Unlocking the talent in your organisation

CEOs, COOs, and CFOs are keenly aware of the strategic imperative of training their senior leaders and the impact that training has on corporate performance. Executive training and development, increasingly interwoven with strategic planning, is the ‘fuel’ that powers management to move along its strategic ‘roadmap’. More and more, executive management is increasing both the number of executives who participate in training programs, as well as the types of programs offered (i.e. university programs, in-house custom programs, executive coaching, etc.). The demand for management education is strong and increasing, given its role as a catalyst to drive corporate performance.

The problem is on the supply side. There is a poor perception among both HR and line managers of most organisation’s executive development activities. The best practices in management development, even at benchmark organisations, are inconsistent. HR and training departments are faced with a large number of constraints (i.e. shrinking budget, disconnect from strategic planning activities, low coordination across business units, etc.) that prohibit the required delivery of effective executive development programs. Incremental improvements will not enable them to effectively meet organisational demand. Executive development programs first need to undergo a transformation if they are to deliver the required value to the executives they serve.

The solution, as was found through direct research of 28 leading global 500 organisations, is to manage executive development as an internal start-up. Leading organisations have a very entrepreneurial approach to how they design, deliver and evaluate executive development. They are managed by true entrepreneurs who forge ahead without much structure or resources. They are great at creating a vision, building virtual teams, being persistent and resourceful, and quite simply get the job done in the face of multiple challenges.

The call to action
This is a call to action for leadership development professionals. They need to take the lead and ensure that there is a transformation in how executive development is designed and delivered, so that corporate objectives are met. This transformation of executive development will take a great deal of sustained effort. In effect, the same way that many executives are taught through executive development programs to act more entrepreneurially, executive trainers need to think of their efforts as on par with launching an internal start-up. They need to be scrappy and tenacious. They need to change the mind set of all stakeholders in the organisation. They need a new way of doing things.

Organisations that have successful executive education programs already have strong entrepreneurial components. Their leaders possess the perspective of an entrepreneur who is working hard to deliver a vision within the context of rapidly changing company dynamics. It is possible for those education professionals who have never worked outside of HR will have difficulty with this framework and the call to action, while those who have worked outside of the HR function will be more accepting of the notion. New times call for new strategies, and an entrepreneurial mindset and bag of tricks will help drive the required transformations. In short, it is time for leadership development professionals to take the lead in this transformation.

CEOs and their executive management need to enable the individuals responsible for executive development to be successful in the same way they would an internal start-up. Appoint a high performer (who may or may not come from within HR) to lead the effort, give them aggressive goals and provide executive support to make it happen. C-level executives need to have direct involvement in providing input into executive development activities, and participate as both students and instructors. Without executive management support and involvement, executive education programs will falter, limiting successful corporate performance.

But what does ‘taking the lead’ in an entrepreneurial fashion actually look like when applied to the executive development process? Entrepreneurship, in the context of executive development, comprises four key areas of activity – management, marketing, manufacturing and delivery, and selling.

Managing executive development
Management responsibilities span the entire process from needs identification, to service design and delivery, to quality control, to marketing and selling programs, although the focus in this area rests principally on the approach and high-level networking.

The few key components in entrepreneurial management include:

Developing a compelling vision
Development professionals need to articulate their group’s vision. The vision should be written down, reinforced and mentioned often, and agreed upon among those who work with the education team (including outside consultants and vendors). What are you trying to achieve? Is it about ensuring that managers have ‘good all-round management skills’? (bottom-up approach), or is the core purpose to ensure that the corporate vision is successfully executed against? (top-down approach). The vision should be inspiring, a bit of a stretch and, like everything, should support the corporate mission. The vision, if crafted appropriately (and the vision can and should be altered periodically), will serve as a ‘guiding light’ at various junctures in program design and delivery to help guide program directors toward the best path for the organisation.

Form an advisory board
It is crucial that executive education professionals extend their team virtually. Senior executives, from multiple business units and corporate functions, should regularly meet and provide input on what needs to be done (and win implicit buy-in in the process). They will help to push programs through the approval and budgeting process, and provide timely and accurate feedback on their effectiveness. The education programs will carry significant weight if they are supported by the advisory board and board support will also increase the credibility of the entire executive development function.

Maintain flexibility
The end result of a training program will never resemble what was intended and initially sketched out in the beginning of the process. This is a good thing! All elements of program management change too rapidly so flexibility will help to adapt to these needs. Programs need to be revamped often, and vendors evaluated often as they are changing. The training team needs to be the organisation’s best example of a continuous learning group, setting an example for all corporation members to follow.

Marketing executive development
Good marketing starts with a deep understanding of customer patterns and needs. How do the executives function? What are their work patterns like? Which executives have which general skills, which ones need specific skills, and how quickly will they need to utilize them? In this area, a general manager’s perspective is key. It is imperative that the goals of the organisation are internalized and that an accurate assessment of the skills necessary to carry out the goals are defined, which will then drive the training programs.

