More businesses are seeing personal and career development to be the responsibility of the individual rather than something that the company, be it through Human Resources or individual managers, directs and provides. There is a growing belief that people develop fastest when they feel responsible for their own progress, and that individuals should be encouraged to take the initiative in developing their skills and capabilities. For this to happen the individual employee needs to develop a sense of ownership over their career and personal development, and to understand the importance of honest self-assessment.BEST PRACTICE
One Top Employer, a consulting business from Canada, includes a requirement for individual employees to assess their own leadership training needs, and for this self-assessment to rank equal in importance to a team and peer assessment, and to senior management reviews.
BEST PRACTICE
At another participant, PepsiCo Netherlands (see case study in the full report), employees self-manage their training, looking at their own strengths and training needs. They are pushed to reflect annually on their own development, and create a growth and development action plan for themselves. As part of this self-reflection, the individual evaluates the investment they have made in themselves: whether they took opportunities to apply new learnings, and to what extent others have noticed their development. This can be challenged by their line manager, and during performance reviews. A Leadership Roadmap encourages all employees to take two strengths and two opportunities every year, and to determine which courses or selfstudy materials can help them to improve.
Six key trends
'Individual ownership' is one of the six key trends we have identified in the Leadership Development report. These six trends are shaping the future of Leadership Development and influencing the approach of many global businesses.
Each trend signals a move towards a more collaborative, collective and inclusive approach at a business level, while also placing more responsibility and decision making in the hands of the individual to self determine their own development.
Download the full Leadership Development report to learn all about the current trends in Leadership Development and how organisations deal with these trends in their business processes.
