What Works in Leadership Development

Transcription

1 What Works in Leadership Development Warren Bobrow, Ph.D. All About Performance, LLC What Is Leadership Development? Developing skills in your current leadership More effective in getting things done through others Motivating others to do their best Creating a situation where people can perform at their best Identifying and developing your future leaders Should be done in conjunction with your succession planning 2 Groundwork Competency Analysis What are the critical leadership behaviors for your organization? Alignment With the Agency s s Objectives How do these behaviors help your organization be successful? 3 1

2 Groundwork Integrate development with performance management Reward leadership skills as you would meeting other objectives Make it a process, not an event Use any measurement as a starting point for specific development activities Establish ongoing coaching/mentoring 4 Groundwork Determine what skills need to be developed Many assessment techniques available to determine individual and/or group needs Everyone get the same development program or customized? 5 Assessment Techniques 360 Getting information from many people (boss, subordinates, peers, internal customers, etc.). Usually competency based. 6 2

3 Assessment Techniques 360 Issues Studies over time show that any improvement in performance is relatively small Those who get low ratings are less motivated to improve Better used for development than promotions. Who should rate? Are the ratings based on behavior or perception? 7 Assessment Techniques 360 Advantages Relatively inexpensive Can be done online A lot of data can be gathered quickly 8 Assessment Techniques-- --AC Puts participants in a role of a fictitious company. Multiple exercises evaluated by multiple assessors. May also include other measures, such as personality, cognitive ability tests, 360, etc. 9 3

4 Assessment Techniques-- --AC Issues Resource intensive, though not as much as before. Developing a fair nomination process 10 Assessment Techniques-- --AC Advantages Feedback is very behavioral and objective Very face valid Data extremely valuable in succession planning as validities have been demonstrated over 12 years of performance. Feedback from ACs does lead to improvements in performance. 11 Leadership Development What Doesn t Work (Hay, 2006) Job Shadowing for senior managers Outdoor activity-based programs Paper-based self-study study leadership modules Executive MBAs and web-based based self-study study modules when implemented too late in the person s s career. 12 4

5 Development Techniques-Mentoring Has been shown to be effective. Informal programs work better than structured ones. Transmits institutional knowledge. Well structured formal programs can affect perceptions, but not much data on performance. 13 Development Techniques In In- House University Allows for structured learning environment as the organization controls the curriculum. Hone in on what s s critical to the organization. Research shows that more courses a person takes the more likely that his/her performance will improve. Sales/Technical training has a higher ROI than management training. 14 Leadership Development What Does Work Having leaders at all levels who focus on creating a work climate that motivates employees to perform at their best. Ensuring that the company and its senior management make leadership development a top priority. Provide training and coaching to help intact leadership teams, as well as the individual leaders, work together and more effectively. 15 5

6 Leadership Development What Does Work When Started Early Rotational job assignments for high potential. External leadership development programs for mid- level managers. Web-based based self-study study leadership modules for mid- level managers. Executive MBA programs for mid-level managers. 16 How Do You Measure Effectiveness Should be evaluated over time, not at one point. Need to be able to distinguish high performers and low performers Performance appraisal data not necessarily the best Use multiple measures 17 Summary There are effective measures of leadership skills that can be used as a benchmark for development. Not all leadership development techniques work. Be a savvy consumer and use those that have supporting data. 18 6

7 Summary Establish your criteria for leadership development success before you begin the program. Be sure that what you measure reflects individual and group performance. 19 Q & A 7