Developing excellence in future leadership - Interactive debate and conference- Are we developing talent effectively?

It has been suggested that managers value digital skills more than traditional degrees. If this is the case, then the question we can ask is whether managers are still focused on leadership development and are doing so effectively? Or is the system lost in its way?

There are now more people getting degrees in the UK than people would have had A-levels a generation ago. Has this made the prevalence of tertiary education too commonplace, creating an employee expectation rather than qualification worth of note? With AI no longer deemed a technology of the future, it already impacts all of us and is arguably becoming a more valued skill by managers and recruiters by the day.

This begs the question, are we not nurturing talent effectively?

Social mobility is currently at its lowest in 50 years, with the UK having one of the poorest rates in the developed world. Young people from affluent areas are five times more likely to go to university than their counterparts in the poorer areas, suggesting talent is facing barriers that we must free up. Now more than ever the industry needs to be questioning the best solutions to develop young talent and support the growth of excellence surrounding future leaders.

EP is aiming to host a conference titled: “Developing Excellence in Future Leadership” which sets to ask some central questions such as above. Is now the right time to bring together expertise from other industries, to help develop the mindsets of rising talent? Attention on how best to engage and inspire future generations is a critical question that needs to be asked, both by the broader industry and within individual companies.