As an HR professional, you probably either already have a leadership development strategy in place, or you’re in the process of creating one. So, one important question to explore at this point is: ‘How do you ensure that the right people are on your leadership development programme?’
Every business has its charismatic high-fliers – those high-profile individuals who are visibly successful, often in sales or customer facing roles, and usually fairly extrovert in their personality. But contrary to what many senior managers believe, these high performing staff don’t often make the best leaders. What your leadership development selection process should do is identify those employees with the specific skills and traits required to make excellent leaders of the future – and the key is their potential, not their current profile. So how do you define high potential? That depends on your business, your culture and your goals – and of course the thinking you apply to your 9-box grid categorisations for future stars, star performers and those with potential (if you use these for your staff). But it is worth considering a variety of factors such as intellectual capacity, attitude to change, and ability to motivate others for example.
How can HR support leadership development?
Clearly developing the particular leadership skills and competencies your business needs is not an instantaneous shift; it’s a journey of continuous improvement which your leaders of the future must engage with fully, including taking ownership of their performance. As their HR lead, you will evolve their development plan with them, keep an eye on their progress and provide the support required along the way. One other useful way to get them on the right track early on is to facilitate opportunities for them to apply new leadership skills within their current day-to-day role, perhaps through involvement in projects or short-term secondments for example.
Another tactic used successfully by HR managers seeking to support their high potential leadership candidates is to introduce a mentor-led coaching programme. Coaching fledgling leaders can have a dramatic impact on progress and provide personalised and relevant support alongside more formal learning. But do give some thought to how you match each potential future leader with established mentors within the business. Their personalities and approaches should be compatible; successful mentors also have qualities and skills that are supportive more than directive.
How can HR software help leadership development?
Consider also that having appropriate HR software in place can help you to manage your leadership development programme more successfully. In particular, learning and development software with talent management functionality built in can not only provide the insight you need to keep abreast of progress, it can also ensure that HR builds a deeper understanding of the range of talent within the business; is able to target the right future leaders; and create positive and fruitful matches with mentors who have the most relevant and compatible skills and experience.
With a robust leadership development programme in place to support your highest potential employees, HR has the best chance of propelling top talent into future leadership positions.
See for yourself how our latest HR software can make talent management (and a whole host of other HR tasks) easier to complete whilst also delivering the strategic insight you need to make confident decisions about your talent pool including:
- Checking skills and experience for individuals being considered for alternative roles
- Identifying employees with a higher ‘flight risk’ who you want to keep on board
- Discover who is most relevant and likely to be ready for a change of role
Watch our role specific HR demo videos to see our HR software in action.