If you work in HR, at some point someone is going to engage you in a discussion about leadership and management development. This is often considered separately from other L&D activities – hence it being in a chapter on its own here. You might be lucky enough to have a specialist in the area. If you don’t, here are some thoughts and recommendations based on our own experiences of designing and delivering such programmes.
The main thing that we have learned about such programmes is that there is no one best one. It is all about what your organisation needs to address its specific challenges. This is your starting point. There are questions that you need to ask yourself; where are we now? Where do we want to be? What do we want our managers to do differently? What does good or better look like? If you left work and came back in a year and the programme had been a huge success, what would you see, hear and feel?
Line managers are often lamented for their capabilities. Leadership development is often seen as the answer to all organisational or cultural ills. It may or may not be. What is certain is that the relationship between the line manager and their employees is one of the most powerful, and it is often instrumental in someone’s decision as to whether they stay in an organisation or not.
One of the biggest problems about leadership development, is that it doesn’t stick. You get initial changes to behaviour, but after a while those who attended revert to their previous ways of doing things. There are some common reasons why. McKinsey in particular did some research in this area. Problems fall into several areas. Firstly, it isn’t role modelled by leaders within organisations. If they don’t do this stuff, then frankly, why should anyone else? Secondly, the sheep dip approach. Send everyone off site for a few days of classroom learning but then don’t sustain it on their return. Having learning delivered in a nice hotel with fancy biscuits and an external trainer is fine – but if you can’t link it back to the workplace and its everyday realities, then the development is going to suffer.
Leadership development has to feel real. Whatever it is you are teaching them or expecting them to do has to feel like it can fit into their role. As with so many of the things we have discussed in this book, context is everything. Finally, the other reasons that development fails, is that we are simply asking too much of people in terms of the changes they can realistically make. Most people can work on just a few things at any one time. So pick those things carefully.
So the first piece of advice we can impart is simply to manage expectations – yours and everyone else’s. You are not going to change the world, or even just the culture of your organisation, simply by sending your managers on some classroom learning. Our second piece of advice is to be very clear at the outset what change you want to see. As we said above, management capability is criticised at companies everywhere – but be specific. What do your managers do now? What do you want them to do differently? What does success look like? These questions are your starting point. And once you have answered those, here are our further recommendations:
Recommendation for leadership development:
• Before embarking upon any programme – make sure you understand and are treating the real
people management issues – and not just treating the symptoms.
• Any potential supplier should take time to understandyourchallenges anddesignanappropriate programme. If they try to sell you something off the shelf, then stop the conversation.
• Include coaching somewhere. 121 coaching is one of the most powerful interventions you can provide people – and the tools to coach other people can be transformational too.
• Include a self-awareness tool somewhere too. It might be a 360°, or a strengths finder, or some other sort of profiling tool. Improving self-awareness and space for reflection is key: if someone already thinks they are 100% awesome, the rest of the programme is going to be a challenge.
• Ensure that your senior leaders are committed and prepared to role model the changes you are seeking. Without this change will be hard to sustain, and the development and investment undermined.
• It has to be ongoing. You need to keep coming back to it, talking about it, reinforcing it, adding to the toolkit. The best leadership development programme isn’t a programme at all – it is an ongoing journey of learning supported by the company.
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
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