Companies that focus on leadership skill development are likelier to consider their training programs effective in improving performance, according to a McKinsey Global Survey.

 

The survey found that building organizational capabilities, such as leadership development, is a top priority for most companies. However, many of them have not figured out how to do so effectively.

 

Nearly 60 per cent of survey respondents said that building organizational capabilities is a top-three priority but only one-third of companies focused their training program on the capability they consider to be the most valuable. A capability is anything an organization does well that drives meaningful results.

 

For example, most respondents considered leadership skills to be the capability that contributes most to performance. Yet only 35 per cent of respondents said they focus on it. And only 36 percent of executives consider their companies better than competitors at leadership development.

 

As well, companies tend to rely on on-the-job teaching, with no more than one-third using any other method of training extensively. The report states that on-the-job training is most effective when reinforced through some sort of formal teaching and feedback loop.

Our Future Ready Leadership (FRL) program is an example of formal teaching that strengthens what is learned on the job. FRL is a series of customized leadership training sessions held one day each month, over eight months. The program teaches the skills and knowledge that help grow leadership as an organizational capability.

FRL covers topics including the power of teams, coaching communication skills and managing change. Jack Grosvenor, Lead Facilitator says one of the key learnings is that if you don't plan to increase staffing dramatically, a Future Ready Leader will help you meet clients' ever-increasing service demands with the same number of employees. "The Future Ready Leader is accountable to grow team performance through increased team capacity," he says. "Do more with less!"

Some of these skills include empowering staff, assessing performance, accountability, investing your time, providing opportunities and feedback and seeking input. With these leadership capabilities, your organization will be ready to thrive in the future.