The World Economic Forum on the Global Outlook for 2015 found the lack of leadership ranked third among top global challenges. A staggering 86 percent of 1,767 respondents to the survey agreed there is a leadership crisis.
As a management consultant and Master Trainer, I’ve worked with thousands of leaders in 28 countries, and I see firsthand how poorly trained leaders put a choke hold on employee engagement. As a result, I’ve identified five surprisingly common destroyers of employee engagement.
ATD’s Creating Leadership Development Programs Certificate Program is a highly effective tool that can used to overcome all five problems, and here’s how.
Engagement Problem 1: Leaders Do Not Know What They Are Supposed to Do
Most leadership development programs are not linked to organizational strategy. As a result, leaders are ill-prepared to lead others in navigating the perils of an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous global marketplace.
How ATD’s Certificate Course Solves this Problem: In the module “Lay the Foundation,” participants learn how to build a development program that is aligned to the organization’s vision, mission, values, and goals.
Engagement Problem 2: Leaders Do Not Know Why They Should Do It
Believe it or not, I consistently see executives failing to share annual goals and objectives until April or even May. This creates a group of managers who use the read-shoot-aim approach to leading. They have no idea why they’re leading.
How ATD’s Certificate Course Solves this Problem: In the module “Envision the Future,” attendees are provided several templates and an example of an assessment. This enables them to create a development process that ensures that leaders know why they must continuously strike a balance between current ambiguity and future desirability.
Engagement Problem 3: Leaders Do Not Know How to Do It
I am frequently brought in to work with leaders who don’t know how to lead and who have received little to no feedback on their leadership effectiveness. It goes without saying that employee engagement suffers greatly in this scenario.
How ATD’s Certificate Course Solves this Problem: In the module “Agree on and Articulate an Action Plan for the Future,” participants are guided to:
- Establish a small planning team to clarify purpose.
- Define leadership effectiveness goals.
- Develop and execute a communication to share the program successes.
Engagement Problem 4: Leaders Do Not Have Approval to Do It
The overwhelming majority of organizations define their leadership development as a multiday event instead of a true developmental process. These are strong indications of a time and cost minimization approach to training. It reinforces the same mindset in the leaders who graduate from such events, which also creates a culture of not having the approval to use a variety of tactics for leading.
How ATD’s Certificate Course Solves this Problem: In the module “Design the Learning,” 52 delivery methods for developing leaders are provided to reinforce the power of using tactics that work for a multitude of situations. The Commitment to Develop Other Leaders checklist is a how-to guide for ensuring the continuous development of leaders by leaders inside the organization.
Engagement Problem 5: Leaders Do Not Care Enough to Do It
The pace of change is accelerating, and a common refrain I hear from leaders is, “I don’t get too invested in anything. Tomorrow’s a new day, and with a new day comes a new way.” The one thing leaders hate the most is uncertainty. Uncertainty is largely due to inconsistency that has been institutionalized because of a lack standardization.
How ATD’s Certificate Course Solves this Problem: In the module “Sustain Progress,” installing processes and systems for measuring program and leader effectiveness is emphasized. A competency model assessment and a program implementation plan are among the excellent tools provided. By exposing leaders to a standard way of development, they see the benefits and can model the same for their employees.
Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America—I’ve seen tons of leadership training programs. ATD’s Creating Leadership Development Programs Certificate is the best because the foundation is strong, and the course adapts as needs change.
By implementing it in your organization, you will get a side benefit—a boost in your employee engagement scores. No one would argue with that, because research consistently shows that high engagement scores lead to higher profits and organizational success.
