DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new survey of US and Canadian human resources and training executives reveals a troubling lack of preparedness and effort to develop agility skills, despite the fact that these professionals and their executive bosses say agility is crucial to long-term success. The research from The TRACOM Group and global research firm Aranca, exposes an Agility Gap which is a significant threat to these organizations.
For the survey, agility was defined as “the capacity to recognize, create and capitalize on opportunities in a world full of disruptive change.” Capabilities in these areas are consistently ranked by senior executives as critical for sustainable growth and success.
While 80% of the survey participants said agility capabilities were important or extremely important and that their Learning and Development organization had been directed to develop this capacity, less than half have a program to develop these skills. And nearly half are just starting to think about doing so or haven’t even started.
The disconnect between executive strategy and training execution is further highlighted by the fact that 56% of respondents said agility training was not among their top priorities. Participants were specifically asked to reconcile the lack of effort to develop skills they say are crucial and have been prioritized by the C-suite. A lack of funding and uncertainty over how to develop these skills were frequently cited.
“This survey demonstrates a clear agility gap facing medium and large organizations,” said Dr. Casey Mulqueen, the Senior Director of Learning & Development who directed the survey for TRACOM. “L&D executives recognize the importance of agility skills but often aren’t doing enough to develop them. Regardless of the funding barriers and lack of internal expertise, they are failing their organizations.”
“CLOs and CHROs have moved into the executive suite to combine strategic vision and solid execution,” Dr. Mulqueen said. “But this survey shows a disconnect between those two responsibilities. Learning executives must lead the way in delivering the agility capabilities that they already recognize as crucial to their futures.”
Survey Description
Phone interviews with executives from companies employing at least 2,500 full-time employees were conducted from November 2017 through January 2018. All respondents were based in the US or Canada, though their companies may be headquartered elsewhere. All respondents had the title of manager or higher and were involved in “selecting or authorizing training programs” for their organization.
Read the full version of this news release.
Get a summary of the TRACOM research study.
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Editorial Resource Note: Dr. Casey Mulqueen is available for interviews to discuss this research study and its implications. TRACOM can provide unique articles about this research or agility topics for publications, websites and blogs. Contact Sean Essex @ sean.essex@tracom.com or 720-232-3280.
