develop bench strength in preparation for a wave of expected retirements. Why this shortage of mid-career talent?
Like today, economic times in the 1990’s were difficult. Companies cut back on hiring new college graduates and management development budgets were slashed. The price of those actions 10-15 years ago is often the depletion of the mid-level executive talent pool today.
Attracting and retaining “the best and the brightest” is a challenge for every industry we serve. Brian Bowman, Manager of Talent Acquisition at Pioneer Hi-Bred, says Pioneer is “driving its succession planning lower in the organization to identify talent and gaps that need to be addressed.” Both the fertilizer and animal health sectors have experienced mid-level management gaps. To serve fertilizer companies we have successfully found talent in other commodity chemical industries with highly volatile raw material and end product pricing. For animal nutrition sector clients, we have looked to crop protection companies where a larger talent pool has been developed and where some of this talent is keen to have an impact in a new industry.
Kelly Keithly, President of Keithly-Williams Seeds, and Chairman of the American Seed Trade Association credits his company’s emphasis on training as key to developing and retaining mid-management talent. “We use training to expose people to methods and practices they might not otherwise encounter working for a small company”, he says. “We live in an age of specialization, so training and development are more important than ever before.”
Brian Bowman of Pioneer Hi-Bred adds that while other companies cut back on training and development during tough economic times, “We’re rolling out a new multi-faceted training and development program for both entry level managers and those with future top management potential.”
Kincannon & Reed would be delighted help your company recruit fresh talent and perspective into your management team. Please contact us and we’ll discuss how we can help you win the war for talent.
© 2009 Kincannon & Reed. All Rights Reserved.
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