The following trends are experienced to a greater or lesser degree within the South African Executive market, as well as the International arena.

As an alternative to the retention of a management consultancy, the international trend towards leaner and meaner operations has lead many an organisation filling senior management gaps with interim managers, otherwise known as Contract Senior Executives, or Gap Executives. This allows for the employment of flexible and specialised skills/ competencies when and where the organisation needs them, as well as lower annual remuneration overheads.

Interim Executives provide a highly motivated resource where a hands on, achievement based approach is employed to implement strategies successfully within a planned and designated time-frame.

Interim Executives are utilised from the objective management and direction of strategic or tactical projects to full business transformation and change management.

Executive coaching has been ranked as one of the top 5 approaches to personal and professional executive development and support. Ever increasingly, the corporate environment is becoming more complex, fast-paced and pressurised where Executives derive value from personalised, skilled assistance that is delivered in a structured and safe one-on-one situation. Executive coaching is invaluable as a retention tool, specifically within the initial on-boarding strategy and further ensures that the Executive is able to continually assess and redefine his/her role thereby maintaining a competitive advantage for both themselves personally, as well as for the organisation as a whole.

Within our ever-increasing knowledge working environment, multinational and multi-location organisations are often faced with the need for operations to be managed on a virtual basis. The management skills required to executive authoritative roles on a virtual basis are specialised as the leader often has little opportunity for face to face contact with the employee.

The workforce on a global scale is more discerning, demanding and therefore more challenging to retain within an organisation. This trend affects the executive team as well, which is why Executive retention has become a specialised area of focus for organisations. In recent years the tools and strategies utilised to retain Executives have evolved and become more creative as these individuals form a limited pool of highly specialised skills. Successful retention strategies have moved past just the structured remuneration packages, incentive based compensation packages and “Golden or Platinum Handcuffs” to rather include plans that address tangible career advancement, knowledge development and recognition of accomplishments.

Executive leadership continues to assume an increasingly vital role in leveraging optimal organisational performance which in turn means that the cost of leaving executive positions open rises dramatically.

In the talent wars experienced at all levels in the current skills short market affecting all organisations locally and internationally, the trend towards always seeking and strategically employing the hottest talent is gaining increasing popularity. In a competitive global market, the ability and reputation of an organisations executive team, aids to ensure the organisation retains its competitive advantage.

Beyond employing an individual based on their core competencies and results based track record, the strategic positioning of an Executive leader, who is an active, organisational change catalyst, is imperative in the current complexity of a brand conscious market to not only align with, but also project the internal and external culture of an organisation.

The reputation of the individuals that comprise the Executive team of an organisation adds value to the organisations competitive advantage as a whole. This advantage lies in the strategic skills and competencies of the Executive team, as well as their individual and combined success as leaders of the organisation.

The rapid growth of the knowledge economy replacing the manufacturing economy, globalisation through the development of technology such as the internet, changing demographics within all countries and the emerging millennial generation have created significant and ever-evolving challenges in the workplace for Executives. Increasingly, effective Executive leadership is aimed at forecasting the myriad future changes and challenges and developing practical strategies that will ensure responsible, sustained productivity and longevity of organisations.