Cultivating the NextGen of Leaders in Your Firm

Within our business — the people business — we all know it’s hard to find exceptional talent. We understand the challenges of talent pipelines, upskilling, and reskilling. When it comes to our own people, particularly at the leadership and executive levels, it’s often challenging to develop an effective plan for leadership training.

MRINetwork firm owners cite shared leadership development challenges and priorities including:

Identifying future leaders and evaluating their readiness to lead
Developing leadership training and growth opportunities to retain top talent
Delegating and handing off leadership responsibilities
Succession planning and forward-looking leadership solutions

NextGen: Developed for Search Firms, Tailored to Your Business

MRINetwork provides the expertise and process search firms need to cultivate the next generation of leadership within their businesses. NextGen, an 18-month leadership development program led by MRI, equips aspiring leaders — and their firms — with the tools, support, and training they need to excel in today’s competitive business environment. Learn more about the program’s impact.

NextGen brings together aspiring search firm leaders (NextGens) and current owners and managing partners (Legacies), to share best practices and embark on transformational leadership training. Facilitated by Annette Wehrli, Vice President, Organizational Effectiveness and Learning, the NextGen program leverages supportive peer communities, one-on-one coaching, co-authored leadership tracks, and real-world application of best practices.

Sharing and learning together, firm owners/partners and up-and-coming leaders are better able to navigate the complex challenges they face. Branson Jordan, Vice President, Banking Practice at Management Recruiters of Spokane, spoke to the community-minded ethos of the program: “Everyone has the same goal: What can I share? What can I learn? What can I take back to my desk, office, and team to be better and drive more revenue?” With NextGen, participants are able to see inside other successful firms, and look to peers for support and guidance.

Innovative Strategies. Proven Outcomes.

Firms that have participated in NextGen cite improvements in many areas outside of leadership development. These include employee success, enhanced company culture, improved efficiency, and better communication. Among the findings:

100 percent said NextGen equipped their aspiring leader to make a more positive impact
89 percent cited improved employee productivity
78 percent saw a lift to employee engagement or morale
78 percent said NextGen gave their organization a competitive advantage
100 percent would recommend NextGen to other firm leaders

“The impact and guidance we have received through NextGen have kept us moving forward,” Sundae McMillan, CFO/Operations Director of Management Recruiters of Tallahassee, said when asked about the program’s impact on her firm. “We learned where our weaknesses were and how best to recover, and where we needed to grow. We are on pace for our best year since making many changes through the last three years.”

Read the full NextGen Impact Report.