New research reveals that almost two thirds (63 per cent) of senior executives have resigned or considered resigning due to frustration with organisational decision-making. Despite the pivotal role that decision-making plays in business, it’s also a source of major frustration for many senior executives. According to a survey commissioned by Kingsley Gate, a leading global, private equity-backed executive search firm, undertaken by FT Longitude of the Financial Times Group, more than a quarter (29 per cent) of senior executives have considered resigning from a job because they were frustrated with the way the company made decisions, whilst more than a third (34 per cent) actually resigned for this reason.
The findings are from a new report launched today “Bad Decisions: Why companies miss the most important factor in executive hiring”, which examines decision-making as a critical and often overlooked lens to identifying, assessing, onboarding and empowering leadership talent.
Surprisingly, a quarter (25 per cent) of senior executives say that their decision-making experience, capability or potential was not explicitly discussed before starting their current role. However, senior executives who were asked about decision-making in their interviews are 1.4 times more likely to be satisfied with their jobs overall, and twice as likely to be satisfied with the organisation’s decision-making process.
When asked which factors play the biggest part in driving improvement in their organisation’s decision-making effectiveness, they cited company leadership as the most influential factor, followed closely by new senior hires. These people-centric factors were ranked ahead of AI/technology, processes and data-analysis tools, as well as their own self-reported impact.
FT Longitude surveyed 400 senior executives from companies with more than 1000 employees across five countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Says Francesca d’Arcangeli, COO of Kingsley Gate: “New leaders are increasingly being defined by the decisions they make. And as our research shows, effective decision-making can radically alter the direction of a company. It’s therefore essential that their decision-making approach and style are assessed at the earliest stage of the interview process.
“Equally, it’s important that executives understand a company’s decision-making environment before they join,” Francesca adds. “A mis-match can result in a situation where an executive cannot meet their objectives or is uncomfortable and does not stay for long – both of which can have considerable consequences.”
