Why the development of leadership should be a priority for businesses

September 1, 2023

To make a venture grow and prosper, the management needs to look after various aspects. They also need well-built strategies for handling operational aspects and the workforce. Along with strategies for recruitment and improving workplace culture, businesses also need robust policies for the development of leadership. Without capable leaders in the workforce achieving growth consistently is tedious. It is employees with leadership potentials who serve as motivation for others and help take the venture to the zenith of success.

Why should businesses focus on the development of leadership?

Regardless of its niche, every venture needs leaders for optimal growth and sustenance. However, there is no hard and fast rule that some employees have innate leadership skills and they should, therefore, be chosen for key roles in the entity. While specific leadership skill sets may be present in some employees, there are employees with untapped leadership potential who can perform better after receiving proper guidance and training. That is why businesses need to focus on crafting suitable and effective leadership development programs.

If there is no well-developed and solid program to identify potential employees and nourish and build leadership skills, the results can be detrimental to the organization. It can lead to several problems, including:

Selection of unsuitable candidates

Without a proper, well-made policy to develop leadership, employees without the right skill sets and attributes may be promoted to leadership positions, and that can thwart team members from performing well. Excess authoritative behavior and micro-management can be harmful to work culture and employee motivation.

Talent drain out

Without a strategy to identify and develop leaders in the organization, employees with untapped leadership skills may be left out. This is likely to make them unhappy and they may leave the organization as well.

Difficult to tackle a growing workforce

Without proper development of leadership in the workforce, it becomes hard to keep pace with workforce growth. Unless suitable employees are selected as leaders, managing teams and a growing number of employees will be tedious.

Lower productivity

The lack of a proper leadership development strategy in a business hampers productivity and output. A shortage of suitable leaders makes it tedious to keep employees motivated. They are not likely to perform at an optimal level and that can bring down productivity.

Leads to more conflicts

The absence of a suitable program for the development of leadership leads to enhanced conflicts. Leaders find workarounds and resolutions to handle conflicts between team members or various departments in the organization. When suitable leaders are not selected for key posts, conflict handling takes a hit.

A look at the major benefits of leadership development

When a company has a well-developed policy for the development of leadership, it gains in several ways. The presence of such a strategy not only benefits the leaders but fetches widespread benefits for the entire workforce and the venture itself:

Healthy, connected company culture

When there is a proper leadership development process in place and it is implemented well, the work culture improves. It is true that each employee contributes to developing work culture but leaders have a big impact on it. Leadership traits like accountability and transparency go a long way in developing and enhancing company culture. It is through leadership development, future leaders fathom ways to conduct group events, meetings, establish healthy working relationships and resolve conflicts.

Reduced rate of attrition

Businesses coping with high attrition rates can benefit from developing and implementing suitable leadership development strategies. It is not only for the pay disparity an employee exodus takes place. In many instances, employees become unhappy with the work culture, lack of transparent communication protocols and a lack of flexibility at the workplace etc. Businesses can tackle such issues effectively by developing and executing solid leadership development strategies. Such programs can empower leaders to deal with employees better and understand their issues properly.

Better conflict resolution

In any organization, workflow-related conflicts can pop up, often unexpectedly. In such situations, leaders usually come up with feasible solutions and workarounds. Their intervention and skills help resolve such conflicts. With a strategy for the development of leadership in place, it becomes easier for leaders to learn and polish such crucial skills. Such specialized programs help leaders learn ways to handle and resolve conflicts and defuse tensions.

Better communication skill development

In any organization, employees need to use proper and effective communication protocols. For leaders, this is even more imperative. They have to use apt communication protocols for handling nuances of work, on a daily basis. Given the fact they have to deal and interact with people across all hierarchies, their communication skills have to be top-notch. When they get exposure to a well-crafted program to develop leadership, their communication skills receive a major boost.

Enhanced productivity

Businesses keen on enhancing productivity and output should focus on policies for the development of leadership. With such a policy in place, leaders can polish their existing skill sets and acquire new ones easily. They find it easier to connect with the team members, fathom their problems and motivate them to work better. This has a positive impact on overall productivity, eventually.

Continuous, unhindered growth

When there is a policy for the development of leadership, businesses find it easy to stay on the growth track. With such a policy deployed effectively, it is simpler to identify future leaders. Existing leaders can brush up their skills using such a policy but the management also finds it easy to identify future leaders, right from the recruitment stage! This ensures the entity never runs short of employees with leadership skills. New leaders can fill the void when senior leaders retire or leave the organization and that ensures unhindered business growth.

Better decision-making

In any venture, making certain important decisions becomes necessary sometimes. People in key roles have to make such decisions and these have a direct impact on company growth and image, eventually. These can be on aspects like a merger, making a foray into a new segment or market, choosing or removing a vendor etc. Leaders need to utilize their analytical and reasoning skills for taking such moves. The presence of a well-made strategy helps them sharpen such skills.

You may want to read: Benefits of leadership development: Is it Worth it?

Ways to craft and deploy a policy for leadership development

While developing and executing a policy for the development of leadership aids a venture in numerous ways, it is not a cakewalk, exactly! Rather than using the people in the recruitment or HR wing, seeking the expertise of third-party entities offering such specialized services is prudent here. The expertise of skilled, veteran business consultants comes in handy for crafting as well as executing such programs.

Typically, People Development of Executive Coaching programs offer customized leadership development programs for their client companies. The steps involved to develop such programs are:

Extensive analysis

At first, the consultant/Coach performs a thorough analysis of the client company work culture and employee mindset. For this, the agency may conduct several interviews and surveys.

Report generation

The next step involves creating a detailed report with a focus on areas for improvement and necessary changes in workflow and employee policies etc.

Proposal creation

Based on the report the agency creates a feasible program to develop leadership for the client company. Such programs can be multifaceted covering various hierarchies and operational aspects.

Implementation

Upon getting approval from the client company, the agency moves to the deployment stage. It may resort to using several experiential interventions and workshops to find and develop potential candidates.

Crafting and deploying a program for the development of leadership can take time. This is because leadership development may need Executive Coaching intervention, group learning or at times leadership assimilation. Designing such a journey is crucial for measurable outcomes.

Summing it up

Businesses have to focus on leadership development for sustained growth and prosperity, regardless of the niche. Such a strategy helps them override various operational hurdles as well. However, hiring a suitable business management consultancy for crafting a process for the development of leadership is prudent. Ace business consultancies like PeopleNorth help client companies in developing and deploying such specialized strategies. Its customized, multi-layer packages have helped numerous clients in developing and utilizing leadership development programs.