Making the Most of a Rejection in an Executive Job Search

Navigating a rejection after an interview or meeting can be disheartening, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the road. How can you leverage a rejection in your job search to unlock significant possibilities? It is possible, but you may have to shift your mindset and build greater resilience. At The Rialto Consultancy, we find that senior-level professionals often encounter rejection in two distinct ways, which can be navigated with strategic and proactive action. Read on for our advice for navigating both situations and turning rejection into a stepping stone towards success.

A ‘No’ After an Interview/Meeting

After investing significant time and effort in the interview process or engaging in a productive meeting with a key decision maker, receiving a rejection can be disheartening and leave you feeling like you’ve reached a dead end in your pursuit of a particular role or organisation. However, it’s important to recognise that a rejection does not have to be the final outcome.

Odds are, you have developed a rapport with one or more people in the organisation throughout the process. If you haven’t already, it is advisable to connect with them on LinkedIn. his enables you to maintain visibility through thought leadership activities and continued online interaction, keeping those relationships alive. By consistently sharing your unique perspective, demonstrating your industry knowledge, and positioning yourself as a valuable asset, you increase the likelihood of being considered for future opportunities through the “grey market.”

While some may perceive this as a tactic more commonly employed at a junior level, Rialto Executive Career Transition Executive Nicholas Story often advises his senior clients not to overlook the significant value of sending a ‘thank you’ note. Regardless of the outcome, sending a follow-up that touches on some of the points made during the process fosters goodwill. It is a small, simple move that helps leave a lasting impression. At the very least, maintaining rapport with those you have connected with throughout your job search offers the benefit of helping you to grow your network.

In situations where you receive a rejection without a clear explanation, seeking feedback can be challenging and may not yield a response. This is especially true if your rejection came in the form of silence. This makes it challenging to ask for feedback, and you may find that even if you do ask, you may not actually receive it. What can you do in this situation, and how can you learn from the experience if you haven’t been told what went wrong?

The simplest way of learning where you might have fallen short is to conduct your own benchmarking after the fact. Since you know what role was to be filled, you can keep an eye on LinkedIn or the company website for updates about who might have been chosen. Once you know this information, you can conduct your own competitive research of their profile to assess how their skills, capabilities, experience, or thought leadership offering differs from yours. This should provide insights into which areas you could strengthen to differentiate.

Silence from a Headhunter

Executives we support frequently share that they expereince a silent form of rejection when reaching out to recruiters or an executive headhunter.  In some circumstances, they may be fortunate and initially receive keen communication and even a recruiter’s undivided attention, only to see it gradually diminish over time. In such circumstances, there’s a need to maintain visibility without being intrusive. So, how should you navigate this situation?

The reality to understand is that a recruiter or headhunter most often engages with a candidate when they have a specific role to fill, no matter how senior they might be.

If you are not the right fit for their current assignments or the organisations they’re working with, then you are unlikely to be their priority. That is not to say that the relationship is futile, because more opportunities could spring up in the future. The key is remaining in their mind as a future option even during those periods when they do not have a suitable role for you.

Rather than bombarding the recruiter with constant updates or inquiries, we recommend focusing on enhancing your personal marketing efforts to maintain visibility. Use this time to work on your personal digital brand if you have not already and to concentrate on your thought leadership activity. By actively participating online, you are remaining visible and staying on their radar without overtly pursuing or hounding them. Ensure that you showcase your expertise and are creating quality outputs to remain a desirable candidate in the eyes of the headhunter, whilst also potentially attracting other promising opportunities as well.

Instead of viewing rejection as a roadblock, it is simply the starting point for the next leg of your journey. When direct communication fades post interview, meeting, or interaction with a headhunter, you will need to focus instead on maintain visibility in order to remain top of mind. The key to achieving this is by nurturing a strong network and maximising your digital presence.

If you require assistance in strengthening your personal digital brand, enhancing your thought leadership, or leveraging your professional network, reach out to our team today to explore the support options available to you. By partnering with us, you can maintain resilience, more effectively navigate your executive career transition and better position yourself for future success.

As Q3 gets underway, we are entering a critical period that can make or break an organisation’s success for the year. Now is the time to take the lessons from the first half of the year and learn from them to finish strongly in the final two quarters. While Q4 tends to be considered ‘crunch time’ for most, effective preparation in the three months leading up to it can alleviate some of the pressures faced.

For those executives looking for a career change or transition, prior to summer truly setting in and many individuals take planned summer breaks, this is a good time to clarify and focus on your priorities, strategise a new approach, and strengthen your profile to increase visibility. Individuals should also act swiftly and proactively to schedule discussions, interviews, and meetings in the diary to retain crucial networking momentum and explore opportunities with key stakeholders where their skills and experience can add value and address the challenges ahead in their chosen sector or potential organisations of interest.

Here are our experts’ assessment of the current state of the executive jobs market and the macro business landscape, the top trends that will shape the second half of 2023, and our advice on some of the factors to consider for navigating these conditions successfully.

Job Market Snapshot

We entered Q3 with near-record wage growth and low unemployment. The ONS Labour Market Overview for June 2023 saw the UK’s unemployment rate drop to 3.8%, undercutting forecasts for an increase to 4%. With a record 33.1 million Brits in work, UK employment has finally climbed above its pre-pandemic level even though the rate is still lower than in 2019. This growth is despite yet another drop in the number of available vacancies, which fell to 1,051,000. This is the 11^th consecutive period in which vacancies fell and reflects the ongoing uncertainty across industries, with economic pressures cited as a major factor holding back recruitment – particularly FT permanent roles which have been in decline since Q1 2023.

Despite the ongoing macroeconomic difficulties, real wages have risen for the first time in 18 months. The June report found that growth in employees’ average total pay including bonuses was 6.5%, and growth without bonuses was 7.2% in February to April 2023. This is the largest growth rate seen outside of the pandemic. However, after adjusting for inflation, growth in total pay fell by 2% in the year February to April 2023 and by 1.3% for regular pay. The cost of living remains expensive and is likely to motivate further job moves.

Key Job Market Trends

For those considering or planning a career transition, our experts have identified the following key trends to be aware of:

• Economically-Driven Hiring Decisions Will Continue: Unfortunately, the soaring wage growth and boost in employment may likely result in yet another rise—if not several rises—in interest rates as the Bank of England works to contain unrelenting inflationary pressures. Higher inflation rates lead to more businesses erring on the side of caution and acting conservatively when it comes to recruitment. That’s not to say that opportunities are not out there at the senior level, but it may mean working harder and more creatively to reposition your profile and relevant and ensuring its relevant and valuable for future market needs.
• Fierce Competition and Less Roles: Well-qualified senior candidates will find themselves in fierce competition with other similarly qualified peers for a reduced level of desirable roles. In a recent survey conducted by FTSE 250 recruiter PageGroup, half of the respondents reported that they are actively looking for a new role or are planning to seek new job opportunities in the next six months, with only one in 10 feeling confident that they would stay in their current role through this year. Research from KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) supports this, finding that the rate of people seeking jobs in May 2023 increased at its fastest rate in three and a half years. With that many people open to making a career transition, those executives actively in the market should expect fierce competition and should work to skilfully differentiate themselves to secure the most desirable roles.
• Generative AI Transcends its Hype: One key way to differentiate is to become adept at navigating the latest technological trends. One we have been hearing plenty about since the start of this year is generative AI. Many businesses are cutting through the noise and seriously exploring adopting this transformative technology. Understanding that this is not just the latest fad and is instead the single most transformative technological advancement impacting the world of work is essential for successfully futureproofing oneself and demonstrating the long-term value and relevance of your profile to future requirements.
• Ongoing Difficulties Across Various Industries: Despite the boom in technological adoption, the tech industry is one of a few sectors that may struggle in the near term. After a boom of several years, many companies are feeling the economic pressure and pressing pause on recruitment or downsizing their own workforce. Tech is not the only industry facing ongoing hardships. Despite post-pandemic rebounds, high costs of living continue to negatively impact the hospitality industry. Manufacturing continues to struggle to fill roles and faces issues from global supply chain disruptions. Other sectors facing difficulties include construction, retail, and financial services. Our monthly City Financial Services Index updates continue to record fluctuating demand across subsectors, but the first half of the year saw major turmoil across the industry. If our friends across the Atlantic offer any indication, then the second half of the year is set to contain more upheaval. Job cuts at the largest US banks this year are on course to surpass 11,000 as Wall Street contends with the worst recruitment market since the 2008 financial crisis. Goldman Sachs, Citi, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley all made cuts in the first part of the year, and it is not unreasonable to expect more to come. Anyone looking to enter one of these challenge-plagued industries should expect cautious recruitment behaviours. But on the other side of the coin, there is a greater need for strong leaders skilled at navigating market challenges and delivering high value transformational business impact.

Executive Transition Advice

With these trends in mind, our Rialto Executive Career Coaches offer the following advice for navigating an executive career transition through the second half of the year.

• Manage Your Expectations: Avoiding what we call the ‘Risks of Hope and Disillusionment Dynamics’ is one of the biggest challenges many senior level job seekers face when undergoing an executive career transition. A job search can be an emotionally charged process, and often one’s own biases and ideals can skew expectations and lead to disappointment if things do not go to plan. This makes rejections hit harder. Understand that setbacks are normal and treat them as a lesson rather than a roadblock. What can you do better next time? What areas should you highlight? Or perhaps what was it about that role or organisation that did not fit in with your objectives, values, or vision? It is natural to have a drive towards holding high hopes for your career transition but try not to become so wrapped up in them that you allow them to defeat you.
• Leverage Your Brand to Differentiate: To put yourself in the best possible position to succeed in a highly competitive senior market, you need to stand out from the crowd. At the senior level, it is likely that most candidates will be similarly educated, similarly experienced, and equally qualified. It’s a matter of finding and showcasing USP’s you can bring to the table that will often help you secure the role. That may be your reputation as a thought leader in your industry, your expertise in a specific niche, or the in-demand skills you possess. The best way to communicate these attributes to a potential employer is through your personal digital brand, especially in the increasingly virtual jobs market. How you communicate online, the connections you make with industry peers, and how you position yourself all contribute to the bigger picture of who you are as a professional and what you have to offer an organisation. Strengthen these areas to increase your visibility and leave the right impression.
• Build Your Skills: Beyond thought leadership, your skills are the single biggest differentiating factor in an executive job search. In their 2023 Future of Jobs Report, the World Economic Forum listed the following 10 skills as those most on the rise:
  • Creative thinking
  • Analytical thinking
  • Technological literacy
  • Curiosity and lifelong learning
  • Resilience, flexibility, and agility
  • Systems thinking
  • AI and big data
  • Motivation and self-awareness

Many of these are what would traditionally be considered ‘soft skills’ that can be honed and developed over time, while others might require training. Determining where you might be able to showcase these capabilities in your existing experience and adequately communicating this via your personal digital brand will be a major asset in your executive career transition. Developing the additional capabilities most desired in your industry will also help to further set you apart and help to futureproof your career.

Understanding the current trends in the business and job market will enable you to better anticipate and prepare for what lies ahead in the second half of the year.

To learn more about how Rialto executive career transition and executive outplacement services can support you to differentiate your brand in line with future market requirements, get in touch with our team on +44 (0) 20 3746 2960.  If you haven’t signed up to receive our market insights or info about our upcoming events directly to your inbox – click here.

Over the past 12 months, we have seen a significant increase in the number of senior-level career transitions during a time of a market downturn. Recent research found that across companies listed on the world’s leading stock indices, CEO turnover reached a five year high last year. In 2022, 175 CEOs left their posts, which is a 30% increase on 2021 and a 13% increase on the next highest year of 2018.

