Leadership development priorities for the current ‘normal’

COVID-19 continues to impact the world of business in ways we never imagined and so too must our approach to leadership development.

Senior leaders have a twofold challenge: ensuring their own skillset is up-to-date and relevant and ensuring that the organisation’s future leaders are equipped with the skills and capabilities that will be required  to transform, grow and prosper in the future.

Rialto Consultancy has been reviewing the key trends emerging as a result of Covid-19 including the greater need for even more digital business change, the continuation of remote working, changes in customer mindset and behaviour, changes in employee expectations, including greater wellbeing focus  as well as specific industry issues. More than ever, our teams are advocating that people and commercial strategies must be aligned if companies are to stimulate innovation, increase efficiencies and agility  to respond to further and ongoing changes.

Nurturing and encouraging the best contributions and impact from all talent is a priority, including further investments in upskilling digital skills.

Identifying and developing a deep pool of next-generation leaders is essential in order to compete. Successfully delivering effective leadership development programmes, increasingly requires organisations to scan market trends to see the bigger picture on  how future developments in the world of business and work will impact on their organisation and sector.

So as we move into the third quarter of 2020, how can you ensure leadership development has maximum impact? Rialto has identified key areas of focus.

 1. The upskilling/reskilling imperative

The pace and scale of change means leaders and their teams must be at the top of their game and ensure they have the knowledge and capabilities to manage it. But this will be the bare minimum requirement if UK firms are to tackle the biggest skills challenges they’ve ever faced.

Leaders must elevate their focus on the impact disruption and remote working is having on workforces and ensure the right learning programmes are in place. These must go beyond traditional development programmes. They must recognise the importance of brokering learning experiences as well as connecting employees to learning experiences across the organisation.  Technologies like AI and machine learning are continuing to displace, change and create new ways of working and jobs at all levels with a new premium being put on soft skills to ensure the human-digital workforce works to optimum effect.

Rialto will be partnering with business leaders over the coming months to help them maintain the right balance of emerging, existing and legacy skills to help drive transformation and respond to disruption. We believe it is important for organisations to develop these skills in-house as competition will remain fierce for critical talent segments. 

2. The art of managing change

The requirement for leaders to be agents of change and ensure their teams can effectively implement transformation programmes (operational, digital or otherwise), will continue to be a priority throughout 2020 and beyond.

Rialto has observed that many leaders are ill-equipped to deal with such change while others simply aren’t prepared for the shorter timeframes in which it must be effected. They also lack clarity on how to ensure organisational design supports the faster and more agile work practices that are required in the current climate. Employee experience is also a key factor in successful change management and this is still being overlooked.

In our experience, many of these problems stem from change management not being accurately reflected/represented in leadership development programmes. The need for change will be ongoing in the next decade so organisations must identify what skills and capabilities will be needed for future transformation programmes and find ways to impart them. 

3. Authentic leaders who create space and time for meaningful conversations

Employees have even higher expectations of their leaders and are keen to see accountability and transparency in both actions and behaviours. In short, they want authentic leaders who they can trust and who set the standards bar high for others to follow.

In the connected, always-on world in which we are bombarded with information and messages, it will be the leaders who are able to create time and space for meaningful and honest conversations about real issues that are impacting their team and the organisation. Rialto has also encountered more organisations building this type of approach into their leadership development programmes. They want to empower leaders to be able to have consequential conversations to those above and below them to help drive decision-making. 

4. Building resilience and agility across organisations

Many of the problems that leaders face today and in future cannot be solved with traditional approaches so they must be able to quickly adapt their thinking and actions.

Resilience, agility and adaptability have been a pre-requisite part of a leader’s make-up since the global recession more than 10 years ago. Current changes and development will continue to place a premium on these traits. Leaders must be able to challenge their own thinking as well as that of others. They need to be able to adapt to work in ecosystems as these will be a source of new thinking that could lead to solutions.

The future will not only be about leaders building their own resilience and agility though but ensuring it is embedded across their workforces. The ongoing transformation organisations face can take its toll and lead to employees hitting a point of diminishing performance which prevents them from delivering on goals.

Leaders must help teams to become more resilient  but also ensure the environment created is supportive to create and implement transformational strategies and initiatives.

In the space of a few months COVID-19 has transformed our world and our futures.

Undoubtedly, we will have to live with COVID-19 for some time and continuously address the concerns of leaders and the workforce in an enhanced people focused manner in the future. The general consensus is that we will not get back to how we worked in the past and that the new normal is still evolving

A hybrid workforce, working from home and telecommunicating will be a default setting requiring a combination of a new leadership mindset and employee relationships to deliver future results, enhance innovation and secure sustainable performance.

Recent research indicates that the majority of employees (85%) are keen to continue to work from home for at least half the time. 1 in 3 employees are afraid of returning to work – and 75% want to see social distancing observed for at least 6 months – 21% think it should be for 12 months whilst 9% want permanent measures in place.

However, collaborating at a distance to manage a team or a project is creating its own unique set of challenges. Many organisations need a better way to more quickly and effectively align their people to make their best impact to changing customer, market and business demands.

