Young and restless and aiming for a top corporate position? You may not have to wait much

India Inc is going all out to back potential young talent for senior management roles even if they don't have the requisite experience.

The conventional idea of mature bosses with grey hair is gradually being discontinued in firms, with organisations promoting young and homegrown talent.

Giving charge to a young generation, even if they are not completely ready, is now becoming a common trend. Organisations are placing big bets on young candidates who have the potential for senior roles, even if they aren’t 100% ready.

TOI reported S V Nathan, partner and chief talent officer at Deloitte India, as saying that with opportunities aplenty, organisations feel there’s greater confidence in promoting people early even if they are 65-70% ready than bringing in an outsider. “It demonstrates the commitment to developing leaders from within,” he said. But he added, “Wherever there is change needed, an outside leader could be a better bet.”

A key benefit of selecting younger and in-house candidates is they are well-versed with the organisation and its way of functioning. They have an already built communication network which could help them to function swiftly as a leader.

According to a TOI report, two out of three senior leadership roles were filled internally with employees who were not fully ready but had the potential to grow.

“Whether you get persons from outside or grow them from within, you need to give them those learning opportunities so that they can perform their role better. Even when a company is hiring from outside, and if it’s for a role that requires niche skills, you will not get a perfect match. You will have to give that person the opportunity to learn and upskill,” TOI quoted Neha Pant, associate director (knowledge & advisory) at the HR association, SHRM India.

In an instance mentioned by TOI, Alkem Laboratories gave an opportunity to an employee to occupy a position which is typically held by a person two levels higher.

The employees’ will and determination to try the new and senior roles is acting as an add-on factor in this new era, stated Megha Goel, CHRO at Godrej Properties (GPL).

The companies have also realised that it is significant to provide the younger generation with a time frame of almost a year to settle in and prove their worth in the new leadership role.

“You just cannot throw the individual in the deep end of the pool and then ask the person to swim. We communicate that this is a joint ownership of the individual, the firm and the ecosystem to ensure success,” said Sinha. Additionally, he said organisations should measure what needs to get done and have a plan B in place just in case things don’t work out. “I would say design a plan, because it may seem very basic, but often it’s the basics that we miss out on,” TOI quoted Sunit Sinha, partner and head of people, performance & culture at KPMG India, as saying.