In most cases, these individuals are not simply looking for their next job, but actually making strategic decisions about their career’s trajectory. Reasons for the desire to change vary, but tend to include:

• Lack of advancement and innovation: These individuals are curious and agile and feel frustrated when their current organisation lacks a response to market needs. They will typically have explored every possible solution to resolving their dissatisfaction with their job and company but feel they are headed nowhere, lack challenge, or are moving too slow.
• Misalignment of purpose: These senior executives may also feel disillusioned by the lack of focus and/or purpose in their organisation or feel their organisation’s purpose does not align with their own moral compass or values, compromising delivery to key stakeholders including employees and customers. There is usually no way to bridge this gap unless the organisation is willing to make a major shift in their focus, or the individual is willing to compromise on what matters to them most.
• Need for personal development and higher compensation: Often, the individuals we meet at The Rialto Consultancy find themselves reaching career ceilings with little or no scope for progression or increased compensation. Studies have found that in this period of ongoing disruption, moving organisation is the most likely way to significantly increase compensation. There are currently many more senior executives planning to leave their roles to find more fulfilment and increase their earning potential.
• Toxic culture – Of course, the day-to-day environment can take its toll on overall job satisfaction and increase one’s desire to move on if it hinders rather than supports motivation, impact generation, and productivity. Senior individuals who fall into this camp have likely grown tired of highly political, negative, closed, siloed, or untrusting cultures that lack positive employee experiences, transparency, and collaboration. In fact, MIT’s Sloane School of Management previously found that a toxic corporate culture is 10 times more likely to contribute to attrition than compensation.

Whatever the motivation may be, many might feel that they still have more to offer and accomplish but just aren’t sure what their options are. Others may be focussed on optimising the best earning years left in their career.  In both cases, something must change, but it is unclear what. Do you stick it out and continue along the course you are on, or do you pick a new direction?

Taking your career into its next chapter is an opportunity to shape the next key period of your life and career the way you want them to look. Reaching this stage is not some sort of identity crisis or panic, but rather a chance to reap the rewards of the work you have already put in and to shift your focus towards the things that will bring you the most fulfilment as you continue your career journey. You’re far from done, but where do you begin? What are your options, and what shape might your career take in this new chapter?

Our Rialto Executive Career Coaches offer the following advice:

Planning your Executive Career Transition

As you contemplate your next act and begin plotting the reinvention of your career, you have the ability to shape it however you so choose. Whether or not purpose is the key motivator for your move, your ‘why’ and your purpose has likely evolved through the years and so have the things you may be looking for from your career. It is critical that you take time to determine what fulfilment will look like for you in this new chapter. Why are you continuing on your career path, making a change, and evolving rather than staying complacent or simply plateauing? What is it that is going to make this next chapter feel rewarding?

Planning for your career’s next chapter begins with being able to answer those questions. Determining what fulfilment looks like for you will help you to determine the best course of action and point you down the right avenues for achieving your goals.

To be successful in your career transition, you need to be able to articulate your goals into actions. If your values include a specific set of factors, then what actions could you take to live out your purpose and gain that fulfilment? Is it through an entirely new job, a lateral move to a different company, or can purpose be found separate from your core career through outside opportunities? If increased renumeration is your aim, what is the number you are looking for? You may find that your goals could take you down various pathways of action, depending on your motivation.

Navigating your Career Transition

How you navigate your career transition will vary depending on your goals, but it is possible to find fulfilment in various ways. The pathway options for executive transitions are limitless, but here are some of the most common ones we see in our work with our senior level clients:

• Remuneration:  There is nothing wrong with making a financially motivated career move, and for many people this ends up being the little push they need to step out of that comfort zone. Even if you seek out your same job just somewhere else, this simple change of scenery may be enough to give your career that refresh you are looking for. It will be a new environment, new team, and new challenges even if the nature of the job is not different. And you may find that your higher earnings help to improve your overall quality of life outside of work and bring you fulfilment there. Maybe this will come from less stress about certain financial strains, the opportunity to invest more in your hobbies, the opportunity to travel, and so on. So do not write off a money-motivated career move as not being an opportunity to reimagine the next step in your career!
• Reinvention: That said, when people think about career ‘second or third acts,’ they tend to envision some form of pivot. For some executives who reach the highest levels of the organisation, they feel they want to start over elsewhere, but this is not the most common course of action. However, know that it is an option for you if you are truly unhappy with your lot and want a drastic career change. We choose our careers young and start that climb to the top with different priorities than when we get there. Perhaps you pursued your current path out of financial need rather than passion, or you felt it was the career you should do rather than the one you wanted to do. It’s okay to explore a new or old ‘dream’ or to want more purpose behind what you do. A career change can be intimidating and choosing a new path can be daunting, but it is an option for all. More commonly, you will see executives choose to ‘reinvent’ themselves within the parameters of their existing career, and may choose one of the following paths instead.
• Choosing a Niche: It is common to think of one’s legacy after reaching a pinnacle or career turning point. What do you want to be known for? What impact do you want to leave behind? Many executives will choose to dedicate the later portions of their career to thought leadership or giving something back. If the first act was about the climb, the second and third will be about sharing the lessons learned along the way and the views from the top and/or making a bigger difference. You put in the work to get to where you are, and with very few places left to climb, it might be time to focus in on your passions instead. Perhaps there are certain elements of your job or your industry that you particularly enjoy or are deeply knowledgeable about. You may find fulfilment in owning those topics in a professional capacity and serving as a guru whose insights will help the next generation of the workforce or the organisation to evolve. Discussing these topics online could attract larger scale opportunities on the speaking circuit or within academia. So, while your job itself may not have changed, you may find your fulfilment from focusing more on the topics you are truly passionate about and from sharing that knowledge with others.
• Innovation: There are increasingly more opportunities to pivot towards a future-focused niche, even if the organisation as a whole is not pivoting with the trends in the market. By now, we are all aware of the fact that technology is reshaping and disrupting business life as we know it. Interest and investments in technologies such as generative AI are at an all-time high, and businesses and executives alike are racing to keep up with the rate of change. There is an obvious gap in skills, capabilities, and understanding when it comes to digital transformation, thus creating a major opportunity for senior executives wondering “What’s next?” This was the case for Rialto Executive Career Coach Katie King. After 30 years in marketing, PR, and communications including over a decade of running agencies, Katie reached that turning point of wondering what the rest of her career could look like. At the time, AI was still in its very early stages, but she saw the opportunity it presented and the impact it would have on industries and made a pivot towards becoming an expert in the adoption of AI in business functions. She now regularly consults businesses and delivers keynotes globally on the subject, has delivered several Rialto webinars on AI, and has published two successful books on the topic. Just as Katie pivoted by her own volition rather than in response to changes in her organisation, senior executives feeling frustrated by a lack of innovation in their organisation have an opportunity to adapt themselves and become drivers of the innovation they want to see. There is still a major opening for forward-thinking executives to become champions of change and technology within their organisation or industry. What better way is there to reinvent the future of your career than to prepare for the future of business itself?
• Continuous Learning: While every executive should at least have a basic understanding about the changes and disruptions technology will bring about, the path of innovation may not be everyone’s cup of tea. For you, your path might be focused on a concept that some experts have described as becoming ‘forever employable.’ These executives keep their finger on the pulse of change and continuously adapt, developing new skillsets or taking on new roles as needed. You might spend your next act as a chameleon of sorts, adapting to the environment around you as necessary to keep fitting into it. It’s about understanding how the world of work is changing and being open to changing along with it. For example, automation will be able to take over several of the most common day-to-day activities of senior leaders. Choose to spend your next act homing in on soft skills like creativity, strategy, leadership, and so on to fill the gaps that technology cannot satisfy. By adapting and developing your skillsets to match the needs of the marketplace, you will be able to maintain your place within it for as long as you’d like.
• Take a Risk: You may reach this turning point in your career and decide that you have had enough of the corporate world or following organisational structures and hierarchies, which is very often the case for those feeling burnt out or scorned by toxic corporate cultures. Those wanting to have an equity stake in a business, build share capital, or take an entrepreneurial business idea forward may decide to take the leap and start something of their own. Having spent your first act building capital, reputation, knowledge, or prestige may help you get your venture off the ground in this next act.
• Outside Ventures: Or, you may find that you can reinvigorate your career via opportunities outside of your role, organisation, or industry. Non-Executive Director (NED) roles are a great way to take on added responsibilities or make an impact for an organisation other than your own. You may choose to get involved in the board or leadership for a charity, your child’s school, an event, or an initiative. You may also find that the work you put in to establish yourself in the earlier portion of your career has provided you with the freedom, flexibility, or financial abundance to be able to dedicate time or resources to causes you care deeply about. You may also find that you are able to command more time for yourself to pursue outside interests and hobbies.

At the end of the day, the next chapter of your career can be very different from what you imagined or planned for at the start of your career journey. You are in control of what you do next, so why not shape your career to work for you, rather than leaving it to an organisation to show you what next? Feedback from Rialto clients is that they’re happier and more fulfilled for it.

Our strategic executive career transition programmes help you to map out market relevant organisational challenges, peer competition, market trends, and changing consumer mindsets in a way that will enable you to position yourself optimally as in-demand talent of the future. Over the last decade, Rialto Executive Career Coaches have successfully assisted over 6,500 senior executives to navigate to the next act in their career. Get in touch with us for insights on your career change.

The marketing function has undergone a major transformation over the last decade, playing an important role in the increasingly competitive business landscape. Challenging economic conditions have made it vital to attract new customers and retain existing loyalty, while the digital world has reshaped customers’ habits and increased expectations. It falls on the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) to facilitate growth and sales, determines the brand’s direction and marketing strategy, ensuring their team can develop and execute successful future focussed marketing strategies.

This future will be shaped by leaders who are empowered by technology, consumers who adjust their habits with the times, and businesses who embrace digitisation quickly to avoid being left behind. Much of today’s customer journey takes place across digital touch points and will become increasingly virtualised over time. The CMO must prepare their team for this shift, generate support from related functions such as sales, and marry the best of the old ways with rapidly advancing market and business practices.

Here are some of the top skills required to be successful in the CMO role for the foreseeable future, challenges faced, and factors to keep in mind if a CMO role is your next career objective.

CMO Snapshot

At the time of publication, a LinkedIn search for profiles bearing the title of ‘Chief Marketing Officer’ yields 747,000 results globally, and 30,000 in the UK alone. A search for the same title in the Jobs section of the site results in just shy of 800 vacancies in the UK. Just as with many other C-suite roles, there is no blueprint for what a CMO looks like. However, demographic research helps provide a glimpse of where things currently stand.

Analysis of CMOs from FTSE 100 companies and the Inc. 5000 list found that a typical UK CMO is male, British-born, and 44 years old. Separate research from Korn Ferry finds that the average CMO is older at 54 years old, but still usually the youngest in the C-suite. On average, marketing chiefs in the FTSE 100 will have worked within their companies for approximately 8-9 years and had experience working for at least three other companies beforehand, spending around 5-6 years at each job prior to ascending to the CMO seat.

However, after ascending to the top of their organisation, the CMO is the least likely of their C-suite peers to stick around. This role has the shortest average tenure of any C-suite function at 3.5 years. This is notably higher turnover than seen amongst the average tenures of CEOs (8 years), CFOs (5.1 years), and CHROs (5 years).

In recent years, there has been a rise in businesses introducing what is called a ‘Fractional CMO’ as an alternative to having full-time marketing leadership in the C-Suite. These highly skilled experts are brought in from outside of the organisation to help with customer acquisition, developing and executing strategy, mentoring the marketing team, or delivering a specific campaign. This type of arrangement can benefit both the business and the individual executive. On the organisational side, the business gets to introduce much-needed marketing expertise and fresh, outside perspectives without the commitment of a full-time sitting CMO. For seasoned marketing executives, it offers the opportunity to enrich their career, seek out new challenges, or introduce more flexibility into their working life.

