Leadership and Management Development as a Key for an Organization to Achieve Its Business Strategy - Essay Example

THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT By Location Introduction Leadership and management development is essential if any organization wants to succeed. Leadership and management development initiatives consist of programs and policies introduced to improve human resources. The efforts may take the form of training that cultivates leadership and managerial skills. These initiatives may also be in the form of empirical learning that presents top executives with new challenges to conquer (Collins et al. 2011). Whereas leaders inspire and motivate other employees, managers are involved in planning, organizing, and coordinating projects. The roles of both the leaders and managers require training and support so as to make best use of their effectiveness. Leadership and management development involves different practices that are necessary for making the best use of a companys human resource (Storey 2004). Training of employees helps to offer critical skills and information that will catapult an organization to a higher level and compete with other organizations effectively. Leadership and management development and business strategy Leadership and management development is important to businesses because it gives the owners of the business an opportunity to the performance of employees. Training of managers will positively influence employees within a company or business (Fulmer 2007). Leadership and management development enables a business to provide managers with the skills and capability necessary for their respective tasks and make the business succeed. A company that boasts of an effective leadership and management development programs improves the productivity of workers since the programs allow the workers to be motivated. Motivated employees will lead to higher productivity hence the success of the organization. The internal development allows an organization to furnish its employees with the right skills that the organization needs instead of generalizing skills (Fulmer 2007). Employee development helps to retain younger managers who may require an opportunity to grow through training with the organization. Many companies train talented employees on different facets of their jobs, although a section of them may not succeed in providing personal support to the employees. To avoid making such mistakes, managers ought to take a keen interest in the future of their juniors by mentoring them. Young employees need guidance from experienced leaders so as to avoid making mistakes when they must make a decision for the organization. Socialization programs such as offering mentorship can familiarize new leaders with the vision, mission, objectives and values of a company (Collins et al. 2011). The top leadership can ensure that mentors and new leaders are matched internally and chosen based on job knowledge and compatibility. Compatibility ensures there are a mutual trust and respect between the two parties. A mentoring connection may assist a leader in understanding the goals and operational styles of the business. Leadership and management development programs have played a critical role in passing critical values to new leaders and thus the success of an organization. The mentoring programs help to pass on the strategies of an organization to a new generation of leaders who will lead the business a notch higher (Gloet 2006). An informed view of management and leadership as a result of development programs help employees to display and exhibit greater responsibility for their actions (Collins et al. 2011). Employee development gives people the confidence of making decisions within their level of answerability. Employees are placed in a better position to make critical decisions that will affect the business. Individuals will be in a position to understand their duties, and how to develop themselves to be top leaders and managers. Every employee must be trained to make independent decisions when they are in a position to do so. Development programs equip these employees with the skills on how to make decisions in their respective areas of work. The successful management of a company’s change is another important reason for leadership and management development. The more informed leaders and managers in organizations are, the more they have the ability to bring change in various categories (Fulmer 2007). Development programs have helped many managers and leaders to realize a change in the business culture so as to encounter future challenges and propel the organization to a higher level. Business organizations must be ready for the future by investing in their employees by developing them to encounter the emerging challenges in the business world. The modern business world experiences changes such as those of technology. Development programs will help leaders and managers to embrace technological challenges and use the change for the benefit of the organization. When business organizations provide development programs to their employees, they help them to become more conscious of their worth to the organization. There is nothing as important as employees feeling they are at home when working for an organization. Employees’ development programs help them to know their value to the company and the critical role they play in its success (Storey 2004). When employees know their value, they grow loyalty to the organization and work as if they own the organization. An organization that boasts of happy employees will experience a lot of success than other organizations that have employees who are not satisfied. For many employees, the opportunity to meet employees from other sectors during external development programs is a pleasant experience. Meeting people who work in different sectors of the economy is very helpful as they will establish new contacts. Such networking opportunities help employees to interact with other professionals and give them an opportunity to share ideas and experiences (Collins et al. 2011). Increased networking through development programs is very effective for organizations since it helps managers and leaders who feel isolated when they always stay in one place. There are many transformational changes that occur in the strategy of businesses that participate in development programs. Implementation of structure, establishment of participatory cultures and creation of a vision of innovation are introduced when organizations decide to engage in development activities. It is a known fact that that trained leaders and managers have a significant effect on the organizations that they run. All investment in leadership and management development can never go to waste since it will lead to performance on the part of organizations. Every business organization must conduct continuous development programs so as to impact their employees with their strategies. References Collins, C, Emsell, P, & Haydon, J 2011, Leadership and Management Development, Oxford University Press. Fulmer, RM 2007, The evolving paradigm of leadership development. Organizational Dynamics, 25 (4), pp. 59-72. Gloet, M 2006, Knowledge management and the links to HRM: Developing leadership and management capabilities to support sustainability. Management Research News, 29 (7), pp. 402-413. Storey, J 2004, Leadership in organizations: Current issues and key trends, Psychology Press. Read More