According to a 2013 Gallup State of the American Manager report, only 35 percent of U.S. managers are engaged in their jobs. This epidemic not only affects the manager, but it also rubs off on those managed by these disengaged leaders, making those next in line for management roles equally disengaged. This leads to another issue—only 36 percent of employees consider leadership a strength in their organization; a percentage that is subject to dwindle if this lack of engagement continues.
That’s why it is crucial to put a leadership development plan in place, to nurture upcoming leaders and turn the leadership epidemic into a success. Take a look at these tactics for leadership development program improvements.
Identify leadership strengths. The Gallup report claims that 61 percent of talented managers said their approach to management is developing strengths and positive characteristics. In the report, 5 characteristics of great managers were identified: ability to motivate employees, assertiveness to overcome obstacles, enforcement of a culture of accountability, building of trusting relationships, and unbiased, informed decision making for the good of the team.
Encourage employees to use their strengths every day. Once you’ve identified proper leadership strengths, the next step for leadership development is right there in the name—develop them. Gallup found that people who hone their strengths every day are 6 times more likely to be engaged. Employees should be placed in situations where they can effectively implement their strengths in order to further develop them.
Create a culture of learning and development. Although 39 percent of companies surveyed by Workplace Trends offered leadership development programs, only 15 percent of employees felt the training they received prepared them for their next role. Be sure your leadership development program is adequately tailored to what your team needs to learn and develop in order to be successful.
Leadership development is a necessity in any organization. Make sure you have the right plans in place for a proper leadership development program for your team to ensure engagement and success.
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