Do You Need To Redesign Your Leadership Development Program?
Change isn’t always welcome, but it is necessary. Especially in this time of frequent and fast-paced changes in the market and economy, smart organizations recognize that improving programs and processes to better align with change is critical. For leaders in the development and leadership space, this very well may mean a redesign of a company’s leadership development program. If you are pondering such a move, then one or more of the following is likely true:
- Your organization’s strategies to achieve its business goals and metrics have changed
- The leadership strategy of the organization has changed
- Feedback from recent leadership program participants indicates that the learning and development objectives aren’t being met
Three Approaches to Redesign
There are three main approaches to redesigning a leadership development program – retaining a boutique leadership development consultancy, working with a business school custom executive education department, or “DIY” – doing it yourself. If you don’t know of a reputable and reliable consulting firm, seek recommendations from trusted relationships in your professional network. Financial Times researches and publishes an annual list of the top global custom executive education providers. Another valuable resource is IEDP, which provides information for leadership development professionals looking to revamp their leadership development programs with aid from university business schools and consultancies.
A few years ago, Dan McCarthy wrote a post in his popular and award winning Great Leadership blog about how to develop a frugal leadership development program that is still relevant today for those interested in the DIY approach.
Five Essential Redesign Actions
Regardless of the approach you take, there are five essential actions for designing an effective leadership development program. Whether you are collaborating with a business school or consultancy or going it alone, these activities should be a part of the plan. This list is not all inclusive, but outlines the most critical steps of the process:
1. Reevaluate Your Learning Needs: Conduct focus groups with recent program participants. Go beyond the evaluation feedback forms with probing, open-ended questions about what is wrong with the program and what changes are necessary. Perform new executive interviews with senior leaders about new business strategies and talent management objectives to ensure that the redesigned program is aligned. Execute assessments of the target audience to understand the leadership performance gap that needs to be addressed by the new program.
2. Re-examine Your Leadership Strategy: If a change in your development program is required, something about your leadership culture and the leadership competencies required for successful performance has likely changed. The characteristics of the leadership pipeline needed to meet your succession management objectives may be different than the information you used when your current program was designed.
3. Blend It For High Impact: Incorporate a blended approach to the redesign including formal and informal learning solutions to deliver the most meaningful leadership development experiences. Consider social learning and mobile performance support tools/apps if they are appropriate for your leaders.
4. Lights! Camera! ACTION! Action learning should be a component of your redesigned program. A program focused on a real challenge that needs to be addressed allows participants work in 'action learning groups’ over a period of time and make a real impact on the situation at hand. Leaders meet virtually and in-person – collaborating and working independently - in order to address the challenge. The program typically ends with a capstone experience (e.g., a report-out to senior executives).
5. Be Results Oriented: Plan on how you will measure the impact of the new program upfront. Focus on both the leadership development and business outcomes. When working with business schools and consultants, ask them how they will help measure the success of the program early in the redesign process.
The visionary co-founder and leader of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” That wisdom applies to redesigning leadership development programs as well!
Charlotte Hughes is a Senior Learning and Development Consultant with Kimberly-Clark where she is responsible for helping human resources and business leaders with performance improvement and learning solutions that drive business goals. Charlotte has held key talent development roles with other Fortune 500 companies including; Morgan Stanley, Cox Enterprises, and SunTrust. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a Master’s degree from New York Institute of Technology. Her blog TalentFocus provides news and commentary on leadership, learning & development and talent management.