It is safe to say that HR practices have majorly evolved in recent times. The focus has also shifted to this greater collective objective rather than what is beneficial for the company alone. In the process, the sense of responsibility in people has triumphed over just “attitudes” for their development. Not only the processes that makes a leader are evolving with collaborative technology but the way we define leaders are changing as well. Whose Responsibility?
Most leaders or potential leaders are responsible for their own initiatives towards continuous gradual development. However, the onus is on the employers to offer necessary platforms for these future leaders. All future leaders are constantly seeking thrilling experiences concerning broad life and commercial skills in being prepared for all situations. These opportunities mainly allow the potential candidates to better adhere to their responsibilities whilst stepping outside of their comfort zones and thinking outside of the box. One area of immediate improvement is known to be their key decision making which puts leaders above all the other employees within an organisation. The core responsibility of the employers for leadership development is to facilitate motivation with all the necessary platforms whilst the responsibility of the employee is to continuously seek motivation and submit to development programs.
Employee Value Proposition
A fresh change in culture now promotes the employees to ask important questions, albeit differently. Instead of focusing on the tasks, employees are now encouraged to focus on their importance and responsibility towards their employers. Our recent study also shows how the culture of encouraging well-being of employees positively reflects in attracting, retaining and nurturing the best talents. Leaders are developed with this sense of responsibility embedded deep within their systems and the desire to make a difference within that particular team, organisation or even the entire nation. The fact that even the aspirational leaders need mentoring should not be neglected. Even the great Columbus needed a map and a compass!
Improved Definition of Leaders
Mankind has been accustomed to measuring leaders through their position and/or their rank within the group. However, this is now the thing of the past; at least for the Top Employers around the world. With the help of flatter organisation structures, leaders are now defined by their influences within the organisation. This has been equally significant in the nurturing process of the next generation of leaders. A feature of this new definition also aids in increased number of ad-hoc projects promoting team work and continuous learning off each other. Inadvertently, increased number of collaborative efforts identifies and assesses the leaders and potential leaders within the organisation.
Self-assessment & Measurement
As The Dalai Lama will tell us that “power and belief comes from within”, it clearly doesn’t materialise through mundane training sessions and assessments. If one lacks clear vision on the path they are taking, it is very difficult to associate them as leaders who could create the same path for their followers. As a potential leader, it is essential to be able to set strategic goals, development plans and assess oneself upon the completion of such plans and assessment criteria. Top Employers around the globe now present their employees with an opportunity for self-assessment. Only after that, would they work on the areas that they pick as experienced mentors. Decision making has been identified as one of the key attributes of a leader. Self-assessment and development plan only promotes and further nurtures this ability within the leaders.
Performances Crafts Leaders
It’s the captain of the winning team that steals the limelight and milks all the plaudits. How the company performs and where it stands amongst its competitors in the global market can have a big say on how talented their leaders are and future leaders will turn out to be. Changing trends have made the companies now not only focus on the old school standard measures of participation satisfaction but the measures such as sales, productivity and engagement scores of leaders’ direct reports. Recent trends also suggest that most global organisations only focus on subjective evaluations whereas Top performing companies take every major measurement methods of leadership development into account.
Methods- Innovative and Re-imagined
We are not oblivious to the fact that most “low performance” organisations are somewhat static in their ways and methods of measurement used. Top performers are the ones who are constantly changing and evolving their ways to identify new methods of performance and leadership development measurements. Great deal of study and research goes into not just generating great ideas and new approaches but also rendering them usable and effective. In this day and age, what could be more innovative and exciting than the use and change of advanced technologies? The use of online career development tools, mentor and mentee matching tools and a comprehensive tracking system for planning/employee readiness are in place to name a few. These technologies are adopted by top employers which they believe will offer them with a pool of thoroughbred leaders for the substantial future.
Leadership development is not a small topic anymore, nor is it an easy process. Changing trends, technological advancements and increasing competition in retaining and attracting best talents have pushed employers around the globe in adopting strategic leadership development strategies.
Even the best in the business must adapt to changing trends and demands of the modern era of HR. Companies, even the big ones, are at clear risk of not having any future leaders or successors and also losing what they have due to lack of incentive or sign of leadership development plans and programs. The best way to find a leader is to create one and it is in the best interest of the employers to spot them internally rather than go scouting. Not only the internal, existing staff know the business inside and out but they can also be used as a canvas for the company to create or as clay for the mentors to mould. Obviously, the best method is to work the clay in hand and to transform them into pots that serve great purpose for the years to come.
For all global organisations, the top question today could be- Where do we stand on our “Leadership Development” plans?
Our HR insights report on Leadership Development contains other useful information including latest trends and case studies.
