Research shows that staff on high-flyer schemes plan to leave their
companies within two to five years.
"Given that high flyers are valued for their potential rather than
their immediate contribution, this issue clearly has serious
implications," said Michelle Deeks, head of research at occupational
psychologist firm Pearn Kandola, which compiled the survey. She said firms need
to work out how to get value out of high flyers, despite their short tenure.
The research looked at 60 MBA students at business schools across Europe,
who were predominantly male, aged between 21 and 40.
The results showed that high flyers were no more driven by pay than the
general population, and were more interested in the quality of work and gaining
responsibility and power.
Nine out of 10 also want to work overseas. Fifty per cent of participants
also want to be offered the flexibility to work from home.Their preferred types
of organisation to work in were finance, consultancy and technology, but the
career development methods used by many got the thumbs down.
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"It is a major concern that commonly used processes such as career development
re-sources and technical training were viewed unfavourably by a significant
proportion of our respondents," said Deeks.
