Finding the Leaders of Tomorrow

Regardless of what type of business you are or what industry you're in, leadership throughout the organization is crucial. I'm not just talking about having great leaders in the C-Suite, but at every level of the company.

In Deloitte's 2014 Global Human Capital Trends survey, the need for "leaders at all levels" was one of the 12 critical issues being faced today. According to respondents of the survey, leadership is the number one talent issue that companies are facing around the globe. With only 13% of companies saying that they do an excellent job of developing leaders, this clearly is an area that organizations need to improve on.

With business becoming more and more globalized, finding great leaders is more pertinent than ever especially with the looming labour shortage as baby boomers retire. Organizations need to understand that it takes more than just a few training programs to develop strong leaders so desperately needed.

At Volaris, we recognize that cultivating the next generation of leaders is essential to continued growth and sustainability. Talent management is a core aspect of Volaris and we have incorporated it into our culture. We spend about an hour per person discussing their skills, accomplishments and achievements for the year, their potential, and where they are headed within the organization.

In this global economy, the skills of the future are not the skills of today. So we devote a significant amount of time during the talent management process identifying critical skills, including leadership, which we will require in the future. 

Thus, we focus on finding high potential employees who have those needed abilities and help them to be the leaders of tomorrow. They might be people who have been with us for a number of years, or are a new grad straight out of university.

It's not enough just to find new leaders, but to cultivate their capabilities as well. We put potential leaders into roles which stretch their skills, and help them learn new ones, and combine it with coaching and mentoring in order for them to flourish.

At Volaris, we want our companies to continue to be key players in their industry throughout the years, which is why we expend the time and resources on talent management.

As the old saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. The same can be said for leaders. If we wait for people to develop leadership skills on their own, our companies will never be able to grow. But if we work together as an organization to foster the next generation of leaders, that is how we will be successful for years to come.