For companies that are struggling in the current downturn, any restructuring, downsizing and redundancy programmes are likely to start at the top. And this is creating a pool of available and highly skilled managers and business leaders looking to take their skills and experience to market.
With virtually all sectors affected by the downturn, many managers need to look to new business sectors outside the experience they have gained in the markets or professions listed on their CVs.
But as competition for positions grows, those seeking to appoint new managers and leaders will find a wider choice of candidates from within their own and closely allied business sectors, so the temptation for recruiters to select those deemed able to ‘hit the ground running' is likely to be stronger that ever. But this is not always the best course of action.
With many of the rules of business apparently being re-written at the moment, now may be just the right time for employers to broaden their horizons and bring in people with new perspectives and different experience to their firms - above all, bringing in people who are trained and capable leaders.
There are benefits in employing someone who understands the structure of a particular sector, knowledge of its main players, customers, suppliers and products - to name but a few. But this leads recruiters to focus on a perceived reduction in risk and on the reduced time then needed for new managers to adjust and ‘learn the ropes'.
The opportunity to invigorate management and strategic thinking by bringing in senior managers from different sectors can be significant.
Ultimately it comes down to the degree to which an individual's leadership skills and experience have been honed through appropriate training and development, and how such individuals can bring those leadership skills to bear when undertaking new challenges that matters the most. I think the following skills are the most important to business and are the most transferable to new management environments:
- Experience of motivating and getting the best from subordinates, peers and superiors alike
- An ability to assimilate information quickly, to determine, outline and communicate business objectives with clarity
- The development and planning of strategies for the organisation. Setting targets and KPIs
- Visionary thinking - all leaders must be able to develop, support and articulate business vision
- Resilience and self reliance - skills developed over years of learning and dealing with management issues from the everyday to the critical
- Agility and adaptability - the ability to learn quickly and ‘fit' into an unfamiliar culture
- The confidence to deal with new challenges
If you are seeking to cross industry boundaries, there are also a number of actions you can take to strengthen your proposition.
Begin by identifying your personal strengths and deciding what really energises and drives you. Then, no matter what level you may have reached or the experience you have gained in previous businesses, don't neglect your own personal development. Be creative and proactive, as organisations are unlikely to have lots of money to invest in training courses. For example, think about going to work for a partner organisation or to shadow someone.
Build on your contacts base and experience through networking and use relevant professional bodies, such as the Institute of Directors, the Institute of Leadership & Management and get involved, either in person or online.
Ultimately, joining a new business sector as well as a new company does require the incoming manager to be able to quickly use their experience and knowledge in unfamiliar surroundings. Often, one-to-one coaching helps to get leaders to put these skills into practice more quickly in a new organisation, to the obvious benefit of all concerned.
I believe as the market recovers, those managers who have crossed industry boundaries will benefit themselves from the experience, and will in turn bring benefits to those businesses that did perhaps cast their nets a little wider.
Sue Alderson is the founding partner of leadership development and coaching firm Azure Consulting
