How Does Leadership Development Work for an Organization?
Have you ever been invited to be part of a leadership development program? Or have you ever organized a leadership programs wherein the major task at hand was to develop leaders in your organization? Whether you have heard about leadership programs or have felt the need to develop leadership skills, it is no rocket science to admit that the transition from an individual contributor or team member to leader is a big one.
How does Leadership Development account for Organizational Development?
Leadership development is beyond what is seeks to convey, it is a whole chain of development and a strategic process that enables the development of leaders in an organization of today.
Following the sole dictum — employers of today are leaders of tomorrow — the implementation of these leadership development programs is essentially how organizations develop the talent they have hired into the leaders they need for tomorrow.
A good company’s dynamics always keep changing with different levels that it unlocks by reaching newer heights, it increases with the pace of change in business. No matter how quick the businesses change, there is no leader without a follower and those who lead know how to create a safe haven for their employees.
Organizations are need of those leaders that can run smoothly under those leaders that not only possess the skills to lead people, manage change, implement and execute strategy but also to bring out the best in their employees and move towards success through collective efforts of a team.
So now that you understand the significance of leadership development that empowers the organization and brings forth a team of go-getters, let’s examine how it benefits the entire organization.
How Do Leadership Development Program Benefit An Organization?
There has got to be a compelling case as to why every company have a strategic leadership development plan or module that they plan on implementing. It is more than clear now than ever before that enabling change and progress requires a leader that equips change makers by ensuring that they are capable to pick up the mantle.
To ensure that there are capable people at the helm and those that have been working in the company for the longest time also require enough training to have a role in the decision making of the organization.
It is much more fruitful to nurture the leaders of your organization than to find someone with the right skills but from a different background altogether when you could gain that by nurturing your best employees.
However, this is easier said than done, as it can be easy to forget that implementing a leadership development program has an outsize impact beyond its specific goal. The ripples effect of such benefits are multiple but here are some of the notable impact:
Improving the bottom-line
Organizations that develop these leadership development modules witness a boost in the bottom-line in terms of growth. With financial impact that stems from a variety of different factors.
Most of them stem from being the fact that there are now more people in the company that are now well-prepared to face business challenges and who can understand high-level strategy.
Moreover, the company will end up be saving on turnover costs and when employees know that management has made an investment in them and that they not only have opportunities to grow but that there are available roles to grow into, they are more likely to stay.
Another important factor that began impact the company positively is through increased productivity that in turn increased financials. Employees that feel nurtured and are able to see a future for them at the company are much more likely to be engaged in their work. Therefore, they stay motivated and also motivate others towards increased productivity and performance as well.
Attract, develop and retain talent
A leadership development program is an immensely attractive feature for companies that look forward to recruiting. However, with certain developmental changes in the organizations, for an employee to acquire the growth they need can become frustrating and time-consuming. Being aware that an organization will invest in its future leaders makes it a much more appealing target for candidates.
For similar reasons, several organizations also expect improved retention for their employees. Many of these employees leave their jobs because if they feel as though they are not learning anything new, or, if they are, they don’t have the opportunity to move into a position where they feel has growth opportunities and exposure so that they can apply that knowledge. In all of these circumstances, leadership development measures are an official commitment to help top-tier employees not only grow their skill sets but also help them find new roles within the company to exercise these skills with a long-term influence.
Drive strategy execution
Mastering strategic execution is a key component of any leadership development program as not only will an organization have more bright workers capable of transforming goals into action, but it will also develop team members that are skilled in the art of influencing across non-direct reporting lines.
These leaders of tomorrow will learn to take quarterly and yearly goals and break them down into actionable tasks, and, perhaps more importantly, know how to mobilize workers across teams to achieve stellar results.
However, you must never underestimate the impact of a well-designed program on fostering broader connections throughout the organization. But when such unexpected execution occurs in the organization where people have weak but broad connections, can understand and respond to the circumstances better.
Increase success in navigating change
For organizations that expect drastic paradigm shifts in the industry try and double down on this core leadership skill could prove to be a good investment. And even if the prediction made so far is a smooth sailing ahead, change is always inevitable.
The ability of a leader is judged by not only his skills of navigating a new territory but to do so while they maintain authority, integrity, respect, and keeping the morale high, is crucial to getting out safe and sound on the other side.