For those taking on the CMO role full time, according to Glassdoor, the national average salary in the UK is £106,552. The average additional compensation for the role is £20,901. The top-end salary for this role is approximately £201,000. In London, CMOs will earn slightly higher with an average salary of £112,125 and an average bonus of £16,000 per year. That said, compensation for the role will vary by experience, geography, business size, and other individual factors.

Top CMO Skills

Marketing is the primary communications function of the business, but there is more to being a successful CMO than simply being a skilled and effective communicator. Given the evolving needs of the marketplace and ever-changing consumer habits, our experts have identified the following top skills for marketing leaders to focus their attention on.

• Customer Centricity: Serving your customers, whether that be through products or services, is the reason your company is in business. If you are not keeping your customers at the heart of every discussion you have, every initiative you introduce, and every decision you make, then you can expect to fail.
• Keen Ability to Demonstrate Need: Behind the CEO and COO, the CMO is one of the most publicly facing roles in the C-suite. The CMO needs to be able to paint a picture for audiences that clearly communicates how the company’s products or services meet a need that specific customer segments may have. But at the same time, the CMO may find themselves having to sell their vision to the rest of their peers on the C-Suite, their own team, and others across different departments of the organisation. If your internal team does not share in the vision or understand how the wider strategy supports the customer journey, then you risk mixed or ineffective messaging.

Emotional Intelligence and the Human Touch: A global survey of 935 senior leaders and direct reports and over 1,100 members of the workforce suggests that human emotions are a key determining factor in the success or failure of a business transformation.

A successful CMO is one who truly understands and can put themselves in the shoes of their customer, and who allows that perspective to guide their strategy. Instead of imploring your customers to flock to you, you need to be able to meet them where they are and offer a solution to their pain points. This can at times be difficult, as CMOs will face pressure from the organisation to deliver results at all costs. But the ability to be realistic about who your customers are, what they care about, and what they are going through will make you better able to relate to and effectively communicate with them. Having this understanding at the top of the marketing function helps to shape the activity and the mindsets of the rest of the team. This is now more valuable than ever with digital taking over so much of the customer experience. Being able to provide a human touch to all marketing activities helps to fill a crucial gap that technology cannot and can add rationality and reasoning to all communications decisions.

• Empathy: If we are being truly honest, then it is fair to say that we are living through a challenging period in both our professional and personal lives. We have made it to the other side of a multi-year global pandemic, but many of us have lost things and people along the way. The aftermath is still echoing through our global economies alongside new challenges, disruptive forces, and geopolitical tensions. Business leaders, their people, and their customers are having to navigate all of this. In the meantime, marketers are having to adapt to the resulting changes in their customers’ spending habits, priorities, and needs.
• Future-Focused Leadership: After ChatGPT burst onto the scene with vigour, there was much discussion surrounding what this would mean for entry- and mid-level marketers. If a bot can create content, what do we need people for? This mindset does not depict the reality of the situation, which is that most jobs will be reshaped rather than replaced, but the thought is likely to have burrowed itself into the minds of many in the marketing department. The CMO should be able to help clearly define the respective roles of both technology and human talent within the marketing department and ease their people through this transition. Do not downplay their concerns, but instead communicate openly about what change lies ahead and what it means. Bring your people on the journey with you but understand that they will likely have their own reservations.

Top Market Challenges Impacting CMOs

The skills above will be critically important as CMOs attempt to navigate the challenges of the current business landscape. Some of the top factors that these executives should be aware of are:

• Rapid Digitisation: The future will most likely include new technologies such as generative AI, which has been quickly disrupting the marketing space and altering the way companies communicate with and understand their audiences. It has also provided a competitive edge to businesses of all sizes and industries, allowing those brave and bold enough to embrace change a leg up on the laggards. As International Hotel Group (IHG) CIO Eric Pearson was once quoted as saying: “It’s no longer the big beating the small, but the fast beating the slow.”

Marketing will likely be a major area of focus for many businesses’ AI adoption efforts. The CMO will have the responsibility of pinpointing which areas technology can improve and making those recommendations to the rest of the C-suite. CMOs should expect to work alongside other business functions to help create a unified omnichannel customer experience across multiple marketing, sales, and service platforms. New generative AI solutions like ChatGPT, Bard, and DALL E have already raised questions about what the role of the human marketer might be. It will fall on the CMO to decide where and how their people use these types of tools day-to-day and guiding the team through that change.

• Breaking Down Communication Silos: Of course, for digitisation and the overall strategy to be successful, there needs to be collaboration between marketing and the other departments of the business. This includes sales, customer service, procurement, operations, and research & development. According to a reportfrom CMO Council and KPMG, 70% of marketers don’t feel very confident in their current sales and marketing model to sell effectively in the digitalised customer journey, and 60% of respondents said marketing and sales don’t co-own customer strategy and data. While these two departments may not function the same, they share the same goals and objectives and need to work together harmoniously to create a seamless customer experience. It will fall on the CMO to encourage collaboration to achieve shared business objectives, defining KPIs for both teams, and creating total alignment on customer audiences and personas. To achieve this, CMOs will have to be very clear on the C-suite’s target growth objectives, whether that be acquisition, retention, revenue growth and so on.
• Shifting Towards Retention and Experience: It is likely that revenue growth will be a top priority for businesses after a few economically challenging years. One of the avenues that CMOs may explore to achieve that goal is to focus on loyalty and retention. Existing customers are much less costly to retain than new customers are to attract. In an increasingly competitive landscape, CMOs will be tasked with holding on to their valuable customers for as long as they can.

Oftentimes, the deciding factor for loyalty is the experience that businesses can offer their customers. Marketing is a very CX-focused business function to begin with, but digitisation has upped the stakes and the expectations. Customers can easily draw comparison between you and your competitors on price, quality, and so on, but these do not always drive decision making. According to Salesforce, an astounding 97% of marketers witnessed a rise in business outcomes as a result of offering their customers personalisation. CMOs need to keep experience at the forefront of their strategy and

• Conscious-Minded Consumers: To successfully attract and retain customers, you need to meet them where they are and cater to their interests and priorities. Over the past several years, consumers have increasingly begun to value and prioritise more cause-driven businesses, products, and initiatives. This includes things like sustainability, diversity and inclusion, socioeconomic mobility, and so on. Today’s consumers, especially in younger groups such as millennials and Gen Z, have increasingly begun to ‘vote with their wallet’ and become choosier about the products they use and the companies they choose to support. This adds an extra layer of depth to customer personas that CMOs simply cannot ignore. Marketing chiefs will need to gain insight into what it is that their customers value most and how those values align with their organisation. Integrating these values into the comms strategy will be important for raising awareness in the marketplace.

Our Advice for CMOs

Given these challenges, our expert Rialto Executive Career Coaches recommend that current and aspiring Chief Marketing Officers focus their attention in these key areas:

• Don’t Fear Digital: Over the past century, marketers have adapted from print to radio, radio to television, television to web, and web to social media. This is simply the next evolutionary stage in a long journey of growth and innovation. Rather than letting that intimidate you, let it excite you. The most successful CMOs are those who can look beyond the status quo and view innovation as an opportunity to experiment and push the boundaries.
• Listen More Than You Speak: Marketing, at times, can feel like shouting into the void and hoping that it echoes into the ears of the right people. It can feel very one sided, but every expert knows that the key to good marketing is two-way communication. At the C-Suite level, it is unlikely that you will have much—if any—regular interaction with your everyday customers. That is why it is important to foster a strong chain of communication from the top of the marketing function down to its lowest level where most of the direct interaction with customers happens. These team members will be the most in tune with what your customers need, want, love, hate, and are most motivated by. These members of your team may not directly report to you, but they hold valuable insights that can help inform the strategies that govern the entire marketing function. Regularly seek feedback, and truly listen when it is given. Understand that your idea of your customer and the marketplace may not always be in line with the reality, and be willing to adapt as needed.
• Become increasingly Data Driven: In addition to communicating with your people, you can also consult your data. Businesses collect more data than they know what to do with, most of which can directly benefit the marketing function. By becoming more data-minded, the CMO can derive valuable insights into their customers, their team, their strategy, and the effectiveness of the company’s marketing efforts. Relying on gut instinct is not always the best and smartest move. Making a habit of consulting your data helps to ensure you always have a realistic view of your audiences and your efforts.

If you are a current Chief Marketing Officer looking for your next executive role, or an executive looking to transition into a CMO role, we can help. The Rialto Consultancy offers a range of career strategy services including Executive Outplacement, Executive Career Coaching, and Personal Branding. Get in touch with our team to discuss your options to make a game changing transformational career move.

The first few months of a new calendar year mark the end of most businesses’ financial year and offer an opportunity to reflect on the previous year’s fiscal performance, while making predictions for what lies ahead. As most organisations develop their plans, we are provided with a much more accurate glimpse into the market that is based on real performance and financial data rather than speculation or gut instinct.

Many of these insights will help to paint a picture of the people challenges businesses face in Q2 and Q3 of the calendar year and the start of the new financial year, but also highlight some of the trends and opportunities.

Here is our experts’ assessment of the current state of the executive jobs market and the macro business landscape, the top trends that will shape FY23, and our advice for navigating these conditions successfully.

Job Market Snapshot

The latest ONS Labour Market Overview for April 2023 serves the dual purpose of wrapping up Q1 2023 as well as the final stretch of FY22. The report found that between January and March 2023, the estimated number of UK vacancies fell for the ninth consecutive period to 1,105,000, a 47,000 drop on the quarter. While less vacancies often indicates more individuals in employment, that is not always true and does not appear to be the case here. The ONS posits that the drop in opportunity is less about an influx of hiring and more about overly cautious businesses pausing their recruitment amid ongoing economic uncertainty. Availability of jobs fell in 13 of the 18 industry sectors the ONS tracks, with real estate, mining, and quarrying experiencing the largest dips.

Businesses looking to recruit face no shortage of candidates, with the ONS data finding that there were 1.2 unemployed people per vacancy, a slight increase from the previous quarter.

Even so, there remains a talent and skills shortage with businesses struggling to secure candidates with the in-demand capabilities that businesses require to futureproof themselves.

However, the talent crisis spreads beyond recruitment as those in employment find themselves increasingly dissatisfied. The ONS figures for example also showed that there were 348,000 working days lost because of industrial action in February 2023, up from 210,000 in January. Over three-fifths of these strikes were in the education sector. The catalyst for these disputes includes pay, flexibility, work-life balance, and excessive workloads, which are also factors impacting a number of employees across other sectors.

Despite seeing growth in the headline pay figures (5.9% including bonuses and 6.6% without bonuses), average weekly pay including bonuses in December 2022 to February 2023 fell 3% when adjusted for inflation compared with the same period a year ago, while pay excluding bonuses fell 2.3%. These constitute some of the largest falls in pay since ONS records began in 2001. In the private sector, the average pay without bonuses grew 6.9% while the average public sector pay packet grew 5.3%. The narrowing of the gap between the two could potentially be attributed to ongoing pressure from unions in the public sector.

Key Trends

All things considered, we did not end FY22 or begin Q2 2023 in the strongest or most exciting conditions. These are the key labour trends our experts predict will drive activity throughout the remainder of Q2 as we gear up for the summer:

• Economically Driven Decision Making: The falling pay growth is simply a side effect of a bigger ailment, which is inflation itself. Despite expectations that figures would drop to 9.8%, the UK inflation rate came in high once again at 10.1% according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures. This is considerably higher than both the rates of inflation in the Eurozone (6.9%) and the USA (5%). The largest upward contributions to the annual inflation rate came from housing, utilities (electricity, gas, and other fuels), food, and non-alcoholic beverages. Simply put, it is expensive to live in the UK and that will continue to be the case.

