Your Investment In Leadership Effectiveness May Not Be Paying Off ...

white paper | EIGHT REASONS

Living As A Leader® A W H I T E PA P E R

Your Investment In Leadership Effectiveness May Not Be Paying Off. Eight Reasons.

convergencysystems.com 1


According to the American Society for Training and Development, businesses in the United States spend close to $170 billion on leadership training each year. Yet, after training is complete, only 15 percent of the skills taught are applied on the job. That means American businesses waste more than $144 billion dollars annually on leadership training that doesn’t stick. “When upwards of 500 executives were asked to rank their top three human-capital priorities, leadership development was included as both a current and a future priority. Almost two-thirds of the respondents identified leadership development as their number-one concern.” McKinsey and Associates Leadership matters, and yet companies are not making the progress they need to make or want to make. What is the problem? What is standing in the way of success in strengthening the effectiveness in how leaders interact with their employees? Let’s assume apathy is not the issue. Let’s reflect on the organizations that have actually done something (the ones who HAVE invested) and for whom the ‘something’ has not worked. There are reasons investments are not paying off. The following list – Eight Reasons Your Investment In Leadership Effectiveness May Not Be Paying Off – is a recap of what we’ve learned from our customers and prospects over the years.

#1: Multiple solutions for multiple audiences This is a common story we hear. We ask the question, “What have you done to support your leaders up to this point?” The answer might sound something like this: “Well, we send our front line supervisors to a supervisor series that is hosted by our local college; for our managers, we host a series of lunch ‘n learn sessions that we’ve put together internally; and we work with a consultant from California to support our senior team.” Sound familiar? Here is the problem! The likelihood for reinforcement and refreshing of skills learned is very slim. The toolboxes do not match. When a supervisor goes to his or her manager for support with an employee situation, the supervisor brings his leadership toolbox, and his manager coaches him from the manager’s toolbox. This does not lead to application and retention of skills learned. Tools lie idle and are eventually forgotten.

#2: Leaders decide for themselves In some organizations, each leader is given a budget for development ($1,000 is a common number) and the leaders themselves select what will meet their preferences. We understand that personal preferences are important and worthy of being acknowledged. Yet, when we consider #1 and #2 in combination, the outcome of both of these situations is a lack of common language, common skill and common approach. Organizations are, in effect, developing a collection of trained leaders rather than a leadership culture.

2


#3: Flavor of the month Let’s go back to the question, “What have you done to support your leaders?” The answer? “Let’s see. A few years ago, we brought in….wait, what was the name of that group? And then, last year we worked with__________….” In reality, culture change takes years. Whether we’re changing the way we work together to build products or how we lead people, culture change takes time. Over the course of time, the foundational principles, the skills, the language and the infrastructure for change need to remain consistent. A stop-start approach does not create sustainable change.

#4: Transactional or event-based approach You’ve all experienced this. You send your leaders to a workshop, they come back to work, put their books on the shelf and get back to work. Adults typically retain only about 10 to 22 percent of what they hear in workshop lectures. Without a system to support learning, upwards of 90 percent is never applied and certainly not retained.

“A study published by the International Personnel Management Association shows that where training plus coaching was compared to training alone, the combined approach increased productivity by 88% versus 22.4%.” #5: Senior leaders do not participate This is common. Senior leaders are very busy, and commonly this group will grant permission for the organization to invest money in leadership development. They, however, will not participate. One of the most common fallouts we see from this decision in the short term is a common plea among leaders: “Why are our senior leaders not participating? They need this as much as the rest of us.”

“In companies where both [senior] leaders and managers are perceived by employees as effective, 72% of employees are highly engaged.” Towers Watson, 2014

#6: The leader of the leader does not have a role A couple of things are at play here. Leaders who are involved in a development process of some kind will benefit measurably by having a higher-level leader who talks with them about what they’re learning about leadership and what they’re learning about themselves. If the ‘bosses’ are not reaching out to their direct reports to talk about their experiences and their growth, there remains untapped potential to strengthen retention and application. Also, when leaders feel their own bosses are apathetic about the process, it is easy for them to become apathetic, as well.

3


“Implementation of learning occurs when managers know what was learned, look for new skills being used, and give positive reinforcement when it happens.” Zenger-Folkman

#7: Training is measured in the moment Is the facilitator engaging, interesting and providing valuable content? Was the method quick? Sustainable behavior change over time is what needs to be measured...not just the experience in the moment, during the training itself.

#8: ‘Fast’ is viewed as good Recently, there has been an increased focus on fast. How can we train people fast and get them back to work? Fast isn’t really effective if the outcome also includes the following: ○ The leader’s leader does not know what he or she has learned. ○ The organization is not gradually developing a common language, skill and approach—a leadership culture. ○ Coaching conversations are not taking place to reinforce what has been learned. ○ The leader who has learned something new will forget 90% of what they’ve learned. ○ What has been learned will not be applied.

