How to Start a Leadership Development Program

Developing a good internal leadership program is essential to building leadership competency and providing employees with the opportunity to develop the skills they need to perform leadership roles within the organization. Leadership development is a key strategy to retaining your employees and achieving business success. Investing, developing and growing leaders ensures that the new leaders or managers are well equipped to inspire, motivate, and engage a company’s workforce.

Ways to Start Developing Leaders
There are all kinds of leaders, from emerging leaders who are at the very beginning of their leadership journey, to middle managers who are ready to take on specific needs in the company, and senior leaders who rise to enterprise-wide roles. No matter the leadership level or category, careful consideration should be given to the practices included in a leadership development program.

Practices:

• Contribute to performance development. Most employees’ performance reviews will reveal both strengths and weaknesses. Sit down with current and potential leaders and share your knowledge and recommendations to bolster strong points and shore up shortcomings.
• Invite current and potential leaders to meetings. Give them the opportunity to participate in important meetings they might not otherwise attend and solicit their input during these gatherings. This includes both internal meetings and interactions with external vendors, customers, and staff.
• Introduce them to the wider community. Get current and potential leaders involved with outside organizations. By meeting and networking with others in their industry, these individuals can get exposure to high-level leaders and a broader perspective on the similar challenges that other companies face.
• Let them lead a major organizational initiative. At some point put new leaders to the test. Give them control of a project and then step back and observe the results. This will give them the opportunity to practice building high-performing teams and lead other leaders.
• Provide a 360-Degree Assessment. This assessment for middle management can help identify areas of improvement and how they are perceived by others. Knowing this insight allows leaders to address their leadership style to create a positive impact on their workforce.
  
  

Consider the Benefits

Developing leaders is a serious effort for companies who want to be successful. They realize that the best company asset is their people and therefore they choose to invest in them through a leadership development program. These programs also boost employee retention, allow for innovation, and build quality relationships that help align company and workforce priorities making it a win-win for all.
To learn more about employee retention or our recruiting and staffing services, visit www.cordiaresources.com