Deloitte Report: Leadership Development Is a Priority, But Companies Don’t Follow Through
According to a recent study by Deloitte, there’s a big gap between what business leaders say about leadership and what they do about it. The Global Human Capital Trends 2015 Report found that 86 percent of global HR and business leaders say leadership is a top issue. But only 6 percent say their leadership pipeline is “very ready.” Why?When it comes down to it, many companies don’t recognize that building a leadership pipeline is critical to their bottom line. It doesn’t always get the time and energy it deserved because most leaders are focused on the day-to-day operations and deliverables. It’s all too easy to ignore until there is a problem.In addition, some leaders may think leadership development just happens because someone is good at a particular job or has been with the company for a long time. That’s simply not the case. Being a good accountant, engineer, teacher or plant operator does not make someone a good manager or leader.
Foster a Culture of Growth
Organizations have to be intentional about creating a leadership pipeline. Even when companies believe that leadership development is important, they often don’t have the expertise or resources in-house to manage it effectively and don’t know where to start to put a program together. It can be daunting to create an environment with the strategies, tools and experiences that help identify, develop and retain leaders.Because so many leaders say they believe leadership is a top issue, it’s clear that there’s already high-level buy-in for putting a pipeline together. The next step is aligning the people strategy with the business strategy. Companies should first look to the vision, business strategy and human resources data to assess organizational risks and needs related to the people strategy.
Managers Play a Strong Role
Much of employee development doesn’t cost big money. It does, however, require effort to develop a culture that encourages growth and movement in the organization. Developing direct reports should be part of the role and responsibility of managers, and managers need to have the knowledge, skills and tools they need to develop their employees. Managers must have development discussions with their people and make sure they get interesting assignments, experiences and visibility as well. If those things are present, then it’s icing on the cake when an organization has the ability to invest even more in the development of its people.There are many good competency-based systems to support leadership development -- but don’t get overly bogged down in picking a system to use as a platform for developing leaders and emerging leaders. The important thing is that you put strong and sustainable processes in place to support growth and development of your people pipeline. It’s not the tool that builds a talent pipeline -- it’s the people involved. Employees, managers and executives must be intentional about feedback and coaching.Looking for ways to develop your leaders? Contact us for help.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.
