Core skills weak points

People management and change management - core leadership skills - are key weaknesses of New Zealand managers. And among the worst industry areas are transport, tourism and government.

According to recruitment firm Hudson, investment in leadership training hasn't closed the gap between leadership expectations and effectiveness.

Its report, Leadership in the Workforce, includes responses from 1500 employers across the country and found that the three most important features of leadership were rated lowest among the five leadership skills surveyed. The report says organisations are over-managed and under-led.

Hudson's general manager Peter Harbidge says the most important features of successful leadership is inspiring and engaging people, championing innovation and leading organisational change. Without it, rank and file staff become disillusioned and often look to work for an employer that does offer strong and decisive leadership.

"A lack of leadership definitely leads to low staff morale. People like to feel connected with their employer and they will if they can align their own goals to the goals of the company - if they don't understand what their employer's goals are, then how can they make that connection and become a part of the organisation?

"A lack of direction can lead to low staff morale. Low morale always means low staff retention and with candidates being hard to find, retention is increasingly a priority for a lot of organisations.

"People vote with their feet and at interviews they are asking for information on the prospective employer's culture, leadership, company values and if the company can help them develop leadership skills."

Harbidge says you can tell when good leadership is in place because creativity, courage, innovation, optimism and vision are apparent.

Dr Lester Levy, chief executive of the New Zealand Leadership Institute at the University of Auckland, says: "For most of us, the word 'leader' tends to evoke an image of someone who is worth following.

"The word 'manager', on the other hand, suggests a different image: steady, rational, analytical, ordered, rigid and controlling."

Harbidge says the challenges of leadership have never been more complex.

"Workforces are becoming diverse and the nature of 'work' is being redefined by different generations and individuals. The survey shows that New Zealand has some way to go to get the best out of its leaders."

Harbidge says job seekers are increasingly focused on the future.

"A lack of vision and leadership results in an all-round reduced commitment to business. Leadership is a synthesis of a number of managerial activities - principal of which is innovation and creativity. Without these, progress will not occur."

When it comes to rating the most successful elements of New Zealand leadership as practised by their organisation, customer relationship management (30.6 per cent) and operational/systems management (29.1 per cent) came out on top. This is despite these attributes being more associated with management functions.

Core leadership skills such as people management (17.3 per cent), innovation (14.2 per cent) and change management (8.8 per cent) were rated much lower.

When asked what their organisation's leadership practised least successfully, 56 per cent said people management and change management. Broken down into industry sectors, the transport sector had the least successful people management (41.9 per cent), followed by advertising/marketing/media (38.2 per cent). Education and healthcare sectors also rated poorly.

The non-profit sector fared best in managing people but was an average performer in change management leadership.

As could be expected, the telecommunications, information technology and advertising/media/marketing sectors performed well in terms of leadership in innovation.

Government, transport and tourism were all lower performers in this category.

The government sector was found to be highly tilted to processes over people, with 45 per cent of government respondents saying its key leadership strength was operational/systems management.

"While developing the right systems and processes are crucial to any organisation, they do sit at the more managerial end of the leadership spectrum," Harbidge said.

"However, it is through change management, innovation and getting the most out of people that we are going to drive productivity and develop world-class organisations."

The report recommends that leadership training, which it says is often untargeted and generic, should focus on these key three areas of leadership, with personalised coaching being seen as especially valuable.

"Organisations need to have the ability to identify future leaders and look for the qualities which most research tells us make the best leaders," Harbidge said.