Case Study-Leadership
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Building leadership skills
Strategic Finance . 81.1 (July 1999): p10+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 1999 Institute of Management Accountants
Abstract:
The latest survey by Robert Half International Inc on 150 executives from the largest US firms indicates that they consider leadership skills the most valuable asset in managers. Reality suggests that leadership is both a natural and acquired skill. Actively nurturing leadership skills in promising employees and providing them with opportunities to further their career will benefit all firms. Five practical steps are suggested that will enable firms to help develop leadership skills among their employees.
Full Text:
An assistant controller for a textile manufacturer in the south was asked recently to assume some of the training and development functions for his department. It was a challenging role for two reasons: The firm was in the midst of significant expansion, including opening additional plants and offices in two nearby states, and turnover has been an issue in recent years. Its rapid growth combined with a higher-than-average employee turnover rate elicited concerns that the company wasn't doing enough to actively develop future leaders.
In a recent Robert Half International survey of 150 executives from the nation's largest companies, leadership skills were identified as the most valued asset in managers. Some believe that leaders are born, not made, while others think that leadership is a quantifiable set of skills and ways of thinking that can be taught. Reality lies somewhere in between. While certain people do appear to have innate management capabilities, there are others who possess an identifiable potential that can be nurtured successfully. Actively cultivating leadership skills among promising staff members ensures that employees groomed to lead and manage have an in-depth knowledge of a firm's processes and long-term goals as well as a feel for its corporate culture.
Once leaders are developed, you don't want them to leave. By fostering an environment in which employees are given the means to enhance their management abilities and to continually expand their responsibilities, companies leave room for career growth, a key motivator and retention tool. Let's investigate five practical steps you can take to help develop leadership skills in your department.
1 Provide formal training. No effective leader can function without an in-depth comprehension of how the organization works. Through orientations and training seminars, you can help each employee understand the significance of his or her function in the department by explaining its connection to the expectations and objectives of the company as a whole. This will furnish a context for further training that provides additional details about the ways in which your business operates.
Once staff members have the "big picture," management development initiatives can provide the crucial building blocks that enable them to begin growing into capable leaders. By using these programs, you can instill values that are reflective of your department's management style. For example, encourage promising staff members to continually seek new approaches to getting their jobs done and make sure they know that creativity is always welcome in your organization. Or show them that you value teamwork and project-driven collaboration over top-down hierarchical direction. As these future leaders mature, they will pass on to others such critical aspects of your department's culture.
2 Create a supportive work environment. The learning that takes place in formal training is reinforced when staff members can put their knowledge and skills into action. Establish a workplace that allows greater autonomy and increased responsibility, and design work assignments so they are progressively more challenging and demanding.
Give clear directives about what employees need to do to meet specific productivity and quality standards. It's also important to monitor your staff's efforts and to provide guidance and feedback when required, serving more as a coach than a boss.
3 Design a mentoring program. People learn new skills not only by absorbing information and acting on it, but also by a process called "modeling," or observing and imitating the actions of another, usually more senior, manager. In the workplace, modeling occurs most effectively within the context of a mentoring program. Mentoring is an ideal supplement to formal leadership training because it uses the real-life expertise of those who are successful in your organization. Given the chance to directly observe how management skills are put into action on a day-to-day basis, employees can enhance their talents and build their confidence.
By pairing a junior employee with a more experienced professional in a one-on-one relationship, you can instill in the less tenured staff member an understanding of the department's preferred procedures and best practices. The mentor, meanwhile, benefits from having assisted a promising leader in the formative stages of his or her career.
In designing a mentoring program, select as mentors employees who not only display leadership abilities but who are capable of teaching these skills. Mid- to senior-level professionals with solid communication skills, thorough knowledge of the department and company, and genuine enthusiasm for their work will make the best mentors.
4 Recognize and reward. As individuals on your team display leadership qualities and skills, publicly recognize their efforts and achievements whenever possible, and establish a program of incentives to provide continued motivation. This reinforces the new behaviors and builds employees' confidence in their ability to lead.
At RHI, we've established a "What a Good Idea" program, which encourages employees throughout the organization to submit ideas for improving service and productivity. Winning ideas are implemented and subsequently featured in our employee newsletter, but all submissions are acknowledged with a personal letter to each employee. Winners also receive a special award.
5 Identify promising leaders as early as possible. Always be on the lookout for potential leaders. Perhaps one of your staff members developed a customized spreadsheet that helped the operations department better control overhead costs. Maybe another employee developed an effective new approach to working with colleagues in other departments. A third individual may repeatedly volunteer for the role of team leader and show a natural ability to motivate coworkers. These are all signs of leadership potential, and employees who show this kind of promise are the ones likely to benefit most from your efforts to develop future managers. This does not mean that you should train only a select few, however. No matter how accurate your screening efforts, there will be some staff members with exceptional talents that are simply lying dormant waiting to be unleashed.
Even before employees are brought on board, it can be helpful to focus recruitment and hiring efforts on individuals who may already exhibit some of the key qualities of successful leaders. When interviewing candidates, for example, the use of hypothetical scenarios and open-ended questions can provide important clues as to whether job seekers display incentive, motivation, enthusiasm, innovation, and an interest in expanding their skill sets.
Although it takes time and effort to cultivate leadership skills within your staff, the payoff can be enormous as your company expands. This ongoing investment in human resources can produce managers who inspire others to join them in effectively handling the financial demands of a growing business and who are likely to continue to find the organization an excellent place to work.
Max Messmer is chairman and CEO of Robert Half International Inc. (RHI), parent company of Robert Half[R], Accountemps[R] and RHI Management Resources[R].
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Messmer, Max. "Building leadership skills." Strategic Finance, July 1999, p. 10+. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A55412182/AONE?u=oran95108&sid=AONE&xid=6cc442af. Accessed 19 Dec. 2017.
