Leadership Training 2.0: Transform your employees from ‘prisoners’ or ‘vacationers’ to active learners.

Companies invest more than $130 billion a year in employee training because they believe that their training programs improve their employees’ productivity and business performance in general.  Particularly leadership training programs are considered as absolutely essential for long-term success of a company and globally operating businesses like Deloitte, Unilever or American Express successfully implemented them to actively build new leaders.  Many companies rely on external coaches but internal mentoring programs gain more in popularity. Using specifically trained managers is a cost effective solution especially when coaching a large number of employees. However, millions of dollars are spent without seeing measurable results or changes in behaviour. The problems lie in the preparation of the internal coaches but also in the adaptation of the programs to different countries and cultures. How can companies overcome cultural barriers and create efficient leadership training programs to enable sustained coaching outcomes?

A recent Deloitte paper suggests that leadership training is one of the biggest drivers of employee motivation and engagement. Therefore it is important to tailor the programs to business needs and provide employee-centric solutions. Moreover, it is important to consider country-specific differences in coaching and learning culture.

Assign senior managers as credible ambassadors of the training program who promote the importance of leadership and act as role models for internal coaches and academy participants.

A McKinsey & Co paper suggests that most efforts to transform organisational behaviour fail due to lack of role models. Leadership does not end with a seminar, a webinar or a 360° feedback session but it is an ongoing process that never stops. A senior sponsor will not only help employees to understand the importance of leadership and development but he will also provide specific advice and guidance to managers who act as internal coaches on how to incorporate behaviour changes into practice. An ambassador will provide best practices, give insights into coaching techniques and highlight the importance of internal coaches in the leadership training process. Additionally, a local program ambassador will help to overcome the cultural barriers to communication. Talking the same language and knowing how to promote leadership to a specific region helps a lot to improve the participation in the program. Moreover, an executive who is enthusiastic about leadership and employee training in general, will inspire employees to become future leaders.

Provide online training solutions to easily access learning contents and share experiences about the program.

Most companies are aware of online learning solutions and some are already offering coaching resources. The so-called massive open online course providers such as edX or Coursera demonstrated how exciting and barrier-free learning could be. In practice, most leadership training programs offer a wide range of information and recommendations that may work for an Australian manager but totally misinterpreted by a Chinese employee. By transforming corporate learning and providing online resources, the companies not only can reduce their costs but they can also provide tailored solutions for program participants as well as for internal coaches. It will facilitate effective coaching by providing up-to-date information to internal coaches about the recent developments in leadership training. An online platform will also ensure a barrier-free communication between coaches around the world where they can ask for advice, talk about their experiences and suggest recommendations on how to improve the training program. From program participant’s point of view, online learning will enable them to access the resources from wherever and whenever they want. It will be still very important to have face-to-face seminars but the online solution could act as a powerful supportive platform. Moreover, it will enable the employees to connect with other participants around the world. Finally, an online solution will create completely new possibilities for customisation of the training process. A good leader in one situation, in one country or in one division of a company is not necessarily a good leader in another. A coach, together with his participant, can decide on the goals and objectives of the participant, on the expectations of the coach, and then design a customized program. Different online modules can then be incorporated into the training process that will facilitate the learning process of the participant. Moreover, different provided languages would help employees around the world to clearly understand the program contents.

A survey by Deloitte showed that “only 13 per cent of companies rate themselves as ‘excellent’ in providing leadership programs”. The reengineering of learning strategies not only requires financial resources but also a clear understanding of what fosters active learning. Companies with successful leadership programs develop their leaders locally. They understand the importance of cultural impacts on coaching and learning outcomes. Moreover, high-performing companies extend learning and coaching via virtual connections. This facilitates cross-functional, cross-regional virtual coaching and provides new networking opportunities. Finally, it is essential that executives highlight the importance of leadership. The leadership training objectives and outcomes must be incorporated into corporate values of the company. By doing that a company can foster a culture of development and growth – a culture of leaders.

List of references:

Ddiworld.com,. (2015). Five Trends in Leveraging Leadership Development to Drive a Competitive Advantage. Retrieved 9 June 2015, from http://www.ddiworld.com/DDI-World/media/trendresearch/fivetrendsinleveragingleadershipdevelopment_tr-bersin.pdf?ext=.pdf

Dupress.com,. (2015). Global Human Capital Trends 2014: Engaging the 21st-century workforce. Retrieved 5 June 2015, from http://dupress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/GlobalHumanCapitalTrends_2014.pdf

Hru.gov,. (2015). HOW COACHING & MENTORING CAN DRIVE SUCCESS IN YOUR ORGANIZATION. Retrieved 9 June 2015, from https://hru.gov/documents/MentoringStudio/How%20Coaching%20%20Mentoring%20Can%20Drive%20Success%20in%20Your%20Organization.pdf

Mckinsey.com,. (2015). Change leader, change thyself. Retrieved 9 June 2015, from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/leading_in_the_21st_century/change_leader_change_thyself

Mckinsey.com,. (2015). Getting more from your training programs. Retrieved 8 June 2015, from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/getting_more_from_your-training_programs