DB FPX 8610 Assessment 2 Evidence for Gap in Practice

DB FPX 8610 Assessment 2 Evidence for Gap in Practice Student Name Capella University DB-FPX8610 Leadership Theory and Practice Professor Name Submission Date [blur_section id=”postDownload” button=”Free Download ” form_id=”e9df100″] Evidence for Gap in Practice A practice gap constitutes the subliminal lack or absentee component that makes the organizational issues emerge and continue. Kensington Auto Parts is an example of how the idea can be put into practice, where the chief executive officer (CEO), Kensington Perry, is not interested in initiating new leadership development programs. The talent turnover has created a rotational talent pool of younger talents, which is directly related to more expensive employee turnover each year (Kensington Auto Parts, 2025). The case shows that the lack of leadership development can have a trickle-down effect on organizations in terms of financial and operational impact. Specific Business Problem The business issue at Kensington Auto Parts is: The high turnover rate among the younger talents in the company, as a result of their career development expectations, has led to increased annual expenses for the company. The practice gap that results in the problem is the unwillingness of the CEO, Kensington Perry, to invest in leadership development programs for the emerging leaders. The resistance is driven by the fact that CEO Kensington Perry believes in the philosophy of the CEO father, which emphasizes the continuity of the leadership team instead of the talent pipeline development (Kensington Auto Parts, 2025). There has been a revolving door situation in the absence of structured leadership development, whereby younger employees want chances for growth in their careers. Gap In Practice The disconnect in the practice is the reluctance of CEO Kensington Perry to invest in leadership development programs for the future leaders. This gap directly leads to the business issue of high turnover costs per year. Studies indicate that in an event where the failure to invest in leadership development is exhibited by organizations, employees tend to move out to seek improved career prospects. Why The Gap Aligns With the Problem The gap is in accordance with the turnover issue since the issue has de facto cause-and-effect relations. According to Ali et al. (2024), failure by organizations to invest in the development of leaders results in low levels of employee engagement, which subsequently leads to turnover. The same picture can be observed at Kensington, where Perry does not invest in the development of up-and-coming leaders, younger workers do not find any career growth opportunities, they get disengaged, and they leave. The case study verifies the trend, whereby Kensington has a revolving door of younger talent who want opportunities for progression in other places (Kensington Auto Parts, 2025). The article by Xuecheng et al. (2022) researched family-owned business structures that are similar to Kensington, which are small and medium enterprises. The authors established that organisations that fail to invest in leadership development programs have high turnover levels and turnover costs. The absence of an investment in development is interpreted by the employees as a message that the organization does not attach importance to growth, and they will seek employment in other places. The message that Perry is conveying to the younger employees of Kensington is exactly what the philosophy of consistency in his leadership and not coming up with new leaders sends. Examples of Current Practitioner Literature The practice gap is that the CEO, Kensington Perry, is not keen on investing in leadership development programs for emerging leaders. The business issue is the high turnover of younger talent in terms of employee turnover and high costs every year, because younger talent is seeking career advancement opportunities. Existing academic sources support the fact that the change in the gap of leadership development is attributed to organizational retention issues. Research by Ali et al. (2024) investigated transformational leadership within the pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh and discovered that the construct can largely influence the retention of employees. Employee engagement plays a key role in the connection between retention and leadership development. Organizations fail to form leaders, which leads to a drop in employee engagement, and this becomes the cause of turnover. The researchers examined 650 pharmaceutical workers through structural equation modelling. The identified gap at Kensington Auto Parts is directly supported by the evidence: the lack of willingness by Perry to invest in the concept of an emerging leader would predictively translate to the lack of engagement among ambitious young employees, which would explain the identified turnover problem. The studies have also established that inadequate leadership development in organizational setups leads to staff turnover. Xuecheng et al. (2022) have examined Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and discovered that training and development programs have a big impact on employee retention. Those companies that fail to invest in the systematic development of leaders incur higher costs of turnover and lower competitive advantage. The authors have included the social exchange theory and situational leadership theory, which give a theoretical basis to the retention efforts. The study quantified the turnover expenses, and the difference in the investment in leadership development is directly converted into the financial cost that Kensington is currently bearing. The case study of Kensington can be explained using the theoretical framework. The young workers who aspire to grow in their careers feel that the company is not investing in development, and this is the very situation that contributes to the turnover trend, as stated in the case study. Project of Interest The companies are frequently forced to confront the problems of retention that might require structural answers instead of cosmetic reactions to already existing spheres of working malevolence. According to the gap in practice observed in Kensington Auto Parts, and given that there is no leadership development performed on emerging leaders, a structured program that focuses directly on mid-level managers and high-potential employees would effectively provide a solution to the retention crisis. The future leaders would be targeted to serve the project that would equip them with major leadership skills of managing teams, being strategic, and possessing emotional intelligence (Rajagopal et al., 2024). The nature of programs may […]