Leadership assessment can be crucial to the development of a business, as it allows those in positions of authority to actively reflect on their own performance in order to maintain a strong professional environment.
The leadership team of any business should constantly strive for progression, and to up-skill their offering, as this will in turn benefit the wider team and therefore the business.
One way of ensuring that this happens in a structured and measurable manner is by providing a clear focus on this area in workplace training programmes.
What is leadership assessment?
Leadership assessment is the process of assessing the skills, qualities and values of individual leaders, through either self-assessment or a led assessment session.
As conducting a leadership assessment determines which skill sets a businesses management team possesses, this can accurately pinpoint both areas where a person is excelling, and those that they may need to improve on.
This importance of this can be crucial, as an assessment will ultimately feedback into what training is needed for members of a leadership team. This is beneficial to the business as it streamlines and economises the training process, as leaders are not being placed into courses that are unnecessary.
Leadership assessment also allows managers that may place a significant focus on developing those below them, to reflect upon their own skills. This creates a healthier work environment where both those at the top, and those below them, are consistently developing themselves as professionals to create a more agile environment.
How to implement leadership assessment techniques into workplace training
To use leadership assessment techniques effectively, it is crucial that they are being implemented correctly.
Assessments should take place periodically, so as to develop and maintain an understanding of precisely where leaders are at with their progression, and how their targets can be changed and improved to match their current level.
There should also be a focus on “tailoring” assessments depending on the seniority of the leadership role. For example, a newly promoted manager will be examined based on different objectives to long term leaders further up the chain, as these individuals will have different skill sets and training needs.
What are the next steps following leadership assessment?
Implementing a leadership assessment as a part of workplace training should determine the programmes that management are sent on, and also contribute towards the construction of a strategic development plan.
Here at MDA Training, we offer a variety of leadership programmes for the banking sector, asset management industry, insurance industry, service industry and manufacturing, to continue to develop business leaders following their assessment. This is key in upskilling leaders to contribute directly to organisational success.
In conclusion
Leadership assessment is an incredibly important part of workplace training as it allows a business to understand the strengths and weaknesses of those that are at its helm, and continue to develop and position them in a strategic way.
Once an assessment of leaders has been carried out, the best way to maximise on the benefits of conducting a leadership assessment is to use the information to point leaders in the direction of the best courses for them.