Accelerating Leadership Development Across the Pipeline
“Leadership development, whether on an individual or a group level, needs to be aligned to business priorities—both current or future goals,” said Mark Busine, Managing Director for DDI in Southeast Asia, as he addressed a group of senior HR professionals at the recent event on Accelerating Leadership Development Across the Pipeline. “Organizations should consider whether the development is primarily to grow skills in one’s current role, to aid imminent or recent transitions, or to accelerate readiness for future roles. Having a clear understanding ensures that the most appropriate development approach and initiatives are taken depending on the situation.”
In the third event in Leading Talent: DDI’s Leadership Bistro Series on Talent Management, the focus was on accelerating development not just for high-potential talent, but also for leaders across all levels of the organization. Nigel Phang, Director for Business Solutions at DDI Singapore, started the event with a quick recap of learning points presented in the previous bistro events, including DDI’s business-driven approach to talent management, and approaches in identifying potential and assessing readiness for transitions. He also presented highlights from the Global Leadership Forecast 2008|2009, DDI’s bi-annual research study on leadership development practices from the perspectives of both HR and operational leaders.
Busine and Phang presented best practices in identifying critical individual and group development needs aligned with the business, accelerating development for high potentials, and building training and development platforms across all levels of the leadership pipeline. “Research and our own experience tell us that leaders who move up the management ladder, whether in high-potential programs or not, face special challenges as they make the transition from one level of responsibility to the next,” said Busine. “We in HR can take a more proactive role in preparing and developing talent as they move from being an individual contributor to a first-level leader, from a first-level leader to an operational leader, and from an operation leader to a strategic leader.” Based on the unique challenges of each transition phase, he shared specific examples on how to get individual contributors
started as a new leader and how operational leaders can learn to play a more
senior strategic role in the organization.
Engaging group exercisesAs in previous Bistro events, group activities were facilitated to allow guests a hands-on experience to work with and apply the concepts discussed. They had the opportunity to identify individual and group development priorities based on sample profiles and 360-degree feedback results. Guests were also invited to participate in a poll to rate how well their organizations were implementing their leadership development strategy. 76% considered their communication strategy a strength: they were able to clearly communicate the purpose, importance and benefits of leadership development. 74% felt that it is still a work-in-progress to equip managers with the skills, knowledge and tools to support the development of leaders reporting to them. 61% said that the key development area is in formally measuring the results and outcomes of their development initiatives.
Engaging group exercises
A showcase was also on display based on the Success Architecture, DDI’s systematic approach to enhancing leadership performance. Articles, reference materials and online demos were made available to all the guests. Click
here for a list of materials for download and free demos.
“Effective development, however, is not a substitute for a poor hire,” Busine said in his closing
HR professionals browse through DDI's Development Showcase.
remarks. “Talent management presumes not just a development strategy, but a thoughtful and comprehensive hiring and selection process.”
Stay tuned for more details as DDI Singapore prepares for its next thought leadership event on
Hiring and Promoting the Best. Contact us at
info.sea@ddiworld.com for more information.