It is expected by experts that the inflation rate will fall sometime this year, but when and by how much are yet to be determined. And despite the incendiary recent comments by the Bank of England’s chief economist, Britons are unlikely to just accept that they are worse off now and get on with it. From an organisational standpoint, you should expect that if you are not able to supplement the cost of living with employee’s pay or other benefits such as flexible work, you stand to lose some of your talent. From an individual perspective, it remains true that moving company is the best way to secure a pay rise. If cost of living is of concern to you or your people, it is not unreasonable to expect that this could motivate a career change or job move.

• Erring on the Side of Caution: This economic hardship will also continue to bleed over into businesses’ decisions regarding their staffing levels. Over the past quarter, we have seen hiring freezes and mass redundancies across tech, retail, banking, financial services, professional services, manufacturing, and media/entertainment. Unfortunately, this looks set to continue. Even businesses that posted better-than-expected Q1 results have made cuts or plan to soon. A recent global survey that included 500 UK-based HR directors found that 43% of UK businesses have recently completed or plan to make redundancies in 2023. A further 29% admitted that they are unsure at this point if they will be making redundancies, 18% said they are on a hiring freeze but have no plans to make redundancies, and only 8% confirmed that they will definitely not make any redundancies this year and are not on a hiring freeze. Among those who are letting people go, most (44%) cite cost cutting as the reason, closely followed by having over-hired in the years prior (43%).

If cost is serving as the primary motivator, this can proceed a few different ways. It might be that the worst of the cuts happened in preparation for the new financial year, and now that we are settling into it, things will calm down. Alternatively, further uncertainty in the marketplace may cause further quells later. In any case, both organisations and individuals should be prepared for any scenario. From an organisational standpoint, businesses considering cutbacks should also consider implementing support for those they let go. Investing in executive outplacement services helps preserve against reputational blowback and signals to both those you release and those you retain that the organisation cares about its people. For individuals, do not panic about potentially being made redundant, but instead prepare for that possibility. Take some time to think about the next step in your career and treat this as an opportunity rather than a setback. Additionally, you can work on your skills to increase your value and contribution potential in the eyes of your employer.

• High CEO Turnover: Typically, those at the very top of the organisation are relatively safe from any quells unless the organisation is undergoing a massive restructure that requires a major change in leadership. C-suite and Board-level positions are often long-held ‘legacy’ positions for several reasons. To start, the foundation of these roles is trust and respect, and tenure and experience can go a long way for securing both. Not only that, but these positions are also often the highest one can climb in their respective organisation or job function and once achieved, individuals tend to remain there. For a combination of these and other reasons, senior executives in C-Suite or Board positions have historically been less likely to leave their roles than their colleagues in other roles of the business. Until now, that is.

A recently published US-based report found that March 2023’s CEO turnover is up 18% year-on-year. This is the highest total for that month since tracking began in 2002. In Q1 2023, 418 CEOs left their posts. This is a 57% rise from the 266 CEOs who left in Q4 2022. These turnovers are largely occurring in the public sector, healthcare, technology, and financial services. Most companies are remaining tight lipped about the reasons behind their CEO exits, with 127 leaving in Q1 2023 without a specified reason. A further 106 retired (up 15% from the same period last year), and 25 moved into new positions heading another department or division within the company. While CEO turnover can create disruption for the business during the transition period, movement at the top has created more opportunities than ever for others to ascend into the CEO role and for businesses to inject fresh perspectives into their leadership team. This has created more opportunity for female senior executives to take the helm. The number of women CEOs is at an all-time high, with 32% of new CEOs being women through the first quarter. If this turnover continues, expect to see more diverse voices at the top of organisations and more opportunity for others to move into positions that may not have been available for many years.

• The Meteoric Rise of Generative AI: Generative AI has dominated the conversation so far this year. ChatGPT has been the centre of most of this, and following its public release it very quickly became the fastest growing app in history. The hype surrounding ChatGPT and Generative AI in general has sparked fear, curiosity, and excitement about this technology’s potential use in business moving forward. Goldman Sachs predicts that Generative AI could be responsible for the replacement of 300 million jobs, and many top minds in tech including Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak recently signed an open letter calling for a pause on AI development.

Whether we like it or not, this technology is here to stay. We have let the horse out of the stable and it is too late to rein it back in. Generative AI will continue to develop, and its use cases will continue to expand. Rather than resisting, businesses and individuals need to learn how to work alongside technology. We shared a blog with our suggestions for navigating this at the organisational and C-suite level, offering advice for navigating this next era of business successfully, which you can read here. At the end of the day, AI will be an ally and assistant rather than a boss, and it is critical to understand its impacts on your job function, organisation, and industry as soon as possible to avoid being left behind.

Executive Transition Advice

These trends are sure to create an interesting and challenging business landscape in the near future. Rialto Executive Career Coaches advise the following for navigating these conditions successfully:

• Double Down on Skills: The latest employment figures indicate that despite the level of redundancies, it is still a candidate’s job market. Those with the in-demand skills employers need will be highly sought after. This includes technological savvy as well as the types of capabilities technology cannot yet replicate including creativity, strategy, empathy, and business contextualisation. AI can do the legwork of generating insights, but businesses need people to apply that knowledge in a way that benefits the organisation and creates real impact. For those who find their roles at risk of replacement by AI—though this is unlikely at the senior level—it is important to find a niche you can continue to satisfy for the business, whether this be something specialised or something complimentary to technology.

For businesses, skills remain important as well. If you are restructuring the business or making cuts, you do not want to put yourself into a position wherein you lack the necessary capabilities on your side to bring your new objectives and plans to life. If recruitment is not an option for your organisation at this time, you need to focus on upskilling your current team to ensure they can continue making an impact and driving the business forward.

• Assess Your Priorities: The reality of the situation is that the business landscape is going to continue to be volatile with elements of uncertainty and ambiguity. In the wake of so much disruption, now is a good time to take stock of what matters to you most from your career. Is it security? Is it financial renumeration or growth opportunities? Or is it flexibility, work life balance, and other benefits? Once you determine what is driving you at this point in your career, you will need to assess whether your current role or organisation can provide that. If not, it may be time to consider executive career coaching for help with taking your career to the next level or navigate a senior-level job search.
• Remodel Your Personal Digital Brand: If you do decide to head down the route of making a career move, you will need to be willing to put in the work on your personal digital brand. So much of today’s job search and recruitment happens digitally, so positioning yourself well online can be a major asset to your efforts to secure a new role, be viewed as a thought leader, or attracting other outside opportunities. Our Rialto Executive Career Coaches have worked closely with thousands of senior-level clients over the past decade to help them reach such goals.

Branding matters for employers as well. How you handle the challenging conditions ahead will send a clear message to all your internal and external stakeholders. If you do make cutbacks and handle them poorly, you risk losing the employees you retain and facing reputational damage in the marketplace. Having a bad reputation as an employer may make it more difficult to attract the right talent. It may also leave a poor impression of your business amongst your customers and partners. Offering executive outplacement support services such as those offered by The Rialto Consultancy can help the team members you let go of leave on better terms and demonstrate that your organisation is empathetic and concerned about its people’s wellbeing and ongoing career success.

Having an understanding of the current business and job market enables you to begin preparing for what lies ahead. We will share our next market update in summer 2023. In the meantime, you can keep up to date with business-relevant insights via our blogs and events.

In the words of our Director, Richard Chiumento, “You probably will not lose your job to AI, but you will lose it to a human who is using AI effectively.” An organisation is extremely unlikely to replace its leadership team with artificial intelligence (AI), but rather must enable its C-Suite to form a strategic relationship with technology to drive impact. Doing so will require a baseline understanding of how AI can benefit the business, and how to derive maximum value from it.

While many existing roles will be replaced by technology over time, businesses are unlikely to eliminate their entire workforce in favour of technology, despite the bleak predictions we often see making headlines. Rather, what lies ahead is a massive reshaping of the working world and ‘modern’ workplace as we have traditionally known it through the optimisation of everything we do, every process, and every production. The C-Suite will hold the responsibility of guiding the organisation through this transformation, which will require effective management and fostering a closer relationship with technology by all.

In this article, we provide key factors for organisations and senior leaders to consider to effectively leverage the current AI wave.

Differentiating Between Tactical and Strategic Uses of AI

Business use of AI can be split into two categories: tactical and strategic. What this looks like in practice will vary by business, but here are some general use cases to be aware of based on the solutions available in the marketplace:

• Tactical: Drafting text copy and imagery for marketing materials, sending outreach messages, communicating with prospects, automating parts of the manufacturing process, taking notes across sales interactions, answering customer queries through chatbots, screening job candidates, delivering tailored training, generating reports, etc.

• Strategic: Gauging customer sentiment through social listening, analysing historic data to identify opportunities, assessing performance, reducing production costs, streamlining operations, monitoring employee performance and engagement, lead prediction and scoring, competitor research, etc.

Understanding the Tactical Side of AI

The C-suite will likely have very little to do with the tactical uses of AI as part of their everyday role but should still be concerned with these practices. Team leaders should decide which systems to adopt, which vendors to work with, and where to invest. For this to be successful, each member of the C-suite will need to work collaboratively with their teams to identify where opportunities and efficiencies sit.

It is therefore critical for the leadership team to understand how specific areas of the business can benefit from the adoption of technology and how that might feed into the bigger picture. For example, the marketing, customer service, and sales functions are the most outward-facing functions of the business and stand to benefit greatly from the introduction of AI systems. It is likely that these functions will use generative AI to automate their communications with customers, create more compelling materials, become more targeted, and deliver the right offer in the right place at the right time. The CMO and CRO will need to work with these teams to find out which tasks could benefit most from AI’s helping hand and crafting a case for investment.

On the Operations and Supply Chain side, ongoing disruption has made an already challenging role even more difficult. The expectations placed on the COO will be to improve decision making, keep things running smoothly, and ensure cost efficiencies. They will need to think about how AI can facilitate innovation and identify how investing in new tools might improve long-term revenue and contribute to overall productivity and efficiency.

The urgent business need for digital transformation has fundamentally changed the CIO role from IT operator to business strategist. The CTO and CIO will be concerned with the technicalities of AI adoption and will most likely lead any conversations about vendors and tools. The ability to communicate the value of complex technology to the business is critical, as is the skill to drive and manage long-term change. Tactically, they will oversee the actual implementation of AI systems and need to ensure that the business possesses the necessary infrastructure, hardware, and software.

The CFO will most obviously be concerned about the cost of any AI investment and the returns it will generate. In addition, adopting the right AI will play a huge role in supporting the expectations of shareholders, regulators, and audit committees specifically in providing information in the areas of financial and nonfinancial reporting, transparency, and governance. The CFO will need to work closely with the other leaders to provide structures for governance of AI models to help ensure end-to-end AI governance. This will span from defining the AI strategy through training, testing, deploying and monitoring AI and the data used to train it.

Meanwhile, the CEO will have to keep a finger on the pulse of all this activity. They will be assimilating the massive amounts of data from AI initiatives taken forward by their peers to form answers to complex strategic questions at a massively accelerated rate. The CEO will also likely be the public face of the business’s transformation and will need to communicate with key stakeholder audiences both internally and externally.

In summary, despite not having a hands-on role in the tactical use of AI day-to-day, the C-Suite will need to stop going it alone and start thinking with a machine, using increasingly sophisticated analytic tools to help them rally the organisation. Selecting the right AI solutions, deciding what processes are automated, where money is spent, and how the business can benefit through business model transformation will be critical. This will require a need to ask questions that weren’t previously economical to answer as well as questions they didn’t even know to ask.

