In theory, a company’s organizational talent should perfectly match its strategic priorities. In practice, we often see a disconnect: businesses identify strategic imperatives without ensuring they have the right people to execute them.
What are your business priorities? Who “owns” them in your organization? Do the leaders with ownership possess the requisite expertise and experience to execute?
If you’re not sure, or certainly if the answer to the last question in particular is no, then there’s potentially a costly misalignment in your organization. This misalignment can manifest in a number of ways.
For example, a company launches a major digital transformation initiative without an executive who has successfully led one. Or a business prioritizes expansion into a new overseas market while lacking leaders with regional experience. The company charts an ambitious course but lacks the navigational expertise to reach its destination.
What often happens, as business priorities evolve, is that companies attempt to force new initiatives through outdated organizational structures. The org chart remains static while strategic priorities shift, creating accountability gaps where critical initiatives have no clear owner or are assigned to already-overwhelmed leaders lacking the necessary expertise.
These disconnects rarely resolve themselves. Companies should proactively audit their talent against strategic priorities, identifying gaps before they become execution failures.
An experienced executive recruiter brings unique value to this process. Beyond simply filling positions, they help organizations recognize where talent gaps undermine strategic priorities and can advise on organizational design that aligns structure with strategy. They understand that sometimes the solution isn’t fitting a new person into an existing box, but rather creating an entirely new role that directly addresses an emerging business priority.
Don’t just update strategic plans—realign talent and organizational structure to support those evolving priorities.
The Cost of Misalignment
The consequences of this talent-strategy disconnect can be severe. When new strategic initiatives lead to underwhelming results, or outright failure, leadership gaps are often the primary cause. When ambitious strategies meet inadequate execution capabilities, companies experience:
- Delayed or abandoned initiatives after significant investment
- Loss of market position to more nimble competitors
- Wasted resources on partial implementations
- Decreased employee morale as teams struggle with unclear direction
- Erosion of stakeholder confidence
These types of challenges can lead to a self-reinforcing cycle of strategic retreat. When execution falters due to capability gaps, organizations often respond by scaling back their strategic ambitions rather than addressing the underlying talent issue. Companies find themselves settling for incremental improvements when transformational change was both possible and necessary, had they simply aligned their talent strategy with their business imperatives from the outset.
Practical Steps to Align Talent with Strategy
1. Conduct a Strategic Talent Audit
Begin by mapping your strategic priorities against your existing leadership talent. For each major initiative:
- Identify the specific skills and experience needed for successful execution
- Assess whether current leaders possess those capabilities
- Determine where critical gaps exist
- Prioritize which gaps pose the greatest risk to strategic success
2. Reimagine Organizational Structure Based on Priorities
Rather than viewing your org chart as fixed, treat it as a flexible tool to serve your strategy:
- Consider creating new positions that specifically own critical priorities
- Evaluate whether traditional functional silos serve your current strategic needs
- Look for opportunities to streamline leadership in legacy areas to free resources for new priorities
3. Focus on Your Talent Pipeline
For each identified gap, determine whether to develop internal talent or recruit externally:
- Assess the urgency of the need against development timelines
- Evaluate whether the necessary expertise exists within the organization but needs repositioning
- Consider hybrid approaches, such as bringing in experienced leaders to mentor promising internal talent
- Create targeted development plans for internal candidates with adjacent skills
4. Work with the Right Recruiting Partner
The best executive recruiters do more than fill open positions—they serve as strategic talent and business advisors. When selecting a recruiting partner:
- Look for those who take time to deeply understand your business strategy
- Seek partners who challenge assumptions about what talent is needed
- Prioritize recruiters with relevant industry knowledge who can assess candidates against your specific strategic needs
An effective recruiting partner should be willing to tell you when an open role isn’t actually aligned with your strategic priorities, or when a different organizational structure might better serve your goals.
Conclusion
The alignment of talent with strategy isn’t a one-time exercise but an ongoing process. Organizations that intentionally build this alignment capability gain significant competitive advantage, as they can execute more quickly and effectively on strategic shifts. Your strategy is only as good as the people you have to execute it.
About the Author
Tony Gerbino joined Townsend Search Group in 2010 and has successfully recruited senior-level executives and emerging leaders for over 15 years. He has completed engagements in disciplines including private equity, investment banking, corporate development, corporate finance and accounting. Tony brings lasting partnerships and trust earned through integrity and keeping himself reliably available to the people and clients he serves.
