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9-1 Project Submission: Communication Strategy for Adaptive Leadership Toolkit
MBA 580
SNHU
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Introduction
A communication strategy has been designed for an organization that is involved in
making prosthetics. The fundamental objective of the communication strategy is to help in
the rollout and implementation of the adaptive leadership toolkit. The communication is
designed so that adaptive leadership can be implemented throughout the organization by all
the people leaders. The strategy that is designed can be used for both internal as well as
external stakeholders of the organization. The ultimate intention of presenting the
communication is to improve the existing leadership model throughout the entity by
introducing a more flexible leadership approach.
In the initial section of the communication strategy, the business problem relating to
leadership has been identified and discussed. Then the leadership strengths and weaknesses
that have been identified from the employee engagement survey are examined. Their
association with the leadership skills and behaviour included in the adoptive leadership toolkit
has been ascertained. The importance of the personal development plan (PDP) in the toolkit
is captured. The role of the PDP and SMART goal setting to develop leadership skills in the
organization is explained. The following section gives an in-depth insight into the adaptive
leadership toolkit, the intended target audience, and the integrated leadership skills and
behaviour. The details relating to the rollout and implementation of the leadership approach
are highlighted. The metrics and deliverables that will be used for measuring its effectiveness
have been identified. It is followed by the methods of communication that will be used for
gaining buy-in. ultimately, the feedback and communication strategy that can help to improve
the toolkit on an ongoing basis has been presented. The role of the communication strategy
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is instrumental in effectively addressing the identified leadership issue by introducing the
adaptive leadership toolkit.
1. Business Problem
The business problem that the organization is currently facing revolves around its
leadership approach. According to the results of this year's employee engagement survey,
some leadership practices, such as the focus on recognition and praise, limited support by
supervisors, etc., have received a low score. These loopholes in the leadership approach can
magnify in the future and diminish the level of satisfaction among the employees even
further. According to Kuchinki, there is a significant association between leadership
approach, employee performance outcome, and satisfaction of the workforce (Asrar-ul-Haq &
Kuchinke, 2016). In the organizational setting, the personal development plan can play a
critical role in addressing the current leadership issues by identifying the current strengths
and weaknesses relating to leadership. The PDP plan was created so that it can be used as
the chief instrument that will help to strategically guide to work towards adaptive leadership.
Its role is imperative to address the current loopholes that exist in the leadership style in the
organization so that the satisfaction of employees towards the leadership can be increased
(Gleeson, 2020).
The objective of designing the adaptive leadership toolkit is to identify and develop
adaptive leadership skills by reflecting on current strengths and weaknesses (Adaptive
leadership toolkit. Child Care Technical Assistance Network, 2020). In the highly dynamic
and unpredictable organizational setting, leaders need to function in an adaptable and flexible
manner so that they can bring about constructive and sustainable change. In the organization,
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the adaptive leadership toolkit can be of high value as it can help in addressing the current
leadership issue and help to improve employee satisfaction relating to diverse leadership
aspects like recognition and praise and extending support to the staff (Byrne et al., 2016).
2. Leadership Strengths
The evaluation of the employee engagement survey has helped to identify several
leadership strengths, such as the commitment to assist the organizational personnel in
fulfilling their family and other responsibilities and high commitment to providing value to
the clients and the customers. It acts as a major factor that improves the professional
relationship between the leaders and the employees. The solid commitment of the leaders is
a strength as it serves as a catalyst and helps in improving the professional relationship
between the leaders and their subordinates. By receiving support from the leaders, the
employees are able to maintain a proper work-life balance while working in the organization.
The contribution of the leaders in the organizational setting has a positive influence on the
working conditions.
The analysis that has been performed is extremely insightful as it has helped to identify the
leadership aspects that have a positive influence on the workforce and increase their
satisfaction level in the organization. Furthermore, it also helped to identify the leadership
skills and behaviour that need to be integrated into the adaptive leadership toolkit so that the
existing issues can be addressed. On the basis of the thorough analysis of the employee
engagement survey results, several leadership skills and behaviour, such as the ability to
engage with the staff, acknowledgment and appreciation of the efforts of the subordinates,
etc., have been integrated into the adaptive leadership toolkit. According to Sarti (2014),
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leaders play an indispensable role to enhance work engagement and improve the management
of human resources (Sarti, 2014).
3. Leadership Weaknesses
The analysis of the results of the employee engagement survey has helped to identify
several leadership weaknesses that are prevalent in the organization, such as a low level of
engagement with the staff, poor focus on recognition and praise. These elements restrict the
overall effectiveness of the current leadership approach and negatively affect employee
satisfaction and motivation. The results of the survey show that due to the lack of recognition
in the firm, employees do not feel encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing
things. Similarly, it also hampers their personal sense of accomplishment in the work setting.
Clarke and Mahadi (2017) have identified that recognition can strengthen the relationship
between leaders and subordinates. It can improve the respect that they share for one another
and influence the employee performance as well as their overall well-being (Clarke &
Mahadi, 2017). The poor engagement can broaden the gap between the leaders and his
subordinates. Furthermore, it can adversely affect the morale and motivation of the staff
member.
