We often hear the saying: Employees leave managers, not companies, and quite often, that is true. In fact, in most cases, there is a direct correlation between high employee turnover and poor leadership within the company. However, how can we expect managers to suddenly be strong leaders without being provided with adequate training, tools and support?
We wouldn’t expect a builder to construct a house with only a hammer, nor would we seek the advice of a doctor who had never received any medical training. Yet, everyday individuals continue to be promoted into management because they do well int heir technical role and are simply expected to be great leaders.
Too often, managers make mistakes due to a lack of knowledge, experience and confidence. It isn’t down to the inability to be a strong leader but the fact that there is a lack of investment in leadership development.
Invest in People
If you want managers who inspire and motivate your workforce to excel, continually invest in their leadership development. With appropriate training in leadership and management, your managers can understand the difference between leading and managing, the different styles of leadership, and the right style to be used in various circumstances with different individuals or teams.
They learn how to improve and adapt their communication skills to motivate and inspire. With this increased knowledge and understanding managers feel much more comfortable when it comes to managing performance.
Improved Performance
Good performance management requires appropriate feedback, both positive and constructive, at the proper time. Constructive feedback can involve ‘difficult conversations’, and this is where managers can often make mistakes. Some managers mishandle performance management issues, creating unnecessary conflict and demotivation. Other managers, particularly those who lack confidence, avoid addressing the problems altogether. The latter scenario can often be worse than the first, as allowing poor performance to go unchallenged not only costs the company in reduced output from the poor performers; it can also cause those who are performing to become disengaged. This results in previous high performers becoming less effective or leaving the company to join a competitor.
When managers are given proper training, they gain the confidence and skills to carry out formal assessments, provide appropriate feedback and have those conversations around it in a way that will motivate employees.
Improved Communication
One of the most important skills managers need to be a strong leader is communication. Whether it is the general management of their team, managing up, performance feedback or conflict resolution, good communication is key.
Ineffective communication between managers and colleagues can be detrimental to a company. Employees can misinterpret expectations or struggle to understand how their role fits within the company’s overall objectives. They can become disengaged if they feel their hard work is not recognised or valued. These issues cause productivity and motivation to decrease, which in turn has a negative effect, or their colleagues and customer service can also suffer.
Poor communication skills also limit a manager’s problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills. Investment in communication training ensures managers learn how to communicate effectively, including non-verbal communication, and prepares them for potential communication barriers and how to overcome them.
Anyone who has the desire and motivation to do so can be a strong leader. They just need to be given a chance to learn and apply the skills obtained through the right training and subsequent support.
So who in your organisation really wants to develop as a leader? Who has the potential to really make a difference in your organisation? For help in identifying those individuals and creating an effective training plan contact Delphinium to discuss how we can help you.
