Choosing a Pipeline Partner

As a business process that crosses organizational levels and boundaries, a robust, free– flowing leadership pipeline contains many “moving parts,” some of which are highly specialized and technical. Few organizations have the capability or capacity to deliver every element of an effective talent management process. Even organizations with sophisticated HR and OD functions look to outside partners for the tools, processes, and expertise to help them create and sustain their leadership pipelines. 

While every organization’s needs are different, when it comes to selecting a pipeline partner, organizations should look for five core capabilities.

Connect to your business—Today’s business strategies are complex and comprehensive, but are not well-suited to guiding the talent management process. A capable pipeline partner will help you identify and articulate the core talent requirements at all levels of leadership that will drive your business strategy. These business drivers are the foundation of the talent management process and are “hard wired” into the leadership assessment and development tools and processes. An experienced partner will help you navigate through the complexities of the typical business plan and gain executive buy-in and commitment to a set of core business drivers.

Span all levels of leadership—An effective talent pipeline delivers high-quality leaders at all levels, from emerging leaders to executives, which means a capable partner needs to have expertise at all levels too. Partners who have the tools, process, and experience to assess and develop leaders at all leadership levels provide a degree of focus and efficiency that is lost when organizations use a variety of partners who provide “point solutions” that need to be pieced together. 

Have a research base and proven experience—Leadership assessment and development is dynamic; what it takes to be successful today may not work tomorrow. A partner who has “been there, done that” and has an extensive research base can help reduce ambiguity and uncertainty and keep pipeline processes state-of-the-art.

Deliver globally and locally—If your business is global your leadership pipeline must be global too. Obviously a partner should have the capacity to support assessment and development of your leaders no matter where they’re located. However, an effective partner should also have the capability to deliver global processes with local adaptations. When it comes to leadership assessment and development, one size doesn’t fit all, and it takes experienced local consultants to make the global solution work in the local environment.

Provide sustainable success—Many executives use the “momentum theory” to implement their talent management plans—give it a big push and the process will roll on by itself. An effective pipeline partner will help you execute a sustainable pipeline process.