| Preparing leaders to successfully lead in the emerging markets is a new challenge that is set to dominate the human capital agenda. Tommy Weir highlights four skills and six leadership practices that are the secrets of success |
It is safe to assume that nearly every leader will either touch or be touched by the emerging markets during his career. This is especially true for the eastern EMs as it is believed that 72 per cent of the world lives east of the Mediterranean Sea. They are no longer distant and far-away lands - these geographies are a source of competition, an open market for growth and, more importantly, they're at the top of many corporate agendas.
The potential in EMs is beyond measure, with countries such as China, India, the Arab world and Indonesia growing at unprecedented rates and offering substantial business opportunities.
Last September, HSBC announced that it was moving CEO Michael Geoghegan from London to Hong Kong, in a highly symbolic move designed to show that the bank was returning to its roots in the fast-growing Asian market. In 2009, China surpassed the US for the first time to become the largest car market in the world, selling more than 13 million vehicles.
These are just two of many examples but they clearly illustrate the increasing importance of Asia to future growth. Success in the EMs requires more than an adjustment of business models: management styles and leadership approaches must fit the EMs' fast-growing business environment.
To maximise the opportunities in the emerging economies, organisations should invest in preparing their leaders for EM leadership assignments. These assignments are different from their western equivalents and success depends on leaders knowing the 'new' workforce and how to lead it.
Four skills
To successfully lead in the EMs, leaders should possess four distinct skills that are critical for operating in a culturally-different business environment.
They must discover the elements that shape a workforce and how employees perform, as the EM workforce will have noticeable differences. By doing so, they can begin the journey to appreciate who EM employees are. This will help them gain their trust in order to lead. A bridge needs to be built between the western approach and the local culture by leaders who adapt their style to fit the demands and needs of the new workforce, while focusing on the organisation's strategic vision and goals.
Successfully leading in the EMs is like acquiring a taste for foreign cuisine. It begins with discovering that different foods have different tastes, smells, textures etc. Intuitively this is known but experiencing it creates a real understanding and awareness. This process is always exciting but it can be unnerving.
Over time, a 'foodie' will become acquainted with the differences and he'll begin to appreciate the nuances between regional specialties. Eventually, his taste buds will adapt and his preferences will adjust to the local cuisine.
Just as many people are not able to appreciate any tastes that are different from their home culture, some people in leadership positions simply do not acquire an understanding of the new workforce and, as a result, they don't maximise their leadership impact.
Let's now expand on the four skills for leaders and show how they can help a leader acquire a localised 'taste' for success in the emerging economies.
Become a discoverer of the new workforce
Most organisational leaders intuitively understand that conducting business in the EMs is going to be different. As they 'set up shop' or assume their leadership post, it is anticipated that the market will have its own rhythms, the consumer may have different buying patterns and preferences, and the leader may have some struggles interpreting government policies and practices.
Beyond investing in consumer market data and reading the guidebooks on local culture, organisations need to invest in understanding who the 'new' workforce is and encourage their leaders to be discoverers. Maximising employee discretionary effort and success in business in the EMs will be correlated to how the leader realises the workforce is different and works from that understanding to engage employees to perform.
Organisational leaders need to explore their new environment to identify what elements define the employees' background and contribute to creating the optimal operational environment needed to propel employee performance upwards.
Five questions can help:
1 What demographic factors are shaping the workforce?
2 What cultural factors are shaping the workforce?
3 What societal factors are shaping the workforce?
4 What development factors are shaping the workforce?
5 What is their organisation's background?
Most multinationals have in the past selected westerners, with years of experience within the company, to head their operations in the EMs. While these leaders know they should try to adapt their leadership and management styles to fit the local cultural preferences, many still apply western-orientated models of leadership and turn to the west for examples of best practice.
Naturally, this does not yield the desired result because it does not fit the cultural and structural elements in emerging economies. The new workforce is immense in size and young in age. This is their day in the spotlight as they are the centre of global activity and are discovering economic dominance for the first time. Organisations must shift away from the notion of importing leadership, discover who the 'new' workforce is and embrace hybrid leadership skills that will lead to success.
