Member Thought Leadership
Organizations are increasingly operating with an “hourglass” talent structure, where the middle layer of management has permanently thinned, leaving fewer roles that develop future leaders and connect strategy to execution. That shift has created a growing leadership gap, made worse by Baby Boomer retirements that are taking institutional knowledge, judgment, and relationship capital out of organizations faster than many can replace it. The piece positions CHROs as central to solving this problem by auditing true leadership readiness, strengthening succession and external talent pipelines, and taking a more active role in business strategy rather than staying focused on administration. Stronger performance over the next decade will come from organizations that deliberately redesign leadership development, manage knowledge transfer, and build talent for the structure that exists now.
