As the world starts to emerge into a new way of working for many organisations, leadership development is being seen as a key area of focus to ensure that flexible and remote working models can be developed, lead and managed effectively to allow all individuals within a business to thrive.

ProAction has considerable experience in this specialist area with the focus very much on creating development programmes suited to your unique business needs and we’re already adding tangible value with this for our clients as they start to look to the future.

What is leadership development?

But what is the true definition of leadership development over leadership training? Simply put its educational programs whose purpose is to improve the performance of first-line supervisors, middle managers and senior executives within an organisation. According to industry research, the most common leadership development subjects include:

Coaching
Communication
Negotiation
Teamwork and collaboration
Diversity and inclusion
Leading innovation
Providing feedback
Emotional intelligence

Many leadership development programs have failed due to a variety of factors not being considered. By sidestepping these stumbling blocks, ProAction HR can create a programme for you that will develop stronger and more capable leaders, save time and money, and boost morale. A key priority for many as we start to look to the future rather than just continue to manage the challenges of the pandemic.There are many programmes out there, and industry research has shown that £2.5 billion* is being invested each year – we see it as crucial that this investment is effective and creates positive results.Our leadership development programmes follow these principles:

Be crystal clear on what the programme is for

Too many programmes assume that one size fits all and that the same group of skills or leadership style is appropriate regardless of say, strategy or culture. Ask the question right at the start – what is the programme for?

Look at the reality, not just the theory

What format will work within your organisation. How can you ensure that training time away from work will be implemented fully in a real time scenario? How do your people learn best and how does a programme truly become a part of your culture?

Value the importance of behavioural change

This is often the hardest element to embrace within any leadership development programme as by their very nature they are often designed to push people out of their comfort zone which can ignite all sorts of reactions and blocks to change. ProAction HR have a number of techniques and tools to create sustainable behaviour change.

Have a process in place to track and measure the results

Leadership development can be a significant investment in both time and resource, it is therefore essential to ensure that any programme is developed has very clear measurements and success criteria in place.

ProAction HR was trusted with a multinational programme

It has been an organic step for us to move into providing Leadership Development and training as our Directors and Associates have delivered Learning & Development, been managers, and been on the receiving end of training for most of their careers (and we’re no spring chickens!).

Our ethos is to add expert value and professionalism to all that we do, and to do it with our own unique blend of personalities. So, when we were invited to deliver an internally designed leadership development programme for a global digital & recruitment company, we couldn’t be happier that they quickly saw that unique combination which is an integral part of what working with us is all about.

As soon as we were brought on board, we got together with the internal team that developed the programme, who quickly moved from not wanting anyone to deliver their baby, to asking for our feedback on how we could help them improve the initial version and trusting us in helping nurture it so it could grow to its full potential.

This programme is so much more than training. Instead, it is an inspired mix of theory, practice and, most importantly, real-world discussion and debate - led by experienced coaches and learning facilitators. It gave the ProAction team the chance to immerse ourselves in delivering a well thought out and highly considered programme that had been developed with pure passion and was wholeheartedly sponsored at the most senior level of the business. It is in essence a wholesale cultural change programme with the aim to infect the business faster and more virulently than COVID-19 could even dream of doing. One that is designed to develop leaders with the business principles embedded in their very being - and give them the skills to uphold these principles in their people.

This programme is now being rolled out virtually with delegates across the globe and from every subsidiary company within the company portfolio, purposefully mixed to develop diversity, create a multicultural experience and spawn supportive and empowering peer networks which will last far longer than the programme itself.

ProAction HR is delighted that we have gone from being just a provider, to a true business partner with this organisation. Collaboration has been key for them to reach their goals, and for those taking part in the leadership development training to achieve their learning objectives too.

We would love to show your organisation how we can add value to your leadership development, whether it be reviewing or writing a programme, working in partnership to fine-tune or enhance existing assets, or delivering those that are already launched.

Book a discovery call to find out more.

* Taken from The Leadership Training Market, Updated Nov. 20, 2020

Adding tangible value to the leadership development arena