Why Your Business Must Develop A Leadership Development Program

This year, 84% of organizations will fall short of talent for leadership positions.
When the industry requires more leaders, developing them is the only viable solution. 
Many would argue that hiring talented and experienced individuals is another solution to address this growing need for organizational leaders. However, that’s not the case.
A leader is someone that not only possesses the experience and managerial skills, but also someone that understands the organization, its processes, its strengths, and its weaknesses. A great corporate leader is someone that has grown with the organization.
Sure, you can hire someone and place them at a leadership position. Chances are, if you give them enough time, they will also prove themselves as valuable assets. 
However, the cost of giving a leader time to adjust to a new organization is better utilized in developing leaders from within the organization.
Why is that?
Here are a few reasons:
Your Organisation Will Attract Better Talent
59% of millennials say opportunities to learn and grow are “extremely important” to them when looking for a new job. 44% of GenX employees and 41% of baby boomers share this sentiment.
When a potential employee knows that your organization is actively working to build leaders and anyone that performs well has a fair chance of climbing the corporate ladder, why wouldn’t they want to come work with you?
As a result, your organization will be able to attract individuals that can be molded into leaders effectively and quickly.
Hence, with leadership development training, you will be able to attract individuals that have the motivation and the acumen to grow into leaders while reducing the hard work it has to invest in developing them into leaders.
Your Organisation Becomes More Agile
With an organization-wide leadership development initiative that develops leaders on different levels of organizational hierarchy, the company is in a better position to deal with unforeseen challenges.
With such a training initiative, organizations aren’t just developing future leaders, but are also maximizing the overall abilities of their collective talent pool.
With a better-skilled team on their side, organizations are able to respond to challenges quickly and efficiently.
This was proven by a study that revealed that 86% of organizations that had a leadership development program in place were able to rapidly respond to an unpredictable business environment. On the other hand, out of the organizations that did not have a leadership development program, only 52% could deliver a similar response.
Your Organisation Develops Passionate Leaders
While there is no denying that in order to qualify for a leadership position, one has to be passionate about what they do. However, when you hire a leader, chances are, you hire someone that is passionate about the job, about their career, but not as passionate about your business. 
On the other hand, when you coach and mentor someone from within your team to transform them into a leader, there is a better chance that they will associate your organization with their personal success. 
Chances are, they will not just be thankful to you (and your organization) for giving them a chance to flourish in their career, but will be better motivated to go the extra mile for your company.
Conclusion
From having a set of passionate leaders and a talent pool filled with skilled and motivated individuals, to improving your organization’s ability to respond to unforeseen circumstances, the benefits of a comprehensive leadership development initiative are just too great to ignore.
Do you have a leadership development program at your organization? How has your experience been? Share with us in the comment section below.