Using leadership development to create top performing companies

Talent has always been the cornerstone of business success, but with waning employee engagement and an emphasis on cost-cutting, Bruce Anderson, Managing Director of Lee Hecht Harrison believes finding and keeping talented staff has become more crucial to creating a top performing organisation.

Although the value of internal talent development is recognised by businesses, many still don’t have a systematic approach to developing employees. This could lead to a high turnover of high performers, a lack of engagement along with loss of talent that could seriously impact an organisation’s ability to meet strategic objectives.

Performing organisations need to pay attention to the needs and progress of their people by addressing their development in the following ways:

• Hiring and training managers and leaders with high emotional intelligence and a coaching approach to leadership.


• Developing a coaching culture.


• Having a strategic view of talent.

Hiring and training leaders who can grow other leaders
Ensuring that existing staff is supported by the management team, regardless of their age, working style and career aspirations can make a real difference to the way the company performs in the long run.

Managing Managers
Ineffective managers are one of the top reasons why employees leave an organisation so every business should think long and hard before hiring anyone to a position of power.

Managers with a rigid way of thinking can hinder all employees, whether they are high performing or need support to manage their work. These managers believe people are unlikely to change and judge them based on initial impressions. As a result they underestimate struggling employees or overestimate high performers.

Top performing organisations hire and train managers who have an open mindset and believe people are able to change their behaviour with the right guidance and support. They don’t judge employees based on their current performance alone making sure to provide the opportunities and support they need to grow professionally.

Empowering leaders to coach others
Leaders have demanding roles and a lot on their agenda. Quite often coaching other employees is at the bottom of their priority list. Even if leaders do have a passion for developing other team members they may be concerned about how well equipped they are to take on this responsibility.

A top performing organisation will develop a coaching culture that encourages and supports current leaders to make employee coaching a part of their weekly routine and to incorporate it into their day to day activities. If a leader is unsure about how they can go about coaching their team, the organisation should provide its support in the form of training or guidance to help them.

Engaging without monetary incentives
Employee engagement is more than work satisfaction – it’s about the employee’s relationship with the company and how emotionally invested they are in having the company succeed.

The emotional aspect of employee engagement means creating it is not as simple as providing your staff with a good monetary compensation or promotions. A high potential employee is unlikely to be satisfied by money if their other needs and ambitions are being met.

Customising engagement
Customisation is key when it comes to organic and sustainable employee engagement in any organisation. Each individual is different and therefore has a unique definition of rewarding and engaging work.

High performing organisations pay close attention to what makes their employees happy, take into consideration their career goals and try to align these with engagement and rewards programs as much as possible.

For example some people may feel it’s enough to be recognised for their contribution, while others desire the challenge of taking on a new project. Age also makes a difference to engagement efforts – a Baby Boomer worker may appreciate the promise of a comprehensive career service while a Gen Y worker needs to be treated on equal terms with the boss.

Thinking ahead when it comes to talent
Nothing is more important than planning for the future challenges ahead, predicting what course your organisation is likely to take and aligning talent management initiatives with potential future scenarios.

Planning for the future
Forward thinking is what differentiates successful organisations from organisations which could be hindered by unexpected circumstances. By identifying leadership capabilities and leadership gaps needing to be filled in six to twelve months’ time an organisation can start securing a pipeline of leadership talent for the future. 

Talent for the future
A truly strategic focus on leadership will view talent in broader terms than the current senior leadership, and develop plans for the long term when identifying, developing the employees with the capabilities that are needed as the business’ future direction evolves.

While many organisations assume that today’s high performers are those most likely to deliver in the future business context success in one role does not always predict success in the next.

Current performance, technical ability, and intelligence are less likely to predict potential than emotional intelligence, strategic capacity and the flexibility to learn and adapt mentally and emotionally to new situations.

Another advantage of planning ahead when it comes to leadership development is having more time to correctly identify the individuals in your business who are most likely to succeed as leaders and to give them as much support and training as possible before they must step into their new roles.

Top performing organisations will focus on internal talent management and development because they recognise that people are their most important asset. By valuing their employees and providing them with personal and professional opportunities they strive for, organisations are investing in a future where employees want the company to succeed and want to stay with the organisation for a long time.

Bruce Anderson is managing director of global talent development company Lee Hecht Harrison. Part of Adecco Group , Lee Hecht Harrison develops solutions throughout the entire employee lifecycle – from onboarding, through career and leadership development, engagement and retention to redeployment and transition.