L&D And The Role Of Leadership Development

A leader knows the correlation between L&D, the workforce as well as the customers

Leadership and L&D are two correlated functions of any given business environment. Leadership is an indispensible aspect when it comes to improving organizational functionality, operations and driving business growth, while L&D plays a major role in developing an astute leadership. But, is it really that important for the leadership to be involved in L&D? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’.

If one thinks about senior leadership, also referred to as the C-suite, in light of ROI and business growth, the criticality of learning and development (L&D) becomes amply clear. How? If the expected outcome of learning/ training is to (up) skill employees so as to drive business growth, then it is imperative for the L&D function to develop sound leadership, because an organization largely relies on its leaders and managers to take decisions that will eventually impact the business, either in a positive or a negative way.

Vice versa, to develop an effective learning strategy, L&D professionals often require valuable inputs from its leadership team. An effective leader knows the correlation between L&D, the workforce as well as the customers. The integration of knowledge and information from all those involved in the business operation helps shape a rather wholesome learning ecosystem. So, when organizations want learning to be a driver of business growth and impact, then how can L&D professionals cultivate the future leaders that will facilitate that growth and impact? We outline 5 ways in which L&D can bring about effective Leadership Development.

Managers and leaders are inherently inclined towards continuous, self-directed learning, and it behooves L&D professionals to allow them to apply their own learning methodologies. However, at the same time, it is a loss of opportunity for L&D as well as managers, because an organization where learning is uniformly valued benefits not only the leadership and the L&D function but also the organization as a whole. Organizations that harness a learning culture that facilitates knowledge sharing are always more successful.

Typically, managers are more experienced and prefer an informal approach when it comes to workplace learning. Also, managers with the most experience have very less use for a course-based training methodology. Despite everything, a large number of leaders complain about the lack of time to learn, whereas lots of managers are also unable to find learning materials they desire. As a result, it is the prerogative of L&D to figure out the most appropriate training material and delivery method when it comes to senior leadership.  Future L&D programs must also learn to combine technology, classroom-based training and other delivery methods into one seamless experience to drive engagement and increase knowledge retention.

With millennials set to make up most of the active workforce around the globe in the not so distant future, and the number of active workers from the earlier generation declining steadily, it is imminent that millennials will soon take up management roles. Here in lies the conundrum, because millennials are simply not prepared enough to handle the leadership roles of the future. Only 36% of millennials presently, in leadership roles, feel they are ready for the responsibility, as per a Deloitte research, while 30% still ‘do not’ feel they can handle the responsibility of leadership.

As a result, L&D professionals must take into account the changing needs of the newer generations and evolve accordingly in providing the most appropriate learning for them to succeed in leadership roles in the future. Organizations, on the other hand, need to support L&D leaders with the right kind of investment and development, as only the best L&D leaders can understand the urgent needs of the millennials, who are simply used to having quick access to knowledge and information, prefer electronic communications and seek growth opportunities in all avenues of their work lives.

Soft skills are often underrated when it comes to creating training materials for leadership development. Hard skills like coding and/or analytics, while extremely essential, make up around 80% of the leadership role in reality. Future leaders have to learn how to make connections, communicate more personally and lead from the front, regardless of their job function. So, while managers are able to take a class on, say, Marketing Automation or Finance, they should also be able to add soft skills’ courses to their roster.

On the other hand, L&D professionals also need to curate content and make it more personalized. Managers require quick bites of information and knowledge about certain specific topics; it may come from content shared / created by industry experts they idolize, content published on their favorite websites, or materials that compliment their job function. With time constraints when it comes to learning, managers largely rely on L&D to prove a more personalized approach towards learning.

Manpower is in short supply, with the ever increasing competition and sky-high costs. Enter cross-functional training. Cross- functional training decreases staffing costs considerably and also saves the organizations’ time. 

Where traditional learning programs impact learners’ understanding of their specific domains, cross-functional training, as the term suggests, develops the learners’ skills at different levels. As a result, future L&D programs must incorporate cross-functional training programs, thus encouraging employees to solve problems across different functions and cultivate skills that transcend functional boundaries.

With cross-functional training, employees’ morale is boosted as they take into account the value their organization is putting into their professional development. Besides, cross-functional training enables employees to appreciate the challenges of co-workers, thus leaving minimal space for misunderstandings, conflicts and unnecessary stress.

Think about it carefully and it becomes clear that not many of the hot and trending career paths of today even existed 5-10 years ago. The rate at which knowledge is being availed, accessed and changed is phenomenal. Soon, the most knowledgeable individuals won’t be the ones that perform better, but they will intrinsically search, identify and fuse important information and also acquire newer skills.

Traditionally, L&D programs employ a specific subject matter expert to impart knowledge unto a certain group, where the expert plays an integral role in the imparting of knowledge. But future L&D programs need to consider learners’ existing knowledge base and leverage that for a peer to peer knowledge transfer program that are essentially more collaborative and team-based.

In conclusion, organizations that offer innovative L&D programs not only cultivate future leaders but also attract top-most talent in the industry. In today’s constantly evolving business environment, an organization’s value directly correlates with core assets like intellectual property (IP), its leaders, and the learning culture. As a result, L&D programs derive higher value and translate into business growth and a sustained competitive edge.