Leveraging the Strategic Side of AI

Most businesses possess more data than they know what to do with and in today’s increasingly digital age, even more is accumulated each day. This data is a goldmine of untapped potential that can offer a genuine snapshot of the business, its customers, stakeholders, and performance. However, to try to manually assess this data is a fool’s errand. It would take far too long and by the time any real progress is achieved, so much more new information will have been generated that the old data is obsolete.

Making sense of a business’s data in a tangible and useful way is the most valuable strategic benefit AI offers. In such a competitive landscape where customer habits change regularly and disruption is always on the horizon, having real-time insight into the business can help in staying ahead of the curve and gaining a competitive edge.

Measurement of KPIs is often focused on hard figures such as revenue, number of sales, and other tangible metrics. But every C-Suite executive knows that cost and value is often not that simple to nail down. There are often soft KPIs that are harder to measure but impact the business nonetheless. This includes reputational gains, employee or customer satisfaction, perceived CX, and loyalty. Because these indicators are not tied to an organisations figure, they are often harder to quantify.

AI can help with this, too. Again, the C-Suite will not need to have much direct interaction with tactical AI platforms on a regular basis, but these solutions and their activity can generate insights that can make the C-Suite more effective at what they do. For example, your marketing team’s social listening tool can provide insight into who your customers are, what matters to them, and how they feel about your business. Your sales team’s CRM platform will offer plenty of intelligence into what it takes to attract new prospects and what it takes to retain them. All of this information can be fed back to the C-Suite to help inform their wider strategy and measure success in a much more nuanced way.

The C-Suite will need to redefine the KPIs of the business for the AI age. This is where that grasp on the tactical side of AI comes into play. By understanding how each function of the business uses technology, it becomes possible to determine what can and should be measured. For example, if you know your sales team is using AI to manage relationships with existing customers, you can ask them to measure retention and loyalty. AI tools offer advanced reporting capabilities which help the C-Suite gain a deeper knowledge of the business as a whole. With this information in their arsenal, the leadership team can be much more targeted in their strategic objectives, agile in a crisis, and smarter with their budgeting.

Developing a future focussed workforce

But of course, with any significant change comes resistance, hesitation, and discomfort. It is likely that integrating AI into normal business practices will be met with all of these. Businesses are likely to encounter negative mindsets from their teams and this can include those in the C-Suite. Here are some common negative mindsets our team have come across and advice on how to overcome them

• Replacement: With so much hysteria surrounding AI and several bleak predictions pertaining to massive job losses, it is understandable that your people will be concerned about job security. How the leadership team communicates with the rest of the organisation will be critical here. Instead of shying away from these fears, address them head on. Acknowledge that this is a big change for everyone but provide reassurance that your people will be active participants on this new journey. Set expectations, and assign actions and owners. That way, employees will be reassured of their value and feel more secure in their place with the company. If there are redundancies to be made, be honest about that, too. However, do not leave those you let go of to fend for themselves. Invest in Executive Outplacement services such as those offered by The Rialto Consultancy to support these employees through the transition and help them to land on their feet.
• Obsolescence: Witnessing how impressive and effective AI can be at tasks people have been contending with for years may stir up feelings of intimidation. Individuals may begin to question both their value and their abilities. The truth of the matter is that AI is an assistant, not a boss. When AI takes over those more routinised tasks, it will create more time for individuals to focus on value-add activities that technology cannot yet replicate. This includes creative thinking, strategy, and providing a human touch to the customer journey. The leadership team will need to reshape the roles of their team to assign new purpose behind them. While experiencing changes in one’s role may be uncomfortable at first, it can also reinvigorate individuals and breathe new life into their careers and levels of motivation. The C-Suite will need to consider how to best reshape responsibilities in their organisation to provide adequate support for AI while deriving the most impact from their human workforce.
• Complacency: On the other side of the coin, after witnessing how effective AI can be, individuals may begin to incorrectly assume they can hand off their entire workload to technology. While generative AI is impressive in its current state and growing smarter rapidly, we have not yet reached a point wherein technology can replicate certain human capabilities. When reshaping your people’s roles, it is important to emphasise that their new responsibility is to fill the gaps that technology cannot currently replicate. AI should always be presented as a partner rather than a substitute. By setting expectations early and clearly defining the roles of both technology and humans, the leadership team will be sending a clear message that there is still very much a job to be done by their employees.
• Inadequacy: However, some of your people may be more tech savvy than others and will pick up new tools quickly. Those outside of this camp may struggle and feel ill-equipped to cope with new technology, especially if they have become accustomed to doing things a certain way. You will need all your people on the same page and performing at the right level and may need to invest time and money to get there. It is important to not let these employees struggle in silence. You therefore need to develop a culture of open communication wherein everyone feels encouraged to speak and feels reassured that they are heard. Conducting check-ins with both managers and their direct reports can help the leadership team—especially the HRD or Chief People Officer (CPO)—to gauge where issues lie and where intervention is needed. It will also be crucial to provide necessary training for new tools, whether that be conducted in-house or externally.

Securing Necessary Skillsets

The C-Suite must be strategic about how they develop the necessary skills for successfully deploying AI and using it in practice. A lot of this will fall on the HRD and CPO, but each member of the C-Suite should be just as concerned and involved. Again, training will be necessary as AI skills will not just manifest on their own. The leadership team will need to decide the best approach for themselves, their people and budgets. In some cases, it may make sense to conduct in-house training led in collaboration with the Technology function and HR. It may also be of value to bring in outside experts such as vendors or consultants. You may need to conduct not only technical training, but also offer coaching to help create new mindsets conducive to supporting cultures of change. In other cases, it may make more sense to fund and encourage individuals  to pursue their own upskilling and continuous learning development outside of the organisation. While this lifts the burden of having to organise training in-house, it offers less control. You may not be able to ensure that all of your people are developing the essential skills and covering the necessary bases. The C-Suite will need to seriously consider which option best suits their needs and shape their upskilling programmes accordingly.

You may also consider introducing necessary skills through recruitment. This is a strong option for securing more specialised skillsets that might be costly or time consuming to cultivate with existing team members. Depending on your needs, you may want to secure a full-time employee for this, or may find that a temporary contractor will suffice. However, given the ongoing skills shortage and fierce competition for qualified candidates, businesses should be prepared to face difficulties in securing the talent they need. The leadership team will need to consider their value proposition for new hires. Gaining an understanding of what today’s professionals expect from their employers can help to both attract and retain valuable talent. The C-Suite may need to reshape their hybrid work policies, employee benefits packages, and overall corporate culture.

While the AI landscape is fast-developing and ever-changing, adopting it successfully does not need to be difficult. If the C-Suite is willing to invest time and effort into their own learning whilst building the right physical and emotional infrastructures, the organisation is more likely to reap technology’s business value with minimal disruption.

To get started, explore our upcoming AI-focused webinars.

If you are looking to build cultures of change within your organisation or further your own Leadership Development, we can help. Get in touch with us to discuss our Business Transformation services.

With the new financial year about to begin, businesses will be confirming their budgets and determining where to spend and where to save. As we predicted at the start of the calendar year, talent is a top priority for businesses as they aim to ensure they have the right skills in the right roles and the right leaders at the helm. However, ongoing disruption in the market will continue to make this a challenging feat.

CEO turnover is at its highest levels in 20 years, with an average tenure of around 5 years. Coupled with the mass exodus of over 50s from the workforce, businesses are having to fill gaps more frequently and reassess what qualities they need at the senior level. Succession planning is a smart move for preventing productivity losses, negative impacts on the bottom line, and a never-ending cycle of turnover. Yet, only 35% of organisations have a formalised succession planning process for critical roles and the majority of leaders will fail shortly after ascending to a new position.

If you want to be seen as a successor or are appointed as the successor to a key role, what must you consider and how can you succeed? From a business perspective, what should you factor in when considering which individuals to appoint to ensure a smooth transition? Our Rialto Executive Career Coaches have compiled their top areas for consideration to help deliver an effective succession plan.

Effective Succession Planning: Business Considerations

Succession planning looks at the business through a long-term lens with the understanding that certain senior executives in business-critical positions may leave or retire at any point. You may know when that will be, or you may not. However, recognising the potential of individual talent who might take on the challenges of these roles, investing in their development in advance, and having a plan for the role they subsequently leave behind can ensure a smoother transition of power and minimise business disruption.

Appointing a successor from within the organisation holds several advantages including demonstrating to your staff that the business values its employees. There is also a smaller learning curve and shorter onboarding time when a ‘candidate’ is already familiar with the business, and therefore these moves can be made much quicker without having to advertise, extensively interview, and screen for the position. In succession planning, you will likely already have an eye on specific candidates who will have already proven themselves, making it much easier to act with agility when the organisation needs to pivot. An internal candidate will also already have relationships with the team and the business’s partners, making it easier to generate support and buy-in.

It is therefore understandable why this is a common practice at the senior level. Many CEOs will have been appointed to the top chair from the CFO/FD or COO role. Other C-Suite executives may have previously held VP, Director, or other senior-level titles in their department or a specific geography the business operates in. Others will have worked their way to the top after climbing the level from the junior level. There is no one clear path to any specific senior role, and a business would limit itself by only considering specific positions as ‘feeders’ for other higher-level roles. What is more valuable for ensuring success is that whoever you appoint will have the proper support from the business throughout the transition.

For those looking to grow and identify a succession pipeline, we would advise you to not only have a view of the long-term vision of the organisation but also an understanding of your wider market and competitors. Openness to diversity and links to any wider talent management practices in the organisation will also provide an advantage. Our experts advise you to consider the following:

• What Worked Previously May Not Work Now: It is an easy trap to fall into when succession planning to appoint the most similar person to the executive who previously held the role. While keeping the status quo may be comfortable for the team during a transition of power, it may not be the most beneficial for the business. Succeeding a leader is an opportunity to bring in fresh perspectives, ways of working, or leadership styles. When considering who the right internal candidate for a leadership role might be, do not overlook those who do not resemble others who held the position historically. Instead, assess the current and future needs of the business, the challenges it faces, and priorities moving forward before assessing who may be well placed to navigate these factors.
• Expect Push Back: As any HRD can attest, it is impossible to please every employee all the time and every decision will have its naysayers. When you promote an internal candidate to a key role, there will always be others who felt they deserved it more and who are vocal about that opinion. Others will be apprehensive about change or may doubt the appointed executive’s suitability, and these individuals may resist or challenge the authority of the new leader as a result. It would be unwise to expect that every transition will be smooth, and everyone will be excited and onboard. By anticipating these biases within the organisational politics, you will be much better placed for overcoming them. Ensure you are clearly and effectively communicating why a specific individual was chosen for the role, what characteristics they possess, and how this appointment serves the bigger picture for the business. Shut down any negative talk with clear points on why the decision was made and stand firm in your choice.
• Communicate Carefully: Of course, how you communicate the succession of a senior role matters to more than just the naysayers. You need to consider how you position this appointment both internally and externally. How you communicate your points will change by audience. Internally, you will need to consider framing the announcement in a way that generates buy in and trust within the team and makes resistance of authority less likely. You will also need to consider that you are not just speaking directly to that new leader’s team, department, or direct reports. When communicating internally, consider how your message will be perceived by the rest of the leadership team and those in other teams or departments that will have to interact with or collaborate with this new leader. What would they want to know? What would get them excited to have this person in this role even though it has no direct impact on their own role? Externally, your mission is less about generating buy in than it is about inspiring confidence that the organisation is being led in the right direction. How you communicate this and what you might choose to focus on will vary. Your shareholders or other various stakeholders will be primarily focused on the safety of their investments or partnerships, while your customers will want to know what this means for your products or services. Ensure you are framing all messages in third party media, social media, the company website, emails, and beyond to hit the points your external audiences will be most concerned about.
• Factor in Skills: Succession planning is about so much more than filling open seats or promoting your talent. It’s about ensuring you have the right skills in the right positions to pilot the business into the future. When succession planning, be sure to factor in what capabilities you will need on hand. Is there someone you can appoint who already has those skills? Should you consider ‘training up’ an otherwise ideal candidate to make sure they have a well-rounded skillset when they ascend to the role? These are all important considerations for ensuring agility and viability in the future of work.

