Posted under Career Management, Career Planning, Women on August 31st, 2007
What’s going on with today’s corporate executives?
A February 2007 blog entitled Top Talent Demands Better Work-Life Balance stated a surprising trend:
Even five years ago, the idea that a senior executive would turn down a job because it meant too much travel, too long a commute or demanded too much of their time would have been seen as absurd.
It wasn’t the first time I had heard about this emerging trend. A recent teleconference on leveraging recruiter relationships revealed that it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit for senior level executive positions in today’s corporations. The speaker, Joe McCool, a leading expert in executive recruiting, stated that he is seeing a “pendulum shift” on the work/life balance issue, i.e. fewer executives willing to make the sacrifices required to be successful at a high level in today’s corporations. This includes an
unwillingness to relocate and to work 70-80 hours a week, among other things. Joe
said management tenure is at an all time low while the demands and pressures of leadership are at an all time high. According to his research, one organization reported that 40% of high potential succession planning candidates opted out of the process voluntarily.
A bit shocking? Indeed; yet a recent survey by ExecuNet concluded that half of American execs are unhappy in their jobs and planning to leave within a year. The survey that polled 2,149 executives with average salary of $221,000/year stated that job satisfaction levels among America’s top managers were “dangerously low”, with many organizations simply unable to keep their management teams intact.
It’s no wonder that the “War for Talent” is heating up. But if you are an aspiring senior executive, this is good news. For the first time in a long time, there may be more room at the top for those willing to make the sacrifices involved in climbing the corporate ladder.
Posted by Julianne Franke
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