How To Design A Leadership Development Program That Doesn't Fail
5 tips
Posted on 02-03-2021, Read Time: Min
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From colleges and universities to corporate organizations, there has always been a lot of focus on leadership development.
So much that US companies alone spend almost $14 billion annually on leadership development programs. In spite of that, 71% of companies don’t feel that their leaders are able to lead their organization into the future.
One thing is certain: Everyone wants leaders to possess a host of qualities but very few know how to develop good leaders.
This is where a robust leadership development program can play an important role.
How to Design an Effective Leadership Development Program?
The world is evolving at a rapid pace — what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow.
Due to this, it’s important for companies to continually nurture employees to become future leaders, making leadership development an integral part of their employee training and development strategy.
The four key benefits of investing in leadership development are:
Due to this, it’s important for companies to continually nurture employees to become future leaders, making leadership development an integral part of their employee training and development strategy.
The four key benefits of investing in leadership development are:
- Increases in employee retention
- Boosts employee performance and morale
- Reduces hiring costs
- Improves adaptability to change
Let’s take a look at how you can design a leadership development program that doesn’t fail.
1. Define Leadership Needs
Before you develop the program, you need to assess the leadership needs of your organization.
Start by doing a SWOT analysis of the company which will help you understand your strengths, limitations, and where you stand in the market.
Here’s a template you can use. It has clearly demarcated sections, making the information easier to grasp.
Start by doing a SWOT analysis of the company which will help you understand your strengths, limitations, and where you stand in the market.
Here’s a template you can use. It has clearly demarcated sections, making the information easier to grasp.
Source: Venngage
Once you have a clearer understanding of the company goals, you can do a skills gap analysis to identify the limitations in your leadership team and narrow down on the competencies you need to meet those company goals.
For instance, if you are a startup in the growth phase, you might need to cultivate skills such as problem-solving, flexibility, and adaptability in your leadership team.
Another good way to identify gaps is to get employee feedback. “A confidential and anonymous management assessment can often point to patterns of leadership gaps that need to be addressed,” says millennial workplace expert, Aaron Levy.
By the end of this exercise, you should have a list of goals you want to achieve through the leadership development program.
2. Map out Individualized Goals
Let’s face it: everyone in the company isn’t cut out to be a leader.
It’s crucial to find the right employees to involve in your leadership development program -- those who exhibit high potential to be nurtured into leaders of tomorrow.
According to Gartner, a high-potential employee is someone with the ability, engagement, and aspiration to rise to and succeed in more senior, critical positions.
Once you have identified the high-potential employees to involve, set individualized goals and map out learning paths to track growth.
Here’s a learning roadmap template you can use. Notice how it outlines the high-level goals against a timeline.
It’s crucial to find the right employees to involve in your leadership development program -- those who exhibit high potential to be nurtured into leaders of tomorrow.
According to Gartner, a high-potential employee is someone with the ability, engagement, and aspiration to rise to and succeed in more senior, critical positions.
Once you have identified the high-potential employees to involve, set individualized goals and map out learning paths to track growth.
Here’s a learning roadmap template you can use. Notice how it outlines the high-level goals against a timeline.
Source: Venngage
Make sure you set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals in line with the company vision. Setting clear goals, in the beginning, helps stakeholders remain focused, measure progress, and stay motivated.
3. Adopt Blended Learning Methods
Anyone who has conducted leadership training will agree that it’s close to impossible to get everyone in one room and keep them engaged for long periods of time.
As most leaders are often stretched for time, adopting blending learning methods in the leadership development program is a wise option.
Blended learning involves a combination of traditional face-to-face and online learning. This way of learning gives participants the flexibility to learn at their own pace and time without having to block chunks of time on their calendar.
The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) suggests “redefining the blend” to adopt the 70-20-10 rule for leadership development. This includes:
As most leaders are often stretched for time, adopting blending learning methods in the leadership development program is a wise option.
Blended learning involves a combination of traditional face-to-face and online learning. This way of learning gives participants the flexibility to learn at their own pace and time without having to block chunks of time on their calendar.
The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) suggests “redefining the blend” to adopt the 70-20-10 rule for leadership development. This includes:
- Challenging assignments (70%)
- Developmental relationships (20%)
- Coursework and training (10%)
Addressing formal and informal learning opportunities, this method engages participants in all the key aspects that are critical for leadership development.
4. Create Visual Micro-Content
If you think you can prepare 1-hour long presentations and expect participants to remain engaged, you’re mistaken.
With depleting attention spans, it’s increasingly important to create training material that engages the learner and keeps them invested.
This is why it’s advisable to create visually-appealing micro-content. Moreover, as you’re training leaders who have limited time on their hands, this kind of immersive content proves to be effective.
You can include materials such as:
With depleting attention spans, it’s increasingly important to create training material that engages the learner and keeps them invested.
This is why it’s advisable to create visually-appealing micro-content. Moreover, as you’re training leaders who have limited time on their hands, this kind of immersive content proves to be effective.
You can include materials such as:
Make sure the visual content is bite-sized and focused on a single topic. This improves comprehension and aids retention.
Another benefit of using visual micro-content is that it lets the learner quickly reference those visuals from time to time.
Here’s an example of a flowchart you can use. It communicates complex information in a manner that’s easy to understand.
Source: Venngage
5. Track the Effectiveness
According to a McKinsey report, one of the biggest reasons leadership development programs fail is because companies don’t track and measure change.
It’s important to evaluate the effectiveness of the leadership training and tie it back to the program goals to see the impact it’s had on the organization.
Here are some ways to measure change:
It’s important to evaluate the effectiveness of the leadership training and tie it back to the program goals to see the impact it’s had on the organization.
Here are some ways to measure change:
- Measure business results
- Track career development changes in the participants such as retention rate or promotions
- Get real-time feedback from employees, colleagues, and team members through micro-surveys and assessments
- Conduct a 360-degree feedback assessment in 6 to 12 months after the program ends to get a comprehensive understanding of the behavioral change
Ultimately, the leadership development program needs to help you meet your company vision. Measuring effectiveness will tell you how successful the program was and if there’s anything you can do to improve.
The Takeaway: Design an Effective Leadership Development Program
The right leaders have the power to transform companies which is why it’s important to create an effective leadership development program that’s designed in line with your company’s strategy and is focused on bridging the leadership gaps that exist in your organization.
Author Bio
| Simki Dutta is a Content Marketer at Venngage. Connect Simki Dutta Follow @Simki Dutta |
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