Succession Planning- Preparing for your next step up

While companies look to build their talent pipeline of candidates who could step into the shoes of key roles, individual senior executives need to consider what this might mean for their own career trajectory and adequately prepare. In fact, this preparation can make or break one’s success in their new position. Research estimates that 50% to 70% of executives fail within 18 months of taking on a role, with about 3% of those executives “failing spectacularly” while nearly 50% “quietly struggle.”

Preparing for the next role you’d like to have while still in your current position can help you succeed once you ascend. In an ideal scenario, you would be notified well in advance that you are next in line to take over, train under the sitting executive, and have all the necessary support you need to move into the role. In the current business climate of ongoing disruption, the ideal scenario may not be the reality. You may not have the necessary onboarding you desire, and therefore need to take the reins of your career into your own hands.

Our Rialto Executive Career Coaches advise senior executives preparing to ascend to the next level to consider the following:

• Know Yourself: Many of the executives who fail shortly after taking on a role do so because they are not adequately prepared for leadership. We can at times become so busy that we neglect to think about who we are, what type of leader we want to be, what legacy we want to leave. This can lead to misalignment in a role, imposter syndrome, and mistrust from key stakeholders among other issues. Who are you professionally? What do you stand for? What will you do, and what will you not do? What approach do you prefer to take? What do you want out of your career, and what is the best way of achieving that? Knowing who you are as a leader and carrying yourself appropriately will help position you as a potential candidate for succession and help others visualise what you would bring to the role.
• Know Your Stakeholders: When considering how you want others to perceive you, you must also consider who it is you need to influence. Who are the key stakeholders both above you and below you that you need to gain the support of? Who are the key decision makers for all succession-related activity? What is your relationship to the individual you aspire to replace someday? Forging strong relationships now can prove beneficial later as you will ascend to the new role with an existing network of support and trust among your peers. Knowing how these various stakeholder groups are influenced will enable you to build that support by meeting people where they are. Learn all you can from these individuals and bring it into your new role to maximise the impact you are able to deliver.
• Comparison Kills Confidence: Just as HRDs and the business need to avoid appointing carbon copies of past leaders, you need to be your own person in your new role. It can at times be easy to compare yourself to the executive before you or to your peers who might have also been considered for the role. Sometimes, it may not even be your internal voice making the comparison. If you are replacing someone who was much beloved, others may be very vocal about how you measure up. If you are replacing someone others were not as fond of, the bar for comparison may be set so low that it becomes easy to get away with giving less. At the end of the day, there was a reason why you were the person chosen for the job and you need to trust in that decision regardless of what your thoughts or your peers have to say about it. The only person you should be benchmarking against is yourself. Are you delivering on your promises? Are you living out your values? Are you making as big of an impact as you could be? No two leaders are the same. Focus on carving your own path and creating your own legacy instead of stepping into the shoes of your predecessor.
• Be Prepared to Navigate Organisational Politics: The challenges of organisational politics will not just impact HRDs or the other decision makers involved with succession choices. Navigating hurt feelings, dissent, and doubt is an unspoken responsibility of taking on a senior role. There will likely be someone who thinks they could do the job better than you, and they may choose to be vocal about that belief. You may also have others who lack respect for your new authority, let your existing relationship impact what they believe they can get away with, or doubt your ability to deliver on objectives. These may seem like such small incidents, but they can make it difficult to adjust to the new role or cause unnecessary distraction. Do your best to keep your head above the noise and focus on the work at hand. Proving yourself in the role is the best way to shut down any naysayers and demonstrate that you were the right person for the job.
• It’s More Than a Promotion: Succession is not simply a promotion and will require a fair amount of career development activity on your part. Most succession planning is focussed at a senior level where executives will be succeeding into C-suite or Board-level positions, which come with other various reputational and strategic considerations. Appointing new members of top leadership enables the organisation to pilot itself into the future with the right people at the helm. What might that future look like, and what role do you intend to play in it? Do you have the right skills? It may be that taking over a role through succession requires reskilling or upskilling on your part to satisfy the organisation’s needs. Are you prepared for the internal and external pressures of the role? Your new role may require you to be more visible in your industry or the wider market. Is your personal brand reflective of who you are professionally and how you would like to be perceived? Understanding that this is more than just taking the next step in your career and preparing adequately will help position you as a stronger candidate for a desirable role and help you succeed once you get there.

If you are a senior executive seeking to grow your career, reach the next level and make a game changing career move, our Executive Career Coaches can help. Get in touch with our team to discuss our bespoke executive transition and career coaching services.

The theme for International Women’s Day 2023 was to ‘Embrace Equity,’ which calls for discussions about why equal opportunities are not enough to reach true gender parity. Rialto Executive Career Coaches have been reviewing the changes that have taken place since our previous blog exploring the idea of a ‘glass ceiling’ that hinders female leaders from progressing beyond a certain point.

What was once criticised as a ‘tick box exercise’ has continued to evolve as a critical business priority. Beyond simply being ‘the right thing to do,’ businesses have come to appreciate that championing equality in leadership can only make an organisation stronger and more resilient. Introducing voices and perspectives that differ from one another contributes to more agile and informed decision making. It’s no wonder why so many businesses are appointing female senior executives to key leadership positions.

Despite this progress, accomplished female executive continue to seek support from our Executive Career Coaches to navigate the challenges and limitations that persists in the form of the glass ceiling effect. With barriers continuing to exist as they progress into senior leadership positions, how can individuals break through? How can businesses aim to remove these invisible barriers? Where do we stand, and where do we go from here?

Progress, But Not Yet Perfect

The past several years have seen major progress in terms of gender equity, especially at the senior level. In fact, the annual FTSE Women Leaders Review found that 40.2% of directors at the UK’s largest listed companies were women in 2022, surpassing the voluntary threshold set for 2025 three years ahead of schedule. This figure is just over four times higher than it was in 2011 when it stood at a mere 9.5%

In the FTSE 100, female representation on boards stands at 40.5%, a marginal increase on 39.1% in 2021. This equates to 431 of 1063 directorships being held by women. Only seven of the UK’s top 100 companies fall short of the previous 33% target.

64 companies have at least one woman in the key roles of Chair, SID, CEO or FD, while a further four companies have women holding three out of those four positions. In 2022, 48% of board appointments for FTSE 100 companies went to women and 23% of FD roles in these companies are held by women. But only nine CEO roles are held by women at this level.

What we have viewed is that representation of female executives overall at the FTSE 100 level continues to improve, with 23 companies already meeting the 40% women Executives target and a further 31 companies meeting the previous 33% target. In terms of female executives’ functional roles in the FTSE 100, their lowest representation is as CIO (21%) and their highest is as Human Resources Director (69%).

Today, women occupy two out of five board seats in the FTSE 350, with almost a fifth of FTSE 350 boards having a woman chair despite there being only 21 female chief executives across the main listed markets. Across the FTSE 350, 1,202 of the 3,000 board seats and 6,660 of the 20,000 leadership roles were held by women in 2022. The Review also found that the number of all-male executive committees in the FTSE 350 fell to 10 in 2022 from 54 in 2017, but female representation in these committees stands at just 27% and could still be further improved.

The 2022 Review included data on the UK’s top 50 private companies for the first time. This data revealed that in these companies, the proportion of women on boards averages at about 31%. A third of these companies reported that more than 40% of directors were women, while more than half reported female representation that is well below the average. Of the top 50 private UK companies, 19 had boards that were either all male or included just one female director. In the top 50 private companies, the figure for women’s representation on executive committees and direct reports stood at 34.3%.

Because the way top level management is structured in private companies sometimes differs from the leadership structure of publicly listed organisations, it is difficult to truly compare progress. Looking at the data, it is clearly apparent that the UK has made excellent strides in both private and public company leadership, but there is still some way to go before true gender equity is reached.

Parity is yet to be reached in terms of payment as well. According to Government data, 2022 UK gender pay gap had an average 5.45% and a median of 9.71%. In monetary terms, the average hourly difference in ordinary pay is £1.44 compared to £1.48 in 2021 and the median hourly difference is £2.41 (£2.68 the previous year). Again, small improvements are occurring year on year, but we are still shy of true equality.

Executive Transition Top Challenges

Despite this progress, something still stands in the way of true gender equality at the senior level. From speaking with our female clients looking for their next executive career transition, our Executive Career Coaches have shared some of the top barriers they continue to identify today:

• Unconscious Bias: We all have biases. The ones we are not consciously aware of can often be more detrimental than the ones we know we have. These biases are developed throughout life as we are shaped by our family, environment, peers, culture, education, society, and more. These beliefs may not reflect truth, but influence how we view the world and our place in it. Sometimes, that can bleed into our professional lives with detrimental effects.

For example, what we feel may be anecdotal office humour can actually be the reflection and perpetuation of harmful, long-held ideas that hinder true progress. One such ‘stereotype’ is the idea of female bosses as cold, calculated, or downright mean. This characterisation is rooted in deep-seated biases held by both genders to feel that success is tied to ‘male’ qualities. Because the top has been male dominated for so long, many female executives unconsciously believe they must take on more masculine traits and behaviours to be accepted and to succeed. Their male counterparts expect this of them, but this expectation is also in conflict with their perception of femininity and what a woman ‘should’ act like. Whether realised or not, these biases held by both parties have a detrimental effect on the decisions involved with appointing senior executives to key leadership positions. These biases may lead women to adapt their management style in an ineffective way or create doubt among the men involved in the hiring process about appointing a woman to a key role.

• Imposter Syndrome: Of course, these biases and a lack of representation in general can lead to other adverse outcomes such as imposter syndrome. These nagging, deep-rooted beliefs may hinder female executives’ progress by making them question themselves unnecessarily. Our Executive Career Coaches regularly tackle this issue with both male and female senior executives, but the latter group are more likely to experience imposter syndrome related setbacks. A lack of representation and unconscious ideas about success and leadership may prevent well-equipped women from aiming for roles they are qualified and suited for or may shake their confidence once they ascend to these roles.
• Misunderstanding of ‘Equality’: Gender parity does not necessarily mean treating women and men the exact same at work. As discussed, our societally shaped beliefs of masculinity and femininity and what success has historically looked like can potentially have negative effects on who we put in leadership positions and what sorts of traits and behaviours we accept from them. Gender equality does not mean expecting women to mimic the behaviours and actions of their male counterparts when appointed to senior leadership. True gender equality will involve reshaping culture to support and celebrate everyone’s unique contributions and attributes whilst also introducing structures and practices that support both sexes equally. This will likely involve having to overcome some of the barriers still present in wider society. For example, women continue to bear a heavier burden when it comes to balancing work and family, despite progress in recent decades to bring about gender equality in the workplace. We also found that younger female leaders who have become mothers are still among the most likely to say that being a working parent makes it harder for them to get ahead in their career. For true equality to exist, this can no longer be the case.
• The Tech Barrier: Recently, an increasing number of organisations have been implementing artificial intelligence (AI) tools to their recruitment processes. While these technologies are not inherently biased, they are trained by humans who inherently possess bias and are trained on datasets that may perpetuate negative outcomes. With these tools, what you put in is what you get out. In some cases, recruiting talent this way can help to remove human bias from the equation by blindly evaluating candidates on their suitability for the role alone. In other cases, these algorithms and tools can exacerbate existing problems in the organisation. For example, if a company trains their AI to identify suitable candidates based on their existing and historical workforce, the AI will use those parameters to assess the CVs it is fed. If that company has been historically male dominated or has hired people from specific ethnicities, geographical areas, educational backgrounds, and so on, the AI has been trained to find more of the same. If not overseen properly, this can lead to excellent candidates being overlooked and a perpetuation of the organisation’s lack of diversity. It is critical to keep a human in the loop for this process and to keep this possibility for bias in mind if using AI for hiring purposes.