Over the past three months, Rialto have continued to hold our leadership roundtables virtually to understand the top challenges that business leaders have been experiencing in this area which include:

• Supporting team members to remain focused and energised particularly whilst grappling with a heightened state of anxiety and uncertainty
• Developing more impactful collaborations and higher trust to enable individuals and teams to deliver innovative ways of working and greater value to internal and external stakeholders
• Driving more entrepreneurial behaviours, bolder decision making and greater transformation

One of the ways of achieving this is to focus on creating diversity of impact. In this context, we describe  diversity as having an aligned team of people with the right skills in place to make sure everyone can make a contribution and deliver optimum impact as a team

In a virtual working environment, this relies more than ever on both leaders and individuals having a better understanding of not only team members’ individual skills and proclivities but also their impact and expertise.

Organisations also need to have greater clarity on what type of leadership and team contribution they require to deliver future focussed business impact be this operating as;

• The transformational team
• The innovative team
• The entrepreneurial team
• The business-as-usual team
• The pragmatic team.

There is a need to review objectives and assess what skills are needed to achieve future goals and review the team, their dynamics and the impact they can collectively make. This could, for instance, mean identifying who are the game-changers, the strategists or the implementers and who and how they need to be supported by the other team members to bring about transformation. If individuals fully understand how and where they can make the greatest impact, a top team can realise their goals and objectives far more rapidly. Equally, honest and strong leadership is crucial to create more team cohesion’s and innovation in the face of the continued unknown.

Rialto are finding that harnessing the power of team collaboration and diversity of impact can be a key differentiator in business today.

Let’s look at a common meeting issue that causes delay, swirl, frustration – and afterward, uncoordinated action. That classic phrase, “It depends.”

There has been good dialogue covering the topic at hand and the meeting facilitator is converging the group towards putting a stake in the ground. “So, we have discussed X, looked at Y, and understood more about Z. Is it fair to say that we should assume V will work?”

As people start to nod their heads, one of them submits, “Well, it depends.”

Pause. Halt. Drop Anchor.

You feel slightly irritated. It’s not that this person is a troublemaker, the devil’s advocator, the oxygen vacuum. It’s more likely they are a fair-minded, intelligent, and reasonable peer or team who collaborates well.

It’s just that you knew it might happen. The closer you get to requiring participants to commit verbally, the harder-to-discuss and tacit thoughts surface. The problem is that you only have this group for two, four, eight hours and you still have much ground to cover. You’ve just spent a lot of time on this one item, was bringing it to a close, already thinking about where you’ll go next.

But someone just put their foot on the brake and triggered an emergency stop.

You ask him, “OK, can you say more?”, doing your best to keep the tone neutral. And he responds, “Well, I understand why you are asking if we can go forward assuming V will work, but it depends. You see, if A acquires B, V’s success is far from certain. But if A doesn’t acquire B, I think V is more viable. That’s why I’m not comfortable agreeing to move forward assuming V is OK, because we don’t know yet what A’s going to do.”

How do you respond?

Do you break out of facilitating mode and become a domain expert, telling him that one of the two paths is most likely, “I don’t see A buying B in the next two years.” Nodding strongly as you say it so that he will nod back and accept that view.

Or does someone else resolve his dilemma, perhaps someone more senior; “John, it’s a good point. Yes, I see A buying B. Let’s assume that will be the case.” There is no dialogue. It’s a directive.

Either of these responses work in the moment to ‘shut him up’ and get onto the agreement about V.

But they don’t actually work because John just acquiesced to the group, thinking ‘There are bigger fish to fry.’ After the meeting, his actions, and inaction, are driven by the fact that he doesn’t agree with the assumption about V – because it still depends.

Or, he holds his ground and pushes the point. “No, I’m sorry, I’m not trying to slow us down but I think what A does will determine whether or not V is valid. And it’s just not certain yet what A will do.”

How do you get around this roadblock? How do you keep the meeting’s momentum and address his valid point with a valid response in as little time as possible?

Technologies like, Slack, Zoom and Trello etc. play a useful role in remote working, however, are limited in genuinely optimising alignment of teams.

To find out how Rialto are working with organisations to optimise alignment and collaboration to secure future business objectives, please click here to make an enquiry or contact Richard Chiumento on 07768 713 293 or rchiumento@rialtoconsultancy.com

Alternatively click here to book a 15 minute call directly with Richard Chiumento.

Leaders that achieve the greatest success are those that recognise that  executive career coaching is not only required when things aren’t going well, at a time of crises, or during difficulty such as redundancy. Yet, many executives still take a reactive approach rather than a proactive role when it comes to seeking career transition or professional development advice. Francesca Grogan

The big advantage of being ahead of the curve when it comes to your career is that you can avoid ever reaching a crisis point in the first place. Executive career transition services can ensure your skills remain relevant and aligned with what organisations are looking for – making you increasingly indispensable – which in turn ensures your market value remains high. This increases the chances of both career-long agility, security, relevance and satisfaction.

