Preparing Young Leaders with Vital People Skills for a Changing World

In today's rapidly changing business landscape, investing in the development of the next generation of leaders is crucial for the success and sustainability of organizations. A consistent theme across multiple industries is that talented individuals with great potential are leaving for what they perceive to be better developmental experiences and career growth at other companies. This concern is even stronger among organizations who have either a work-at-home or a hybrid work arrangement. Companies that provide effective leadership development opportunities at all levels are more likely to rank high in financial performance, with 54% claiming spots in the top 10% of their industries. By offering leadership development opportunities at all levels, organizations can improve employee engagement and retention rates as well as keep work-from-home employees developing and growing in their careers. 

Cultivating human skills is a critical aspect of developing next-generation leaders. Ineffective leaders are the number-one reason people leave a company within one year. Those who work for managers with poor interpersonal skills are 3.5 times more likely to leave. It is vital to prepare individuals for leadership roles before they step into these roles. Those in charge must make the shift from “doing” the work to getting work done through others. It is not always the case that high-performing employees make great CEOs and managers, highlighting the need for early and deliberate investment in human-centered leadership development. Providing developmental experiences to help create better leaders is a call to action for organizations looking to cultivate the next generation of principal employees.

To prepare next-generation leaders to enter leadership roles effectively, we recommend that organizations consider various training and development strategies including:

• Microlearning and Habit-Building: Bite-sized, relevant practice of leadership behaviors repeated over the course of months leads to real learning that sticks with the employee.
• Interactive Experiences with Peers: Although a small percentage of developing leaders prefer engaging in self-driven learning, we find that immersing leaders in real-life peer interactions is one of the best ways to develop leadership skills.
• Coaching: Coaching is another essential aspect of leadership development. It provides aspiring leaders with the support and guidance needed to accelerate learning, self-awareness, and growth. 
• Assessments: Simulation-based assessments can help guide experiences and developmental assignments by testing candidates on new skills while refining existing ones. 
• Personalization: By providing stretch assignments and tailoring the learning experience to each individual, we can more easily identify passions and values, and expand existing competencies.
• Socialization: Utilizing a system that incorporates healthy competition via gamification and rewards can help create a sense of community and foster engagement. 
• Technology: Embracing a curated list of learning content, micro-videos, and virtual coaching programs through learning and development software, such as Vaya Group’s Vayability platform, can be highly effective in preparing individuals for leadership roles. Vayability is a leadership development blended-learning platform built from the ground up to accelerate the development and business impact of emerging talent and managers. It's specifically designed to increase engagement, boost retention, ignite productivity, and advance careers. The platform combines innovations in neural learning with time-tested strategies for success and is designed to bring people together on their developmental journeys, offering live, on-demand coaching, peer engagement, manager interaction, and social feeds. 

Such strategies can prioritize human-centered leadership development and better prepare next-generation leaders for the demands and challenges of leadership roles in a constantly evolving business landscape. By investing in effective leadership development, organizations can boost engagement, retention, productivity, and financial performance while creating a pipeline of skilled leaders to navigate the ever-changing business landscape. Vaya Group’s unique Vayability platform marries technology and neural learning and blends each of these strategies into a comprehensive tool to accelerate leadership development. Find out how Vayability can help turn your investment in next-gen leaders today into tangible results tomorrow. Call us at 630-906-3046 or complete this form for a free consultation.