Leadership development top priority for organisations

A survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD) found that almost 90% of directors reported that their organisations were planning to maintain or to increase their training investment. According to the IoD report Training in the recession: winner or loser, “Many directors participating in the survey warned about the dangers of ‘shorttermism’ and false economy when it came to training investment”.  Others argued that “a continued focus on training and skills was crucial in positioning their organisations for the upturn, when it came”. The survey of over 900 directors confirmed that investment in training is an essential part of their recession recovery plan.

But what training programmes are important in these challenging times?

Various surveys have found Leadership Development to be top on the priority list.

Research carried out by Deloitte found that nearly three-quarters of surveyed executives believe that leadership development was either critically important (27 percent) or very important (45 percent) at their companies. Jeff Schwartz, co-leader of Human Capital for Deloitte Consulting said “Our research shows that companies committed to world class leadership programs maintained their focus during the recession and are continuing to invest in developing new career paths for their top performers and to cherry-pick the best talent available in the marketplace”.

Henley Business School’s Corporate Learning Priorities Survey also found Leadership Development to be among the top learning and development priorities for organisations.  There were 2500 participants in the survey including HR Directors, Vice-Presidents and Heads of Learning & Development.

Organisations are now in recession recovery mode and have started focusing their attention on developing their current managers. Leadership development programmes are expected to equip managers with the tools required to overcome the recession challenges and take the organisation to greater heights.

Is Leadership Development on your agenda for this year?