Leadership development should be regularly implemented in workplace training to sustain a healthy professional environment.
As well as ensuring that those across an entire hierarchy of a workforce are performing as efficiently as possible; leadership development can be utilised to make a direct impact on operational and financial performance.
While it may seem productive to focus workplace training programmes entirely on developing the skills of general employees, businesses may be missing out on increased bottom line growth by neglecting to dedicate time and effort to help those in leadership positions improve.
At MDA Training, we believe that leadership development and bottom line growth can become synonymous when focused on three key areas:
Improving engagement in the workplace
Engagement is a complex structure in the workplace, but it can be made much simpler by instilling an effective workplace training programme to motivate all. As a construct, engagement fIlters from the very top down, meaning that if leaders are not engaged, then the rest of the workforce are unlikely to be either.
According to Gallup, employees who are supervised by highly engaged leadership teams are 39 per cent more likely to be engaged themselves, meaning that engagement needs to play a pivotal role in the leadership development of any executive individual.
If leaders are actively showing an interest in not just the business itself, but in the roles and responsibilities of every employee, the entire workforce is more likely to feel more valued and engaged, which will ultimately lead to improved performance and potentially boosted profits.
Leadership development to increase staff retention
A business leader in any industry will understand just how significant retaining their most talented employees is. Research has revealed that businesses with low staff turnover will typically make four times the profits of companies with high staff turnover. It is for this reason, among many others, that it is fundamental to ensure that leadership development is prioritised in the workplace to avoid talented employees looking elsewhere for career progression.
In order to give a business the best chance to increase staff retention, it is crucial to understand exactly what employees want from their working life. Whether it’s anything from flexible working to increased benefits, or clear opportunities to progress up the hierarchy, workplace training is the perfect opportunity for leaders to connect with their staff members.
The positive impact of connecting with employees on a superior level is that they are more likely to want to develop their professional careers at the business, and with a robust team in place for the foreseeable future, bottom line growth is more likely to be achieved.
Developing agility in the workplace
A typical workforce will consist of individuals all responsible for tasks suited to their expertise. More and more businesses, however, are beginning to utilise workplace training programmes to become more agile, meaning that all employees are able to improve their skills in different areas to those typically associated with them, which in turn works to improve operations.
Where leadership development is concerned, developing an agile workforce can be achieved by motivating employees regularly, giving them the responsibility to make decisions that are typically expected of leaders, and by promoting role rotation. This becomes advantageous in improving bottom line growth as if employees were to leave or have a significant period off work; operations can remain secure.
When it comes to bottom-line growth, adopting methods that serve to improve operations, as well as the entire workplace environment, are too promising to ignore. For business leaders, linking general improvement with the opportunity to grow as the headship of the company will lead to long term progression.