WHAT IS THE ANSWER? Organizations need to think differently about development: more systemic and longer term. Fast and easy does not work. Below are six shifts intended to help you get your mind wrapped around a different approach.

SHIFT from a mindset of training leaders to creating a leadership culture This shift will impact a handful of the reasons for failure. Organizations need to rethink things like bringing in different resources for different levels of leadership or letting leaders decide how to invest their budget for their own development. Certainly, individual development plans need to remain in place for some skilldevelopment focus. These will pertain primarily to tactical skills and job specific skills. When it comes to leadership, leaders at all levels need to be equipped with the same language, skill and approach.

SHIFT from a short-term focus to a long-term focus Sustainability comes from steady progress over time. Paced learning has been proven to increase retention. Without retention, application of skills will not take place. Further, it is better to invest in a manageable level of development every year for all leaders within an organization than to invest in a high level of development for a few. With initiatives that have high activity in a short amount of time, the rubber band is stretched for that time. Leaders are being introduced to new skills and hopefully applying new skills. When this time ends, though, the rubber band is released, and leaders can go back to business as usual. The book gets put on the shelf, soon to be forgotten.

4


It is best to create a scenario that requires the books to be pulled off the shelf at regular intervals during a course of years, not months.

SHIFT from protecting senior leaders’ time to expecting their participation and support Senior leaders play a critical role—perhaps the most critical role—in the development of leaders! Their involvement and support helps to: ○ Cement new skills and behaviors ○ Maximize the investment in training ○ Evolve the leadership culture Additionally, when senior leaders are not involved in some way, participating leaders can get hung up on their disappointment that the senior team is not also learning and developing.

SHIFT toward the involvement of the ‘boss’ If a leader learns best how to lead while in the process of leading…let’s ensure that when they go to their leader for coaching, the toolboxes match. As we work with leaders, they speak proudly of the interest their own leader has in their development when it is present; they speak with disappointment when their leader does not seem to care.

“Coaching by managers after training increases “transfer of learning” to upwards of 87% from an average of 19% with no manager intervention.” Bob Pike Group

SHIFT from quick learning events to a systemic approach At Living As A Leader, we have been developing leaders for almost 15 years using an approach we call “steady progress over time.” It is an approach that creates sustainable results through three core elements: training plus coaching plus a variety of success assurances…all delivered in a cyclical fashion to heighten retention and application of new leadership skills.

SHIFT toward approaches that build maintenance into your long-term view Leadership development should not come to an end. We have designed our Leadership Development System to be delivered over the course of years, not months. And along the way, we weave in refreshers and reviews of content learned. Additionally, we build in a variety of success assurance activities, each designed to keep skills and language in front of participants. Remember, if they do not remember it, they can not apply it.

5


THE LIVING AS A LEADER LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM The significant differentiator in the Living As A Leader model is the system approach, which includes training plus coaching plus a variety of success assurances. Here is what a few of our clients have to say: We chose Living As A Leader for a number of reasons. A couple of key reasons include: 1. We like the ‘less-is-more’ approach over time (because it’s manageable in the midst of many other priorities) and 2. We were able to brand our leadership development process to represent our “Leadership: The Palermo Way,” rather than using the Living As A Leader brand. They really mean it when they say this isn’t about them. Laura Johnston, Former VP of Human Resources for Palermo’s Pizza As a human resource director, I have been exposed to myriad training and development options that tout themselves as “latest and greatest.” The Living As A Leader Series is the best program I have ever used to develop executive, management and high potential leaders within an organization. Their dynamic and insightful workshops are reinforced with a leadership savvy coach to assist leaders in turning what they have learned into action. One hundred percent of the employees I have put through the Living As A Leader Series have come back to say ‘Thank you‘...and it was the best training they had ever been put through. Catherine L. Cerny, Human Resources Director for The Oilgear Company On a classic scale of 1 to 10, our program participants graded YTD training a 9.2 (implementable value). Bill Christel, VP of Human Resources for Advanced Waste Services, Inc.

ACTION Does this resonate with you? We would welcome the opportunity to talk further. Choose from a few different options! 1. Consider us as a resource to work with you to develop your leaders. 2. Become certified to deliver the Living As A Leader System in your organization.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit www.convergencysystems.com. Click on “Programs,” and select the option that interests you. Or, contact Convergency Systems at 800.260.3685 or [email protected]. Creating Transformational Leaders convergencysystems.com 800-260-3685 (voice and fax) Convergency Systems is a licensee of the Living As A Leader® Leadership Development System. Living As A Leader® is a registered trademark of Impact Consulting Group, LLC.

6