There are of course many reasons and signs that an organisation needs leadership training, but the length of an ideal blog means that I have been challenged to pick my top three and only discuss these.
You could of course argue why leadership not management? This is a topic we cover a lot in our CMI Management and Leadership courses, and it always causes a lot of debate. However, it is my firm belief that it is effective leadership, using management skills, that will enable an organisation to thrive rather than simply survive.
Employee Turnover
Someone once said, “people don’t leave organisations, they leave managers” and in the majority of cases I believe this is the case when people leave because they are unhappy. The opposite being the positive that they leave due to great leaders who have developed them, and they are ready to move on to their next challenge.
So, if your employee turnover level is increasing (and this is not the norm in terms of industry or economy trends) then perhaps there is an issue either in the whole business; or perhaps the increase is only in one team. It does not necessarily mean the leader in that area is “unpleasant” to work for, but perhaps they are struggling to motivate and engage their team, struggling managing a change in the business or simply not challenging their team and so they need to find this challenge elsewhere.
Developing your leaders to address these challenges and keep employee turnover at an acceptable level will save your business a small fortune in recruitment and retraining costs – see my third point!
Increased Conflict
To be clear here, I mean unconstructive conflict that damages teams and organisations. Constructive conflict is vital to be a successful organisation; by having different opinions and ideas an organisation can grow and not become stagnant.
Conflict may be very obvious to spot, whether that is an increase in grievances and complaints, arguments within teams or as basic as poor working relationships. A good leader, who has had the right development in this area, will not only spot the signs of conflict brewing and deal with it head on (rather than letting it fester and blow out of control) but will also know how to manage the conflict and be sure it is resolved both fairly and constructively for all involved.
Always Having to “Buy In” New Leaders
My final point is when a manager / team leader leaves an organisation do you always have to go externally to replace that person? If so then it would suggest that you need to look at your succession planning (or in our world, Talent Management) and establish why there is never any one ready, able and willing to take that promotion and step in to that new role. A development plan for all roles, and discussions with people as to their aspirations can do wonders not only for engagement but save time and money on recruiting replacements – and of course add to your Employer Brand, as we all know development is one of the key things that attract people to new roles.
Many of our clients who are really good at this have a talent pipeline and are putting team leaders/managers AND aspiring team leaders/managers on our CMI programmes every year to be sure they have a bank of people ready to take on the challenge when it occurs.
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Emma