Reimagining Talent Development In MNCs: Are We Teaching Future Leaders The Right Skills?

Lynette Tan is Chairwoman and CEO at Space Faculty.

The future of leadership is increasingly challenging to envision. As technology influences today’s youth at a rapid pace, the skills needed to succeed in the workplace are growing while the talent pool is shrinking.

When leaders are unable to identify and secure talent with the right skills, it puts their bottom line at risk. A report published in 2024 by Springboard for Business surveyed "1,031 U.S. corporate professionals working at companies with at least 5,000 employees," and found that "U.S. companies are underskilled. 70% of corporate leaders report a critical skills gap at their organization— one that’s having a negative impact on business performance."

When it comes to talent development, a troubling trend is afoot: Despite countries spending more and more money on education, talent scarcity persists.

A 2023 survey by Multiverse reveals that 67% of business leaders doubt the current higher education system when it comes to delivering the skills needed for the workforce of tomorrow.

A 2019 study by the Harvard Business Review indicates that “more than 50% of senior leaders believe that their talent development efforts don’t adequately build critical skills and organizational capabilities,” a pair of findings that beg a big-picture question:

Is reimagining education, in order to better prepare future leaders, the answer?

Four Pillars Of Skills For Evolving Leaders

The future of leadership development demands a diverse array of skills. While not often reflected in the educational curriculum, relationship-building skills can be taught and learned.

The following skills are not only essential in cultivating leaders and managing teams today, but they will also be instrumental in tomorrow’s workplace.

• Analytical skills: Effective decision-making requires analytical skills. In fact, a recap of the World Economic Forum's "Future of Jobs" 2023 report, found that "Analytical thinking is considered to be a core skill by more companies than any other skill, making up, on average, 9.1% of the core skills reported by companies."

Analyzing data and identifying trends, for example, are cognitive skills that can be easily taught. Ditto for the ability to manage tasks requiring a high cognitive load; to comprehend and prioritize key elements across multiple areas that are interconnected; and to arrive at informed conclusions. This prevailing focus on discipline-based skill sets leads to relational skills and communication taking a back seat in the world of traditional education.

• Technology skills: It’s inconceivable to imagine a global leader who doesn’t understand technology. Regardless of the specific industry, using technology to analyze data and provide greater service to clients is becoming increasingly pervasive. According to the above-referenced report “technology literacy is the third-fastest growing core skill," and "AI and big data rank seventh for skills growing in importance today."

In short, a four-year degree is no longer adequate to support a four-decade career. Paradoxically, this reliance upon technology in business results in less human interaction and underscores the need for behavioral skills. Rather than reserve training for top leaders, finding the balance between technology and human interaction will become a critical skill for the future workforce.

• Behavioral skills: In the workplace, durable or “soft skills”—ranging from collaboration and communication to creativity and critical thinking—are often taken for granted. Amid myriad digital tools, skills like emotional sensitivity are more needed than ever. In fact, "A recent LinkedIn survey found that 9 out of 10 global executives agree that soft skills (aka ‘human’ or ‘durable’ skills) are more important than ever."

Still, a propensity exists to view them as individual personality traits rather than a skill that can be taught. Until topics such as reading the room and effective communication are reflected in today’s educational curriculum, the faulty logic will persist.

• Entrepreneurial skills: The WEF recap notes that creative thinking is the second top skill of 2023. According to NACE's 2024 job outlook report, problem-solving skills are the top attribute that employers want to see on resumes.

Among my colleagues, continuous learning consistently differentiates good leaders from great leaders. Whether selling products or solving problems, entrepreneurship requires the behavioral skill of communicating with others (and, despite the need for technical proficiency, not relying on a machine to do your job).

Mind The Gap

Understanding the future workforce is essential to business success. The prevailing education system, one rooted in IQ (intelligence quotient) rather than EQ (emotional quotient), is creating noticeable gaps in the skills needed to lead today’s dynamic workforce.

In the context of leadership development, a gap is defined as the distance between the learning and application of any given skill. The traditional players in this arena (from business schools to consulting firms), are no longer the only answer.

Consider the senior executive who is coached to look someone in the eye; speak in a calm manner; and drop the tone of their voice at the end of each sentence. The process of cultivating future leaders—equipped with the gamut of skills, from communicative and interpretive to affective and perceptual, needed to lead proactive collaboration—is no different.

The knee-jerk reaction is to assume that behavioral skills are transmitted through interactions; conversely, behavioral skills (like behavior itself) are learned. This means that, with intention surrounding pedagogy and approach, these skills can be taught.

Looking ahead, reserving this approach exclusively for potential leaders presents a problem: Amidst ongoing waves of technology disruption, the next generation—and by extension the future workplace—will require even more emotional sensitivity.

Call To Action

Leadership is constantly evolving. Over time, strong, charismatic leaders have made way for those keen on collaboration and consultation, and the pendulum will surely swing again.

Amidst this evolving landscape, MNCs must reimagine talent development. My hope is that recognizing the skills future leaders need to succeed can (and should) be taught will lead to a more robust educational system—one that ensures the next generation of leaders are not only successful but also remain resilient in a new future rife with technology at every turn.

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