Financial sector doesn't consider leadership skills important

The survey showed that none of the line managers questioned in the financial sector saw leadership skills as a primary concern when evaluating training and development within their internal teams. More than a third (36%) said reviewing technical skills was the focus of training appraisals; the same percentage thought honing in on future talent potential was a main priority; 43% said the skills and talents of their team were reviewed on an ad hoc basis; while 7% claimed staff ability was never reviewed in their organisation. And 7% thought their staff were prepared to deal with changes in the business.

Carol Stevenson, director at Cybele, said: "The results were more than surprising considering the huge difficulties facing the financial sector at the moment.

"Equipping staff with leadership skills is obviously a central element of any business's success and it is clear that companies should refocus on improving their team members' talents in this area," she added.