Source page: McKinsey & Company

Commentary

Visual form

Treemap-style block chart with a side summary callout.

Layout / body structure

The chart is built as one large rectangle subdivided into response categories, with the biggest blocks on the left and a narrower stack of smaller categories on the right. Read the large left blocks first, then the smaller right-hand blocks, and finish with the white summary box on the far right.

What is being compared

It compares how organizations describe their plans for building priority capabilities, ranging from having a targeted set of capabilities to build to having no plan or not knowing. The graphic is comparing response categories rather than time periods.

Measurement system

The measure is percent of respondents, based on n equals 868. Block size and the numeric labels inside each rectangle show the share for each response, and the side box summarizes the combined no-clear-plan total.

Visible structure inside the graphic

The largest block at upper left is the 34 percent group that has targeted a set of capabilities to build, and the lower-left 28 percent block shows organizations that have only begun discussions. The right side splits into a 16 percent block for organizations already building many or all priority capabilities, plus smaller 9, 6, 4, and 4 percent blocks for weaker or less certain planning states, with a separate 45 percent callout box set off to the right.

Main takeaway from the visual

The chart shows that planning and discussion dominate the landscape while full execution is a much smaller share. The separate 45 percent callout makes clear that nearly half of leaders still do not have a clear plan for building high-priority capabilities.

Key standout values or extremes

The biggest individual shares are 34 percent for organizations with a targeted set of capabilities and 28 percent for organizations still only in discussion. Only 16 percent say they have begun to build many, if not all, of their priority capabilities, while the right-side box highlights the overall 45 percent without a clear plan.

Controls / sequence, when applicable

This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.

Companion media, when applicable

There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.


Around the world, there's a big disconnect around employee skill building

Organization

December 8, 2020 – When we surveyed 1,200 businesspeople around the globe, 45 percent told us they don’t have a clear plan for developing capabilities they had designated as high priority.

Nearly half of company leaders say they don't yet have a clear plan for building high-priority capabilities.

To read the survey, see “Rethink capabilities to emerge stronger from COVID-19,” November 23, 2020.


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