As the baby boomer generation reaches retirement, the number of employees retiring at once is skyrocketing, meaning that increasing the leadership capacity of your organization has never been more crucial. Increasing the leadership capacity of individuals within an organization feeds the leadership pipeline with talented potential leaders for the future! To maximize results in developing leadership capacity, keep these strategies in mind:
Provide leadership development resources to employees
Be more proactive in providing leadership training resources. This seems easy… right? But it can be time consuming to actively encourage employees to attend leadership workshops, conferences, or other opportunities. You should also consider in-house leadership development events. Although they can certainly be an investment, they also boost employee participation, morale, and leadership skill development, benefitting you in the long run.
Concentrate on an employee’s potential rather than the role they currently play within the company
Your next leader could come from anywhere within your organization, so it’s important not to disqualify employees from leadership development opportunities solely because it isn’t in their current job description. People develop faster when they feel responsible for their own progress! If an employee expresses an interest in taking on more responsibility in their position, and you believe they have the base skills necessary, don’t be afraid to give them an opportunity to demonstrate their potential leadership skills. This motivates employees and facilitates the pursuit of leadership development opportunities, regardless of current roles in the organization.
Focus on creating the right environment
Environment plays a critical role in fostering leadership capacity. Is your company culture supportive? Open to mistakes? Or is your company atmosphere more restricted? In an open and encouraging work environment, employees are more apt to seek out the leadership development resources you’ve provided in the first place. Employees feel more comfortable pursuing leadership opportunities if they know you’re ready to support them if necessary— increasing your leadership capacity!
Together, these strategies help to form an environment where employees can reach their full leadership potential, increasing the leadership capacity of your organization. Still have questions on increasing leadership capacity? Contact us at SDI Learning!
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