Advice from our Executive Coaches

Overcoming the barriers to break through the ‘glass ceiling’ phenomenon requires businesses and individuals to work jointly together. For both groups, our Executive Career Coaches advise the following:

• Challenge Yourself and Others: Most of our biases are unconscious, but that does not mean they do not manifest themselves in our everyday lives. If you find this happening to you, it is essential to nip it in the bud when you become conscious of it. Question if you truly believe it, and where that belief may stem from. Now that you have identified that you have this bias or belief, you can consciously work towards remedying it. At the same time, we need to hold our peers accountable, both male and female. If ever you pick up on something from someone else, discuss it with them in private. Have the hard conversations. That is the only way we are going to improve. From an organisational standpoint, intentional action and education are the paths forward. Revisit your D&I initiatives. Are they meeting expectations and generating real impact, or has the business been simply treating these as tick box exercises? Is there anything you could be doing better to bolster different groups? It is also wise to revisit your training efforts to ensure they reflect the right ideals. Offer training on unconscious biases to help your people identify and address them.
• Create Cultures of Equity: Training individuals to reflect, improve, and become more inclusive can help to create an overall culture of awareness and equality. Organisations and their people should aim to create an environment that recognises and celebrates the differences among its members, and the reassurance that all are empowered to succeed. When all employees are encouraged to be their best selves and reach their full potential, it’s not just good for women or people of colour. It’s good for business. Encourage communication and collaboration, but most of all, ensure everyone feels heard.

Those operating in the C-suite or at senior level often have cultures of their own, where informal networks are critical for gaining influence and forging bonds. Camaraderie can sometimes be formed through hobbies or activities outside of work which can lead to those who have other responsibilities or interests being excluded.  These networks are important for communication and decision making, but at times can ostracise those on the outside. As these networks are embedded deeply into business life, eliminating them altogether is unrealistic. Instead, the aim should be to evolve the culture of the leadership team. These networks can continue to exist so long as they do not create communication silos between those on the inside and those outside. Ensure all parties are kept informed and encouraged to speak openly and honestly with one another. It is important that these discussions flow across all forms of communication. You do not need to be friends with your colleagues outside of work, but it is important not to let those friendships get in the way of how you collaborate with one another. A successful leadership team is one where everyone feels comfortable and equally empowered to speak their mind honestly and transparently without fear of retribution, regardless of their gender or any other factor.

• Embrace Flexibility: Hybrid working models have become the norm for many companies and embracing more flexibility can help promote better parity amongst men and women in the organisation. Increased flexibility can help improve work life balance, and ease some of the additional pressures placed on female employees. For example, allowing hybrid or flexible working schedules to suit the needs of both male and female staff with children can help keep women in the workforce instead of forcing one parent out to bear the responsibilities of childcare and parenthood on their own. In addition to maternity leave, consider offering comparable paternity leave to male employees, affording them the same opportunity to bond with their new family members and support their partners. But also understand that staff with children are not the only ones entitled to flexibility. True equality in your organisation will involve enabling access to privileges for all your staff regardless of their situation. Just as you offer flexibility to your staff to be with their children, encourage your childfree staff to take time out for their hobbies, relationships, and wellbeing to prevent burnout. Greater work life balance has become a major priority for younger staff of both genders, and your ability to deliver on this now will help shape and strengthen your future workforce.

Despite some great progress over the past year, the glass ceiling continues to be a reality for many female executives. But equally, each person has the power to break through. With the right mindset, support, and a little creativity, there are ways to feel empowered, identify solutions, and pave a path to success.

If you would like to arrange a confidential discussion to explore how our Executive Coaching, Executive Transition or Executive Outplacement support could help you to maintain your career trajectory, speak to our team on +44 (0)20 3746 2960 or contact us via email at info@rialtoconsultancy.com

The C-suite has always faced the challenge of having to simultaneously run tomorrow’s race while also competing in today’s marathon, but that challenge has become even more difficult in recent years. Ongoing uncertainty and disruption has called for bolder, more assertive, and purposeful transformational leadership guided by well-executed strategy.

As part of our ongoing Executive Transition research, we have found that organisations are appointing a Chief Operating Officer to drive growth, boost organisational resilience, and generate value. As of 2022, 40% of leading companies had this role as part of their leadership team. The remit of this position has never been easy to nail down, and the role of the COO can be the most variable of the C-suite. As the world of work has evolved, so has the expectations of those in these positions to become catalysts for business impact.

While their title implies a strong foundation in operations, areas such as supply chain and customer satisfaction are equally of importance as the role of the modern and future COO will require much more diverse and well-rounded enterprise capabilities. Often considered to be the right hand of the CEO, the COO must pair their strategic and day-to-day operational capabilities with high-level relationship management, customer and stakeholder engagement. Rather than being a specialist in a specific capability, success in the role requires the executive to instead become a specialist of the business itself to become a driver and facilitator of its growth.

Here are some of the top skills required to be successful in the role for the foreseeable future, challenges faced, and factors to keep in mind if a COO role is your objective when undergoing an executive transition.

COO Snapshot

When working with our Executive Outplacement clients, we often encourage them to use LinkedIn to benchmark themselves against other candidates and to get a feel for the marketplace. A LinkedIn search for profiles in the UK with a current title of “Chief Operating Officer” yields approximately 15,000 results. While there is not much data available on the demographics of these executives, data from the US can help to paint the picture. In the US, COOs are predominantly male (76.6%) with an average age of 51 years old. The majority (89%) of these COOs are older than 40 years old, while the further 11% are between 30 and 40 years old. The COO role is found in businesses of all sizes, with most COOs representing mid-sized organisations with 50-500 employees (43%) or large organisations with more than 10,000 employees (21%).

As for tenure, the data shows that approximately one third (33%) of COOs will hold the role for just 1-2 years. 18% will have a tenure of 3-4 years, and a further 18% will have the title for 5-7 years. It is not entirely uncommon to hold the role for longer stretches of time, as 11% of COOs have a tenure of 11+ years.

According to Glassdoor, the average UK base pay for a Chief Operating Officer is approximately £111,000 per year. However, pay scales for the role range from £59,000 and £211,000. The average additional cash compensation for COOs in the UK is £40,000. Of course, the financial reward for the role will vary by region, industry, and size of the business. Those currently in the role might find that moving company is their best option for increasing their earning potential.

Top COO Skills

The role of the Chief Operating Officer has become increasingly important in recent years, but rarely do these positions have a clear job description. Because their remit is so varied, a COO’s skillset is arguably the most versatile of anyone else the C-suite apart from the Chief Executive. Some of the most valuable characteristics of successful COOs include:

• Broad enterprise capabilities: Unlike the CFO, CTO, or CMO who represent specific functions and must be experts in their respective areas, the COO needs to be a generalist. While many will rise to this role from a more specialised background in finance or supply chain, a COO’s day-to-day means that they need to have an understanding of all areas of the business. An organisation is the sum of its parts, and it falls on the COO to ensure all those parts are moving seamlessly together to reach targets and deliver on strategic objectives. The COO needs to have enough understanding of how those different parts function to spot inefficiencies and remedy them. Having to oversee the organisation’s complexity provides a broad viewpoint and deep enterprise insight that can be beneficial for success as a COO, and especially beneficial to those ascending to CEO later. The most effective COOs are those with strong, well-rounded strategic, CX, operational, people, and commercial capabilities rather than narrower expertise in one or two of these areas.
• Adaptability: Due to having to wear many different hats on any given day, adaptability is critical for success in this role. Because the modern COO role comes with so many different mandates and responsibilities, it is rarely defined. This lack of a structured remit requires those in these positions to encourage their teams to pivot quickly and often, and encouraging the right culture and effective operations to do so is a crucial attribute. If this capability is not inherent, this would be an ideal area of focus for personal development. COOs need to keep their finger on the pulse of the business, their industry, and the marketplace at large. While it won’t be possible to predict every bump in the road, becoming more adaptable will help COOs become better at anticipating changes as they crop up.
• Execution and Delivery: Because so much of the organisation’s strategic mandate flows through the COO, it is crucial for these executives to be inclined towards action. Being able to identify organisational inefficiencies, develop strategies to remedy them, and enacting those plans with desirable outcomes is the true measure of success in this role. Are you able to see the business from multiple stakeholder views, and do what needs to be done to innovate and create improvements? Do you have what it takes to both create the vision and lead others to bring it to fruition?
• Relationship Management: A COO’s ability to deliver goes a long way for instilling trust and credibility among stakeholder audiences, which is a critical task for any executive in this role to accomplish. Among the C-suite, the COO’s visibility in the organisation is one of the highest. With their hands in so many different areas of the business, COOs are constantly having to navigate different audiences and perspectives. The COO needs to juggle their relationships with the rest of the C-Suite and Board, other senior-level leadership, staff further down in the business, customers, investors, and suppliers. Each of these audiences will have different needs, priorities, and insights. Therefore, having a high emotional quotient makes it much easier to forge and maintain strong support among all the groups you vacillate between on a regular basis. Being willing to listen to these differing perspectives will help you inform your own strategy, and your abilities as a communicator will be crucial for expressing your plans and objectives to your various audiences and getting them on board.

Top Market Challenges Impacting COOs

The skills above will be critically important as COOs attempt to navigate the challenges of the current business landscape. Some of the top factors that these executives should be aware of are:

• Short-term Firefighting: When was the last time your organisation could rely on a five- or ten-year strategic plan? Surely it has been a while. In recent years, COOs and the rest of the C-suite have been faced with having to deliver on strategic objectives while battling near constant interruptions. The unexpected pandemic and its resulting aftershock of difficulties added more challenges to the C-suite’s already full plate, so understandably, dedicating energy to putting out urgent fires has taken the focus away from longer term planning or adhering to big picture goals. The COO role is highly strategic in nature, and executives in this position need to keep one foot in the present and the other stepping forward towards the future. Getting wrapped up in delivering impact in the short-term creates the risk of this becoming a cycle. While this might be good for in the moment agility, the business’s future competitive edge is at stake.
• People and Resources: It is no secret that this is a tough time for the jobs market and for the global economy. These challenges have trickled into many businesses, leading to tough staffing decisions, cutbacks, organisational restructuring, and reprioritisation. Even those businesses who are looking to grow are facing hardships with attracting and retaining talent with the right skills and capabilities. Lack of people and fiscal resources presents major operational difficulties that many COOs will be tasked with finding solutions to. For the foreseeable future, COOs should anticipate being tasked with having to do more with less and be very strategic about their resource allocation.
• ESG and CSR: But internal resources are not the only resources COOs and their stakeholder audiences are worried about. Sustainability has become a major area of focus for both businesses and their customers, with many organisations introducing carbon reduction initiatives and committing to net zero targets. Therefore, incorporating ESG into company strategy has become an essential expectation for the COO and the rest of the C-suite. However, it is not enough to simply set targets. The organisation needs to be able to ‘walk the talk.’ The business’s efforts must be perceived as genuine and be supported by real action. It will fall on the COO to help determine what targets are most achievable for the business, and to help generate the necessary internal support.
• Digital Transformation and Cyber Threats: The current wave of digital transformation presents an opportunity for businesses to become more agile, efficient, and competitive through the adoption of advanced technologies. But with increased reliance on technology comes increased cybersecurity risks, which of course threatens a business’s operations. COOs are having to keep these threats in mind as they help shape the organisation’s digital transformation plans and wider strategy.

