Dear Workforce

Q: How Can We Reinforce Our Leadership Development Training

A:

Dear Bedeviled:

Generally, the best way to reinforce new knowledge and skills in the workplace is to hold executives accountable for their actions and whether desired results are met. If your organization has an effective performance management system, then it can be a critical tool for reinforcing learning at all levels of the organization. Be aware that some senior executives see performance management as something they do to others but is not relevant to their jobs.

At the executive level, other business-measurement systems can also be used to hold managers accountable. One of the best is the balanced scorecard, because it measures customer and human capital factors as well as business results. Other business measurement systems tend to focus on business outcomes and ignore how executives are leading their people. In these cases, you'll need to add leadership measurements to the performance-management or other measurement systems.

The best way to extend and deepen the learning is to have other leaders attend the program (or a derivative designed for the next level of leadership). If that isn't possible, senior executives will need to lead by example, coach other leaders, and change organizational processes and systems to reflect new objectives.

For example, if one of your organization's goals is to embrace change and increase "organizational agility"--the change-management portion of the executive program--then senior executives should take the lead in changing organizational systems to make them more agile. All the while, they should be coaching other leaders in change management. The next step for senior executives is to find appropriate opportunities for these leaders and then coach them to success.

SOURCE: Jim Concelman, Leadership Development Product Manager,Development Dimensions International, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jan. 20, 2003.

LEARN MORE: ReadWhere Have All the Leaders Gone?

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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