The analysis of survey results has helped to incorporate several leadership skills and
behaviour into the adaptive leadership plan so that the leadership approach can be improved.
The main focus is on the current weaknesses, i.e., the areas in which low score is attained. e
For example, there is scope for the organizational leaders to lay emphasis on recognition,
praise, and reward aspects. Similarly, they also need to work on the engagement area so that
their relationship with their subordinates can be improved.
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4. Personal Development Plan
The personal development plan has played an instrumental role in identifying the exact
areas of leadership that act as strengths and weaknesses in the organization. It has been used
as the action plan based on which individual leadership goals that individuals plan to achieve
in the future have been captured. The PDP supports the adaptive leadership toolkit by not
only identifying the leadership skills and behaviours that need to be improved but also
capturing the steps or measures that can be taken for working on those areas. The plan has
been designed by taking into account the survey results, and some of the key skills that have
been included in the plan are communicating and engaging with the subordinates. According
to Avadhani (2016), the interpersonal skills of leaders play a pivotal role to shape their
success as leaders (Avadhani, 2016).
In order to address the current leadership problem that exists in the organizational setting,
strategies have been incorporated into the PDP. For addressing the issue relating, the main
focus will be laid on engaging with the organizational personnel. Similarly, they will be
praised for their well-performed work. This step will be vital in the organizational context as
the leaders will be able to express their confidence in the efforts of the staff and positively
influence their motivation and morale.
5. Leadership Style
The personal development plan, along with the SMART goal setting approach, can help
to develop a suitable leadership style in the organization. Both of these elements can help the
leaders in the company to identify the exact leadership areas that need to be changed or
improved and implement a well-defined and systematic process to work towards an adaptive
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leadership approach. As there exist certain leadership practices that the employees are not
satisfied with, the PDP could provide a roadmap and offer guidance to continuously grow in
varying leadership areas. It can support the adoption of a suitable leadership style in the
organizational setting by helping in analyzing the current skills and attributes, developing
personal goals, and identifying specific ways to accomplish the goals. The adoption of the
SMART approach can further help to develop a suitable leadership style by helping design
'smart, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timebound' goals that can add be of high value.
In the organization, both the personal development plan and SMART goal-setting have
helped to identify communication and engagement as the key improvement areas to improve
the leadership style. By engaging with the staff, the leaders can address the current leadership
weaknesses and improve employee satisfaction.
6. Adaptive Leadership Toolkit
In the organization, the adaptive leadership toolkit will be used as a key instrument that
will help to address the existing leadership weaknesses and loopholes. The leadership will
mainly focus on fostering adaptation and embracing disequilibrium so that chaotic changes
can be introduced productively. One of the most important elements of the leadership toolkit
that will be of paramount importance in the organization is 'the establishing a culture of
healthy and courageous conversations.' It will help to address the current leadership
weaknesses relating to poor engagement and lack of recognition and praise.
All the members of the organization will be the target audience for the adaptive
leadership toolkit. This is because the leadership approach that is adopted in an entity
influences each and every member. It will target individuals in the managerial, supervisory
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and leadership positions to cultivate necessary leadership skills so that the organizational
climate can be improved and employee satisfaction can get enhanced. Similarly, it will also
target other professionals in the work setting so that they can work on their leadership skills
to be future leaders. Vries has argued that adaptive leadership is valuable for an organization
as it focuses on practices that develop leadership throughout the entire entity (Clarke &
Mahadi, 2017). The owners of the adaptive leadership toolkit include the Director of
Leadership and Learning, Vice President of Leadership and Learning. The contribution of the
Director is immense as he has played a proactive role by conducting a personal leadership
self-assessment, creating a personal development plan and creating an exemplar adaptive
leadership toolkit.
7. Specific leadership skills and behaviours
The specific leadership skills and behaviours that have been incorporated into the adaptive
leadership toolkit include communication and engagement skills. The communication skill is
considered imperative for a leader. The associated skills like listening, understanding the
body language of others, etc., can enable leaders to connect, motivate and establish
professional relationships with their subordinates. The specific skill has been incorporated
into the adaptive leadership toolkit so that the current leadership weaknesses relating to poor
engagement and lack of recognition and praise can be addressed. By working in the specific
leadership aspect, it will also be possible to improve the existing working conditions and
enhance employee satisfaction. Similarly, the engaging skill of leaders is also vital as it can
influence their ability to understand the subordinates at a deeper level. By improving their
engagement ability, they can identify different needs of the employees, such as their training
and development needs. If the leaders in the organization will work on these areas, they will
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be able to establish trust in the work setting and improve the overall quality of the work
setting. Dirani (2020) has argued that leadership role is defined by the skills, competencies
and abilities of the leaders (Dirani et al., 2020). In the specific organizational context, the
leaders need to work on their skills so that they can add value to the organization and the
workforce.
