development This in the strategic relevance of investment executive development has shown case’ ‘business through in respondent feedback in most - survey topics from Major Influences on the Future (Business Strategy - 1st ranking: 86%) through to Hot Topics the tangible financial return or (Strategy Execution benefit accruing to the business. - 2nd ranking: 70%) and Best Practices At the same time organisations appear (Linkage to Strategy - 2nd ranking: 68%) to be interested in developing a more . sophisticated approach to measuring The key influence of changing business the strategies, the need for greater impact of their OD investment by looking collaboration across organisations and the at the effectiveness of learning outcomes reinforcement of corporate cultures and in turn endeavouring to assess – together suggest a pressing need for through macro and micro metrics in a – executive development processes to be more nuanced way the impact that more effectively aligned with strategy and learning has on business performance. the strategy development process. The Companies are no longer satisfied with emphasis on learning methods more measuring the reaction of participants to closely connected with pressing business programs and the effectiveness of development support requirements such associated learning outcomes; greater as coaching, mentoring and action emphasis is now being placed on learning also support this conclusion. measuring behavioural impacts and the linkage if any between executive With this increasing strategic focus, development investments and resulting linking investment in organisational linkages to improved business development initiatives and business performance. impact ROI is becoming more important to respondent organisations. It must also As PwC identifies17: be true that sustainable support for OD is clear that human capital issues “….it investment requires a more fundamental have a powerful impact upon all acceptance and buy-in from both top businesses’ competitive abilities. management and the operational However, there is little evidence to functions within organisations. suggest that Respondent feedback suggests this the HR role is similarly developing to a connection is recognised by senior higher level of strategic influence within HR/OD practitioners in that their business organizations. The challenge responses highlight an increasing focus for HR executives is to demonstrate to on demonstrating the executive
This in the strategic relevance of executive development has shown through in respondent feedback in most survey topics from Major Influences on the Future (Business Strategy - 1st ranking: 86%) through to Hot Topics (Strategy Execution - 2nd ranking: 70%) and Best Practices (Linkage to Strategy - 2nd ranking: 68%) . The key influence of changing business strategies, the need for greater collaboration across organisations and the reinforcement of corporate cultures together suggest a pressing need for executive development processes to be more effectively aligned with strategy and the strategy development process. The emphasis on learning methods more closely connected with pressing business development support requirements such as coaching, mentoring and action learning also support this conclusion. With this increasing strategic focus, linking investment in organisational development initiatives and business impact ROI is becoming more important to respondent organisations. It must also be true that sustainable support for OD investment requires a more fundamental acceptance and buy-in from both top management and the operational functions within organisations. Respondent feedback suggests this connection is recognised by senior HR/OD practitioners in that their responses highlight an increasing focus on demonstrating the executive development investment ‘business case’ - the tangible financial return or benefit accruing to the business. At the same time organisations appear to be interested in developing a more sophisticated approach to measuring the impact of their OD investment by looking at the effectiveness of learning outcomes and in turn endeavouring to assess – through macro and micro metrics – in a more nuanced way the impact that learning has on business performance. Companies are no longer satisfied with measuring the reaction of participants to programs and the effectiveness of associated learning outcomes; greater emphasis is now being placed on measuring behavioural impacts and the linkage if any between executive development investments and resulting linkages to improved business performance. As PwC identifies17: “….it is clear that human capital issues have a powerful impact upon all businesses’ competitive abilities. However, there is little evidence to suggest that the HR role is similarly developing to a higher level of strategic influence within business organizations. The challenge for HR executives is to demonstrate to
AusExecTrendsReport_2007_Final.docx