How are companies developing future leaders? Many are following a model that emphasizes on-the-job training, along with coaching/mentoring and some formal training. Here are the steps they follow.

Develop talent scouts

Line managers play a key role in developing a company’s leaders. Managers work with people who have the high potential for leadership every day. These managers are also largely responsible for the future leader’s development through on-the-job learning as well as mentoring.

So, managers need to become talent scouts. They need to understand the importance of developing future leaders and take on the responsibility for getting these potential leaders ready for leadership roles. The problem is that not many managers now are talent scouts. The way to remedy this situation is to recognize and reward those managers who take on the talent scout role. Giving these managers the support they need in developing this role is important also.

Put leadership evolution opportunities in place

The first step is to determine what skills your future leaders need. This is done by looking at the skills gaps you have now among your leaders that you need to fill. Then you need to give your future leaders the opportunities to develop these skills.

Doing so does not have to take a great amount of effort. The daily operations of the company offer ample opportunity. For example, leadership candidates could make presentations to the board, or several of them could work on cross-functional teams.

Develop customized leadership plans

Managers also need to work individually with these future leaders to establish plans on how exactly they will go about building these skills or competencies they need to develop. What leadership opportunities discussed in step 2 will help them most to develop these competencies? After managers and leader trainees have agreed on what skills need to be learned, they can focus on one or two priorities in their first review cycle.

Follow up

The senior leadership needs to get involved as well. They need to check in regularly with managers to see how the leadership development plans are working. They need to monitor progress and offer feedback and guidance as needed.

If you are looking for work in the Inland Empire, Arrow Staffing can help you. We work closely with all of our job candidates to learn about their skills, knowledge and interests so we can better serve them. We have the experience and expertise to find a job for you. Give us a call today.