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The Case for Creating Your Own Leadership Development Program
Discover the short- and long term-benefits of developing employee leadership skills.
They say you reap what you sow, and nowhere is that axiom truer than in business. The planning you do today will pay dividends — and a lack of planning is likely to have painful costs. But when it comes to thinking about future growth and profitability, companies across the globe are falling short in a key area: leadership development.
You could try to simply hire new leadership candidates, but that strategy is risky and expensive. Instead, it’s smart to focus on developing the employees you have now to become your company’s future leaders – especially because it makes those employees more engaged and invested in your company.
Read on to learn more about the crisis in leadership development, the challenge of unmet employee expectations, and how these two problems can actually solve one another.
The leadership pipeline is empty
There’s a huge opportunity to push the envelope in business leadership development. Future leaders are nowhere to be found. This lack of a leadership pipeline is approaching crisis level.
Skilled leaders are in short supply, with 85% of executives not confident in their leadership pipelines.
Companies globally are struggling with internal leadership development. A vast majority of companies (86%) say developing new leaders is their top talent challenge.
This challenge has a tangible financial cost. The average company leaves over $1 million on the table every year due to poor leadership practices. On top of that, these same companies are losing as much as 50% productivity.
- It's also a huge competitive opportunity. Despite this lack of leadership pipeline, 61% of companies still report they offer no leadership training at all.
Employees want development opportunities
Retaining top talent is a struggle for 56% of companies. And that struggle is expensive: Replacing a millennial employee costs an average of $20,000. Listening to what workers are saying — or, more accurately, what workers are clamoring for — can provide a path forward for companies.
Employees say being offered opportunities to develop leadership skills is the number one reason they would stay with an organization.
Employees want to grow. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of U.S. employees who quit their jobs in the past year did so due to a lack of opportunities for career advancement.
Employees expect learning and development programs. Opportunities to learn and grow has quickly become employees’ number one factor in determining a great work culture.
Invest in employees and they will stick around longer. Nearly all (94%) of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career.
How much longer? When employees feel their company has excellent internal mobility options, they are likely to stay almost twice as long with that company — 5.4 years versus the average retention of 2.9 years.
Additional Source: Pew Research Center
Leadership training is now essential to business
Corporate budgets are already reflecting employee expectations for leadership development opportunities. Companies who wait to act are at risk of falling behind in the marketplace due to a lack of visionary leadership.
Employers are starting to invest in L&D. Nearly half (48%) of L&D professionals expect their spending power to increase in the next year. That’s a six-year high.
This will fuel a leadership development boom. Leadership and management training is the top priority for L&D professionals.
Investing in development yields high returns. Employees who are given effective development opportunities see an increase in performance of up to 25%.
“Organizations have an opportunity to give employees what they want, and in the process become more agile and competitive. Leaders looking for a way forward can start by asking: Does our culture support employee growth and internal mobility? Do we model the behavior and celebrate the right outcomes? Do we know how we’re doing in helping employees find fulfilling work?”
Justin Black
Head of LinkedIn People Science
Create your own leadership development program
Generally speaking, employees earnestly want to strengthen their leadership skills, and you can help! Readily available resources from LinkedIn Learning Solutions can become foundational to a leadership development program that employees eagerly engage with and benefit from.
The LinkedIn Learning Solutions course Creating a Leadership Development Program provides a comprehensive tutorial on how to plan for, build, and maintain an effective leadership development program.
Help your employees develop skills they can use right away.
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