Competency management systems are an obvious start, yet, education professionals need to go a few steps further.

Engage the customer’s customer
In addition to the feedback education professionals receive via the advisory board, they should ensure that they get help on the design and evaluation phase from the managers of the executives which attend the programs. These persons will be the single best source of training evaluation, especially for Kirkpatrick Level III and Level IV evaluations down the road.

Partner with business units
The other key source of input is the managers in individual business units. It is critical that development professionals have their input and to know very intimately the nature of their challenges and strategies. They should spend time understanding the context of their work. Also, as development professionals staff their team, it is very important to include persons who have worked in lines of business outside of HR – ideally from within the same company. It is invaluable to have the perspective of someone who has been in the field and knows the challenges of being on the receiving end of educational programs.

Design in small wins
This goes hand in hand with flexibility, which was discussed earlier. It is important that momentum is built with small wins, and that those wins are marketed externally to build a case for more conducting programs. Development professionals need to have a compelling vision, and match it with a realistic action plan.

Manufacturing (and delivering) executive development

Once one has a clear picture of the challenges in building executive skills and has sketched out a program to the deliver the training, the manufacturing and delivery piece comes into play.

Develop and maintain a great network
Partnerships are fundamental to success, given the number and variety of providers and specialists. Most service providers are identified via word-of-mouth from other training professionals, so development professionals need to seek conferences, periodicals and online resources to keep in the know.

Increasingly, internal executives are proving to be the most effective presenters for executive development. Therefore, development professionals need to work on building and maintaining their internal network and constantly seek out colleagues who have the interest and ability to teach internal programs.

Build in and track metrics to enable real-time change
It is important to ‘baking-in’ metrics for executive development programs, meaning that thought is given to which types of metrics will be tracked and what will need to be in place to collect such data. Development professionals need to determine which metrics best reflect the success of the programs, and share them with others outside of the training team. Ultimately they will determine the optimal frequency and type of evaluation for each aspect of measurement, i.e., during a course, only afterwards, via 360-degree reviews, etc.

Leverage technology to increase effectiveness and enhance efficiency
The key is to augment face-to-face training with technology; no one believes technology will replace face-to-face education any more than online shopping will replace in-store purchasing. The balance lies somewhere in the middle. For many processes, technology affords a superior solution: finding vendors, helping trainers stay networked, measuring impact, delivering content, and conducting some types of follow-up. Technology can help serve a larger customer base and provide them with better services in a more timely fashion. Online courses offer a self-paced channel to ensure that all program participants are on the same page prior to an in person program. Simulations offer a risk-free environment to try new techniques. Online collaboration tools help to ensure appropriate post-program follow-up and networking with colleagues. In the coming years, several more services will be available to choose from to further the educational process and help organisations manage and optimize their people assets.

Selling executive development
At this point, we turn externally to the customers of the training program. How do education professionals reach them, and assure that they are satisfied with the educational services? Here are a few guidelines:

* Segment customers
This is especially useful with executives and senior managers. What are differences in skills, perspectives and job requirements? How do the various types learn best? What will fit the culture of the various business units? Ultimately, organisations should adopt segmentation schemes that apply in their organisation.

* Shepherd beta customers
This goes hand in hand with building small wins discussed earlier. It is necessary to identify a pocket of early adopters who will have the flexibility to participate in the first iterations of new programs. They will provide an invaluable source of feedback and will ensure that new programs are ready for prime time. Ultimately, the early customers will become happy customers, and it is imperative that they are happy before implementing any broad-based program roll-out.

* Market happy customer anecdotes/ ROI
Development professionals need to learn how to ‘toot their own horn,’ and have data to back up the boasts. Explicit selling is at times foreign to those in the HR function; they are not as accustomed to marketing their own successes as are their counterparts in other business units. However, development professionals need to become advocates for their progress. Beta customers need to be held up as models so that others in the organisation take note and develop an interest for their own business unit. Unlike executive management, who is less likely to require quantified business benefits to validate training, other business unit heads are more inclined to be influenced when business benefits are quantified.

Great leaders are made not born
The challenges for leadership development professionals are great, and so is their responsibility. They hold the key to the future for their organisations, and they can use this key to unlock managerial talent at their companies. The executive development marketplace continues to evolve; needs are changing and vendors are shifting. Success will be more difficult to achieve in the future, although there are new models, techniques, and tools designed to improve the services and improve the process of educating executives. Just as great leaders are made, not born, so, too, can executive development professionals learn how to perform at the top of their game. Only by transforming the way they deliver their educational services will they enable the transformational learning experiences upon which their organisations depend for success, and even for survival.

About the author
Scott Saslow is the Executive Director of The Institute of Executive Development, the largest professional association of practitioners, service providers, and academics in the field of executive development with over 2,000 members from 70 countries. The Institute’s mission is to significantly improve the effectiveness and performance of executive development, and offers Resources, Networking, and Education Services for its members.