Careers paths are no longer linear, progressing from A to B in a straight line. Add to this the complexities of today’s business world means they are probably going to become even less direct. Many aspiring leaders, for instance, find that they have to acquire digital experience or skills if they are to progress into a senior position in the era of digital transformation and disruption. This can mean a lateral move or perhaps a secondment or project work.

Plotting a career journey on your own, therefore, can be difficult. Not only can an executive career transition expert look at your skillset objectively and assess your fit for future positions but they do so armed with market insight and intelligence. Data informs the vast majority of business decisions these days so why should career ones be any different?

Good career transition experts have access to up-to-date data on skills, sectors and other requirements. At Rialto, we can also offer the Rialto Accelerated Leadership Index (RALI) benchmarking tool. This uses real-time data to profile and assess the alignment of a leader’s current capability and experience to future market needs and to those of their competitors. We also look at the so-called ‘third horizon’ by scanning for the skills that might be required in three years’ time or longer.

It isn’t only about data though. Experts also have huge insight into what it takes to operate at CEO, board- and senior leader-levels across all sorts of sectors and precisely understand how the market for senior strategic opportunities works both in a downturn and an upturn.

Another myth surrounding a career transition service is that it has to be a one-off exercise. There is a case for regularly checking in with career experts even if you aren’t ready for your next move. Rather like a mentor, they can be an extremely useful sounding board. And it doesn’t have to be about progressing in your career in the traditional sense. For instance, Rialto works with individuals who’d like to change direction, whether it be developing portfolio careers, securing non-executive director positions, starting up new business ventures or shaping investment portfolios. Francesca Grogan

Services are confidential and tapping in to our teams knowledge and expertise can help to identify the right time to take the next major step in your career as well as help you to prepare for it.

So in answer to the question: is now the time to consider an executive career transition?, the answer is you should always take time to plan your executive direction and having a plan at every milestone enables you to maintain control of your career.

Rialto Consultancy delivers a range of career transition, leadership development and coaching programmes for executives and senior leaders.

To benchmark your leadership profile for free, visit RALI.

To view The latest Rialto executive career transition resettlement statistics, visit Executive Transition Statistics.

Employee advocacy and personal branding programmes are a powerful and cost-effective way to help promote or champion an organisation’s brand and boost visibility in the market. It also demonstrates that you’re prepared to invest in their professional and personal development.

An employee advocate will, most likely, already have a certain standing in their community and extensive networks but may lack the necessary digital expertise and mastery of social media to be fully effective in the role.

Despite not being the finished article, these internal assets have the potential to be powerful ambassadors for improving brand recognition. The meaningful content they will ultimately curate on social channels will enable organisations to extend their reach and tap into networks that could open new business opportunities.

It could also provide access to fresh talent and customers as well as enhance market reputation and standing.

1. What to look for in an advocate

These individuals should be willing and highly enthusiastic about the business and capable of generating positive feelings and reactions towards the brand through their actions and behaviours.

They will also have a degree of influence in the sector and be considered thought leaders. Employee advocates typically come from customer-facing roles as they are used to communicating brand messages but need not necessarily be the case.

 2. Begin small and set clear objectives

There can be a tendency to get excited about the potential reach of a large-scale employee advocacy programme to broadcast messages and content, but it is better to start small with specific objectives.

Appoint a small band of employee advocates and carefully monitor and track progress of the programme. Determine what it is you want the programme to achieve: for instance, do you want to generate interest in a new product or service?; do you want to attract new talent by alerting them to what a great company you are to work for?; or do you want to generally increase engagement in the brand from existing and new customers? Set targets and goals and measure them as you would for any initiative.

3. Establish guidelines but avoid stifling individual effort

One of the reasons why employee advocacy is potentially so powerful is that it comes from the individual and messages are not rooted in corporate-speak.

Employees must be given scope to be themselves and advocacy programmes should, therefore, be relatively fluid, flexible and reactive in terms of when an individual is expected to share content or tweet messages. Employees do need some guidance about what is expected of them though when it comes to frequency and which channels they should use.

It is also advisable to have some style guides in place to ensure consistency of content. And while trust between the employee and organisation is a key part of an advocacy programme, it is important to ensure the company’s social media policy is clearly understood by all individuals in the programme.

4. Explain what being an advocate means

Clearly communicate what being an employee advocate means to the individual and ensure they are comfortable in their role as an ambassador. Convey how the organisation will help build their personal brand and expand their networks and the potential career benefits this will bring.

Ensure they are aware of how they will be supported in areas like content generation as they may have concerns about it adding to their workload. Making them feel valued and worthy of such investment will help to engage them in the programme and their wider role within the organisation.

5. Make certain there are positive messages to share

Employee advocacy programmes work best when employees naturally have positive messages to broadcast about the brand. Employers with a positive corporate culture, great leadership, innovative products and services and excellent levels of customer service are already providing their advocates with top-quality material to share through word-of-mouth online or offline.

To learn more about our employee advocacy and personal branding programmes, visit what we do.