8. Rollout and implementation
In order to make the optimum use of the adaptive leadership toolkit in the organization,
some of the fundamental aspects that must be given high importance include rollout and
implementation process. A suitable timeframe within which the toolkit can be introduced and
executed in the organization is three months. Within the particular duration, the leaders,
managers and supervisors of the organization can work on their communication and
engagement ability to boost employee satisfaction. The strategy relating to communication
and engagement can play an instrumental role in the organizational setting to support its goal
of improving its leadership skills and behaviour over the next two years. According to Luthra
and Dahiya (2015), effective leadership is all about communicating in an effective manner
(Luthra & Dahiya, 2015). By focusing on this specific leadership aspect in the organizational
setting. It will be possible to address most of the areas and practices that lead to the
dissatisfaction of the personnel. For example, by developing effective communication skills,
the supervisor and leaders can give valuable information to employees that can improve their
job performance and enhance working conditions. Similarly, the skill will also play an
instrumental role and ensure that the leaders interact with the personnel and help them to
determine their training and development goals in the organizational setting.
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9. Metrics and Deliverables
The identification of relevant metrics and deliverables is vital while rolling out and
implementing the adaptive leadership toolkit in the organizational setting. This is because
these elements will help to ascertain whether the purpose of introducing the toolkit has been
met or not. Further, it can also help to understand whether the existing leadership weaknesses
have been addressed or not. One of the main metrics associated with the rollout and
implementation of the toolkit is the number of interactive or engaging sessions held between
supervisors and their subordinates. It can help to understand whether supervisors and the
employees engage with one another and maintain a healthy professional relationship or not.
Another metric relating to the adaptive leadership toolkit implementation is measuring
training and development sessions that have been conducted within a specific duration of
time. This metric will shed light on the fact whether leaders are able to understand the needs
of their subordinates and extend suitable help in an efficient manner or not (Forbes
Magazine, 2021). Some of the deliverables of the leadership toolkit include innovative ideas,
improved processes, business performance and employee performance. e
Some of the key aspects that can show that the adaptive leadership toolkit is a success in
the organizational setting include the creation of new and creative ideas in the work setting,
decline in employee turnover, improvement in the contribution and performance of the
employees. One of the key indicators of the success of the adaptive leadership toolkit is the
higher satisfaction level of the employees. The milestones that can be taken into
consideration for tracking the success of the toolkit include the creation of a flexible and
adaptable environment, adopting a focused approach and establishing relationships with
employees through engagement and communication (Forbes Magazine, 2021).
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10. Methods for communicating
The effective communication of the adaptive leadership toolkit within the organization is
one of the fundamental steps that can influence its successful rollout and implementation. The
first step is to communicate about the toolkit with the current leadership so that they can
identify the ways that can help to address the existing leadership weaknesses and loopholes.
The face-to-face communication technique is an ideal method of communication about the
toolkit, its need and the role it can play to resolve the current leadership issues in the
organizational setting. The effectiveness of the face-to-face communication method can be
further enhanced by using a video presentation. It can give a definite structure and method
to present the usefulness of the adaptive leadership toolkit in the organization. The visual
content can enable the leaders to engage with the content and be more involved throughout
the communication process. Furthermore, this communication method can also help to
showcase concrete and factual details relating to the employee engagement survey results and
how the new leadership toolkit can play an instrumental role to address the existing weak
leadership practices.
According to Mirčetić et al (2019), the communication tools that are used have the
potential to directly influence the audience and their buy-in (Mirčetić et al., 2019). In the
organizational setting, the direct communication method can be further supported by
circulating an internal memo or email so that the information about the leadership approach
can be shared with other intended users as well such as the employees.
11. Feedback and Communication strategy
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For ensuring that the adaptive leadership toolkit improves on a continuous basis, it is
extremely important to take into account the feedback of the employees. Their input and
feedback would be extremely valuable as they can help to identify elements such as
roadblocks, issues or any other ideas for improvement. A monthly or bi-weekly survey can
be conducted to take the input of the organizational personnel in an anonymous manner.
Maintaining the anonymity of the employees can encourage them to share their views in an
honest and sincere manner so that they can openly highlight the main areas that bother them.
In addition to the survey method, feedback can also be collected by holding informal
meetings between supervisors and their subordinates. It will help to openly discuss the
adaptive leadership toolkit and how it is perceived by diverse internal stakeholders. The
updates to the adaptive leadership toolkit from the leadership to the employees will be shared
through emails, letters, and memos. e e
Conclusion
An adaptive leadership toolkit has been designed that can be implemented in the
organization for the purpose of addressing the current leadership weaknesses and
inefficiencies. Some of the key behaviours and skills that have been incorporated into the
toolkit to improve the current leadership include communication and engagement. By
working on these areas, the leaders and supervisors will be able to establish stronger
professional relationships with their subordinates and create a better working environment.
The Personal Development Plan and SMART goal-setting approach have played an
instrumental role and helped to identify the exact leadership goals and the proper steps that
must be taken to improve the current leadership framework.
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