Become a connoisseur of EM work dynamics
Succeeding in the EMs requires business leaders to become connoisseurs of the 'new' workforce who can objectively understand the unique factors that characterise the emerging economies and their employees. It is the path to finding and developing individuals able to deal with the complexity of the markets and achieve superior organisational performance.
Eight comparisons should be made, to understand how leadership practices need to be adapted in order to maximise employee performance.
The eight comparisons of the Euro- American and EMs workforce realities listed in the two boxes above provide an insight into what to consider while leading the new workforce. Leaders need to appreciate these differences and also be aware of how they affect employee performance.
Become a bridge-builder between work cultures
Succeeding in a global market demands that leaders unite employees from different parts of the world in reaching one organisational goal. They must relate to the local culture to gain the confidence and trust they need from the employees while, at the same time, maintaining focus on the organisation's strategic vision and objectives.
As leaders become fully acquainted with the differences of the host culture and begin to develop a taste for the local values and norms, they begin to act as a bridge between the two. When leaders understand the differences between the various groups, they are capable of removing the barriers and bridging the gaps.
Evidently, such an exercise requires a knowledgeable executive who has massive experience of living, working and managing in multiple countries because individuals who have been exposed to different cultures are typicaUy more capable of questioning thenown assumptions and relating to a different set of norms and values.
Yet, when organisations set the criteria for assigning leaders for overseas operations, their focus is too often on the technical skills and expertise of candidates or their entrepreneurial spirit.
Adapt your leadership approach
Leading in EMs requires a balance between local affinities and global knowledge. To achieve this, leaders must embrace six leadership practices that wiU aUow them to develop an objective understanding of the emerging workforce and be able to motivate employees to perform beyond their initial expectations.
The six leadership practices are:
Imagination The EMs are expanding at unparaUeled rates and this brings incredible opportunities, as new solutions and methods need to be created. As a result, leadership success requires imaginative thinking.
Magnet Leaders in the EMs need to approach the issue of talent management with a different mindset. Globally speaking, highly talented employees - who are mobile and able to tackle the challenges of working in a fast- growth environment - are in short supply. Those who operate in EMs need to define the experiences, knowledge, skills, personal attributes and motivations they need in their employees and put in place a bespoke strategy to attract and retain these individuals
Multilingual in one language Leading in an emerging workplace means more than simply knowing how to shake hands. Just because everyone is speaking a common language, leaders should not assume that that means common understanding. The meaning attached to words varies greatly between cultures.
Achievement builder All leaders must be focused on helping others achieve. Leadership is about an individual gathering people around the same goal and motivating them to go beyond their initial expectations.
Rapid talent development The speed of growth in the EMs can sometimes lead to employees being promoted beyond their capabilities at a pace that is traditionally not considered appropriate. Leaders need to specialise in growing talent in a condensed period of time.
Navigation Leaders in the EMs need to be like helmsmen who find a path through unclear and ever-changing waters. The ability to navigate through a fast-growth environment and respond to the needs of the market are critical.
When the EM realities and new workforce descriptors are joined together, it is clear that leaders have a challenging task. These skills and practices should not be considered separate from each other - they must be intertwined. Embracing them will allow leaders to create diverse but homogeneous work groups that are capable of performing as a team, increasing organisational performance while at the same time building employee loyalty and reducing turnover rates.
| [Sidebar] |
| Succeeding in a global market demands that leaders unite employees from different parts of the world in reaching one organisational goal |
| [Author Affiliation] | |||
| Dr Tommy Weir is MD of leadership solutions at Kenexa, specialising in strategic leadership for fast-growth and emerging markets. He can be contacted at tommy. weir@kenexa.com or via Retreived from www.kenexa.comhttp://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=5&did=2028171501&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1290625919&clientId=21209 |