Top Priorities

Given these challenges, current and aspiring Chief Operating Officers should focus their attention on these key areas:

• Supporting the CEO: We have spoken at length about the difficulties and pressures facing CEOs, and oftentimes, COOs are appointed to help support or drive CEO performance. This may take one of two forms. The first option is for the COO to take on a complimentary role to the CEO, possessing opposing traits and characteristics that offer different perspectives, insights, and ways of working that lead to better outcomes. Alternatively, they may take on a partner role and be viewed as another version of the CEO, lending support to their ideas and sharing in their vision. Regardless of which form is taken, it is an unspoken understanding that the COO is there to drive performance at the top. This may involve challenging the CEO to think differently or taking on some of the burden to alleviate their pressures. The relationship between these two senior roles is one of the most crucial in the business and has the potential to make or break the organisation’s effectiveness.

Others will enter the COO role as the heir apparent to the CEO, appointed with the expectation and understanding that they will one day be at the helm. Historically, the COO role was the primary steppingstone to the top job, with 76% of new CEOs in the early 2000s having started as a COO. Today, COO is still the most common starting point for CEOs but to a lesser extent, with nearly 27% of CEOs in Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies promoted from the COO role in 2021. Comparatively, only 8% of CEO promotions in 2022 were from the CFO position. It would be naïve to enter the COO position without potential succession in mind, and therefore executives in these roles or aspiring to them should make the most of the time they spend in this position. Learn all you can about the business and its people. Increase your visibility and support so that when the time comes for you to ascend to the CEO spot, you can dedicate less time to generating buy-in and building your credibility. Of course, you need to ensure you are not so wrapped up in your next role that you neglect your responsibilities as COO. The COOs who tend to overperform in the Chief Executive role later are those who draw on the experience and knowledge they gained through shaping and delivering operational excellence.

• Strengthening Strategic Relationships: However, it is not just their relationship with the CEO that Chief Operating Officers need to be mindful and protective of. As mentioned, COOs operate throughout the business and therefore must navigate a wide range of internal and external audiences. The COO needs to be able to cooperate with the rest of the C-suite and the Board, work effectively with senior leadership, instil confidence in investors, generate buy-in from the rest of the organisation’s staff, and demonstrate value to customers and partners. One of the most important strategic relationships the COO is tasked with nurturing, however, is that with the organisation’s suppliers. The past few years have been incredibly disruptive at the operations and supply chain level, and new and reliable suppliers can be hard to come by. In PwC’s latest COO Pulse Survey, 57% of responding COOs reported building closer relationships with suppliers is very important to transforming their business operations. As a result, executives at this level need to be thinking more strategically about how their relationships can be leveraged to improve stability, increase quality, and optimise pricing. Fostering fruitful partnerships will be critical, but today’s COO’s need to be willing and able to cut ties as needed to better serve the business. An ability to effectively judge your relationships will serve you well in the role.
• Strategic Workforce Management: Of course, the Chief Operating Officer’s strategic vision is null without the right people in place to enact it. Hiring has been a challenge for businesses across industries since the onset of the pandemic, but COO’s personnel interests are less about getting bodies through the door and more about getting the right talent in the right positions. Having highly skilled talent can make the business leaner without sacrificing on efficiency. The right talent is worth more than having a broad workforce that does not necessarily deliver at the desired level. As businesses restructure and rethink their personnel priorities, COOs should champion quality over quantity to make the most of the organisation’s resources.
• Doubling Down on Digital: Investing in new technology will help with this as well. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a major area of interest for COOs in recent years due to the productivity benefits it can produce without increasing workloads. Automation is nearly always a wise investment from an operations standpoint by helping to streamline, predict, and execute. After much resistance, businesses and their C-suites have begun embracing new technologies rapidly. COOs have no choice but to get on board with digital transformation and champion it in their strategy. Coming to grips with this technology makes it possible to plan for it more effectively. Current and aspiring COOs should dedicate the time to researching macro trends and sharpening their own digital capabilities to deliver long term value.

If you are a current Chief Operating Officer looking for your next executive role, or an executive looking to transition into a COO role, we can help. The Rialto Consultancy offers a range of career strategy services including Executive Outplacement, Executive Career Coaching, and Personal Branding. Get in touch with our team to discuss your options to make a game changing transformational career move.

When was the last time you actively sought out a new contact at a conference, or sent a LinkedIn request to someone beyond your second degree of connection? If you are like many senior executives, it has likely been a while. Data from McKinsey shows that only 14% of professionals have grown their networks since 2020, while less than 50% reported making any effort to do so.

The vast majority of executives spend their career lifecycle in closed networks. This shouldn’t come as a surprise when you consider that many professionals remain in the same sectors and industries for their entire career. Those who have reached the senior level will have spent many years occupying the same spaces, attending the same events, and engaging in the same conversations with the same groups. The higher you climb to the top, the thinner the population gets and the more likely it becomes that senior executives already know each other.

For senior leaders, the C-suite, and members of the board, being closed off and not actively growing the scope of their network can lead to a major reduction in their career value and lost opportunities. It also does not align with the more agile demands of modern leadership. Today’s executives must be adaptable, curious, and keen to evolve in the wake of ongoing disruption. These behaviours can be stimulated and enhanced by exposure to more open and vibrant networks.

In this first instalment of our networking series, we are exploring the ways in which executives in senior, C-suite, or Board level roles can extend and leverage their networks both during an executive job search and for success in their existing position.

Why Network?

In business, there exists a popular adage that states, “It’s all about who you know.” This idea provides the entire basis for networking as a practice. The people you meet, attend school with, and work with through the years play a part in your professional past, and those relationships may prove beneficial in the future even after your paths have diverged. Fostering these relationships over time can help generate referrals, retain valuable partnerships, and build your reputation in your industry and beyond. You can tap into the wisdom, experience, and insight of your trusted peers for your own personal growth. You can also leverage your relationships when venturing into a new geographic or business area for your organisation, or if you plan to make a career change.

While who you know matters, it is equally important who knows you. When you are sharing your thought leadership on LinkedIn, who is seeing that content? When you attend conferences or industry events, who is walking away with your card or contact details? When your business is on the verge of securing a new partnership or revenue stream, or is facing a crisis of public opinion, is your reputation as a leader enough to instil confidence?

The further your reach extends among the right audiences, the more value your name holds. This increases your credibility in the marketplace and your notoriety. By getting out there and getting in front of the right people, your name is on people’s minds when relevant opportunities arise or in conversations related to your areas of thought leadership. The people who know you can carry you even further to the people they know, potentially leading to partnerships or beneficial new contacts. And if you have really strengthened your name recognition and reputation amongst your stakeholder audiences, then your sheer presence on the board alone can reflect positively for your organisation in others’ minds.

There is so much value to this practice for both businesses and individuals to reap, but how should senior executives think about their networking activity to drive their own impact?

Using Networking to Your Advantage

For senior leaders, the C-suite, and members of the Board, networking will have different objectives than it might for someone looking to climb the ladder. Executives at this level will be looking to take that final step up to the top, build their professional reputation, establish thought leadership, take on higher impact Executive or NED roles and other similar opportunities, or make a lateral move to a different organisation. Therefore, the way they navigate their networking activities will differ. Even so, networking at the senior or board level can be narrowed down to four core activities:

• Benchmarking: One of the most valuable yet most overlooked aspects of networking is its power as a research tool. Interacting with other senior executives both in your industry and beyond it is a great way to get a feel for how your skills, experience, and capabilities compare to others at your level. Are there any capabilities that you lack that you should work on developing? Is there something unique that you bring to the table that sets you apart from your peers? Are there trends in the market you might have overlooked or gave too little consideration? Conversations with others in your industry can help gain insight into where things stand and where they are heading, which can help you to adequately prepare for what lies ahead for your role, job function, business, or industry.

The best way to do this is to reach beyond your immediate circle. If you limit yourself to those you are closest to, you may not gain a comprehensive view of what the senior market really looks like. Recent research from MIT, Harvard and Stanford found that weaker social connections have a greater effect on job mobility than stronger connections. Reaching out to your lesser known or secondary contacts on LinkedIn is more likely to yield opportunities than mining your close personal relationships would be. When looking to benchmark yourself in the marketplace, be sure to look beyond your immediate sphere to help paint a clearer picture of what is happening at the senior level.

• Development: That said, gaining insights from those around you can be incredibly valuable for driving your own personal development. Oftentimes, others close to us can see us more clearly than we see ourselves. Our personal biases and perceptions can cloud our judgement and prevent us from reaching our full potential. To combat this, try asking your colleagues, friends, and family to describe what they perceive as your strengths and weaknesses. Are these in line with the ideas you have about yourself, the impressions you would like to leave others with, or the professional image you would like to project? You might find areas in which others have noticed you can improve and grow, which in turn can guide where you devote time to skill building or other professional development activity.

Of course, personal growth is incredibly valuable for delivering long term value as a leader, but it can also help you solidify your value proposition for an executive job search. Many job opportunities—especially at the senior level—are secured by word of mouth and peer referrals. For many at the senior level, it will have been a while since they have been in the job market, and things will have changed pretty dramatically since then. Rather than simply fishing for leads on open positions, use networking as a means of putting feelers out in the marketplace, seeking out advice for navigating current conditions, and using feedback to drive your search efforts. If you aren’t engaging with your peer network and learning from them, you may be missing out on potential opportunities to expand your horizons and enrich your career.

• Innovation: Just as we cannot always rely on our own judgement to be an accurate barometer of our own personal strengths or of the conditions in the marketplace, sometimes it is better to branch out to find new ideas and ways of doing things. Senior leaders, the C-suite, and members of the Board are all in unique and high-pressure positions of having to deliver impact at scale and drive the business forward through every new challenge. Building a strong internal team is fundamental for delivering desired business outcomes, but sometimes leadership need to look beyond the business to gain a better understanding of the market and the needs of their customers. Getting out there and having valuable conversations with various different groups can give rise to new ideas and innovations, and can help leaders gather feedback about proposed plans and projects before committing to them.

• Sharing: You should not treat your network like a cash machine from which you only withdraw. Networking is a reciprocal practice in which you need to give as much as you take. Just as you glean insights from your network, you should be feeding back your own knowledge and advice. Being able to offer valuable contributions helps to strengthen those relationships and others’ perceptions of you as a thought leader. The more insight you can provide on particular subjects, the more you become associated with and are viewed as an expert in these areas. Then over time, it becomes more likely that others will think of you when opportunities and discussions related to these subjects arise. Not only that, but your insights and advice may benefit those you share them with and help them to progress on their own career path.

Your approach to networking and the motivation behind it will vary based on where you are in your career and where you aim to be, but it is important that you do it regardless. Treat networking as an integral part of your role as a senior executive rather than an added-on chore.  To truly reap the benefits of this useful peer-to-peer practice, treat networking as ongoing relationship building rather than a transactional exchange. You never know when you’ll need to draw on the power of your network, and it is crucial to build the necessary support and perceptions ahead of time.

For over a decade, The Rialto Consultancy has helped individuals access high-quality networks that can expose them to new thinking as well as new career and business opportunities. If you would like our help with strengthening your network and getting in front of the right audiences, explore our upcoming networking-focused Events and get in touch with our team about our Executive Coaching or Executive Transition programmes which also support to build your personal digital brand.