4 Ways to Successfully Develop Leaders in Your Organisation

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Leadership plays an important role in creating a prosperous organisation. Developing leaders within your organisation not only makes the lives of your employees easier but also helps support the organisation as a whole. When you have talented and strong leadership in place, many advantages can be seen such as decreased turnover rates, higher productivity and more engaged employees.

Whilst it’s essential to develop leaders, it’s also equally necessary to develop future leaders, and both should be priorities for any organisation, no matter the size. Many organisations believe that they should recruit leaders externally, however, this is often a very pricey and time-consuming process that can be easily avoided. Although in some cases finding leaders externally is the only option, it’s always better to try to develop the leaders and potential leaders you already have in place.

Ensuring that your leaders have the key skills, qualities, and talents is key to constructing an efficient workforce. That’s why, being able to truly develop your employees not only gives your organisation a competitive advantage but also provides employees with the possibility to progress within their careers, something crucial to keep employee engagement high.

Keep reading to discover 4 strategies you can use to effectively develop leadership within your organisation.

1. Implement a Mentoring Program

Mentoring programs are a great way to develop talent within any organisation and mentoring programs for leadership are no exception. Whether your leaders are already established or are future leaders of the organisation, mentoring is a fantastic way to provide your employees with the support and guidance they need going forward, with 97% of individuals who have a mentor, feeling they are incredibly impactful and valuable in their career.

Leadership mentoring programs are great at retaining organisational knowledge, particularly with future leadership. Who better to learn from than someone who’s already been in the organisation for a few years? Mentoring provides the opportunity for knowledge to be exchanged, helping the mentee solve challenges and issues they may encounter during their career.

Not only do these programs provide the perfect opportunity to learn from an individual who has the experience of being a leader, but also allow existing leadership to learn new things from more junior employees. Building strong relationships are a key part of being an effective leader, and mentoring programs help make this possible due to their ability to create honest and open communication among employees.

When it comes to organisational mentoring programs, the benefits are endless. From boosted employee retention to an improved employee experience, mentoring is a seriously underrated but effective tool to use when developing any member of the team. It’s no surprise that mentoring is now becoming an increasingly popular method used by organisations across the world. To learn more about how mentoring can be used to help develop leadership within your organisation, book a free demonstration with PushFar today.

2. Recognise Potential

As discussed, it’s just as important to develop both existing leadership and future leaders of an organisation. A recent study discovered that developing future leaders is one of the biggest challenges for 55% of CEOs. That’s why managers should always be on the watch for potential leaders within the workforce. Sadly, many organisations wait years before developing future leaders, it’s essential to acknowledge that it’s never too early to start developing the talent within your organisation because the sooner you get started, the more impactful they will be.

Identifying and recognising talent within your organisation makes filling leadership positions and potential roles that may rise a much easier process. When you’re able to find motivated and talented employees, it’s crucial to get them ready for career progression in the future, otherwise, they may look for a new role elsewhere. With 76% of employees looking for opportunities for career growth, you need to ensure that your employee's hard work feels like it pays off, they will be more motivated to perform at their highest potential.

3. Offer Feedback

Feedback is a crucial factor in developing any employee, not just organisational leaders. Employees want feedback now more than ever, with recent feedback revealing that over 65% desire more feedback in their current role. Without regular constructive and effective feedback, all of your employees will more than likely become disengaged from their roles. Employees want to feel involved in their career development and are always looking for ways they can improve, so why not tell them directly?

Providing feedback to leadership within your organisation is a great way to highlight not only the things they need to improve, but also encourage behaviours you want them to have in the future. Feedback is a vital element of a successful employee, with 43% of highly motivated and engaged employees receiving feedback every week.

4. Reward and Recognise

Don’t forget to reward and recognise the leaders within your organisation. Your employees need to be held accountable for their performance in the workplace, however, when your employees don’t feel appreciated for the hard work they do, then it can lead to disastrous results. It’s necessary to appreciate leadership because it not only helps inspire them to keep doing a great job but also provides them with the insight they need to know what they do well.

There are many ways to recognise and reward your employees, from promoting them to a new role to even giving them more responsibility, appreciation goes a long way. Recognition also improves employee retention, with a recent investigation noting that 63% of employees are more likely to stay in their current role if they have been recognised for the work they do.

Final Thoughts

Great leadership is what differentiates an average-performing organisation from a highly successful one. Leadership development needs to be a priority for organisations across the globe, not only for the impact it has on the organisation, but the influence it can have on the employees. If you want to have a booming and committed workplace culture, your employees need to be provided with the opportunity to develop and progress in their careers. Developing leadership can be done in many ways as shown throughout this article and the sooner you develop leaders within your organisation, the sooner you’ll gain the rewards.