The impact of leadership development in the acceleration of black talent in JSE-listed companies.

Abstract

This research examined the impact of leadership development on the acceleration of black talent to executive levels within the JSE-listed companies. Leadership development initiatives of different companies were studied to understand their impact, if any, on the acceleration of black talent. This study further sought to reveal and analyse the challenges in the lack of advancement of black talent in JSE-listed companies, including how they can be overcome. The aim of this research was to examine the impact of leadership development on the acceleration of black talent to top management or executive level positions in JSE-listed companies. The study outcome provides practical guidance to companies on how they can accelerate black talent to executive levels in JSE-listed companies by using the recommended leadership development initiatives. The research looked only at JSE-listed companies, using their market capitalisation for segmentation which ranged from small-sized, midsized and top-sized companies. The research method used for this study was exploratory in nature, which is a form of qualitative research, the form of data collection techniques aligned with qualitative research. The study used purposive, nonprobability sampling, and the findings cannot be generalised. The goal of purposive sampling is to sample cases or participants in a strategic way so that those sampled are relevant to the research questions. The data were attained from 16 semi-structured interviews, which were conducted with different business leaders who were employed by, or who served on the board of directors of a JSE-listed company. The respondents included board chairmen; chief executives; executives and HR practitioners of different companies. The study should also contribute to the understanding of the challenges and barriers faced by black professionals in their pursuit to break the glass ceiling in advancing their careers to executive levels in JSE-listed companies. The key findings of the study indicated that there are many challenges facing the acceleration of black talent and these include inadequate participation of black talent in leadership development initiatives; prevalent overlooking of black talent for opportunities and institutionalised biasness in companies. The leadership development initiatives that the study recommends include the conversion of non-executives to executives; career sponsorships; stretch assignments and rotations; executive assistant initiatives. The study further recommends the needs for incentives and penalties to be considered in realising the acceleration of black talent to executive levels in JSE-listed companies.