Talent-led transformation in a post-pandemic world: Europe

Conclusion

European respondents are distinguished by their sharper focus on technology and digital capabilities and culture. They believe attracting high performers rests partly on offering product and service innovation, and that performance measurement will be recalibrated to foster an innovative environment.

It is of concern that ESG leadership is not attracting greater attention or investment, but pipelines are weak and this talent pool needs to be nurtured by business-academia collaboration, search and leadership consulting experts.

Change and regulation are creating a buoyant environment for professional services, while financial services is focusing on digital and tech roles to leverage global opportunities. Consumer & retail organisations are broadly bullish, very confident in their outlook and investing in leadership development and board assessment. Industrial companies are cautious, redeploying or retraining existing people before investing in leadership development or new hires.

As organisations grapple with supply chain disruption, post-pandemic government policies and climate change imperatives, one of our respondents offers a caution to business leaders: “New challenges require more open and inclusive planning and execution; they also require executives to lead and take care of themselves first”.

Report Contributors

Meet our Boyden discussion participants from across Europe: