Aligning Your Leadership Pipeline Model with Business Goals
Having clear business goals is a key component of achieving long-term success for an organization. However, without qualified leadership to execute the vision for years and decades to come, the organization will likely struggle to reach milestones and stay on track. According to Brandon Hall Group’s 2015 State of Learning & Development Study, only 30% of companies say their learning strategies are accurately aligned to business goals. This lack of alignment leads to leadership gaps that can create major setbacks when it comes to attaining business goals, not to mention the associated costs of turnover in senior positions.
Aligning the Leadership Pipeline with Organizational Goals
Developing a strong leadership pipeline that aligns with your business goals can help an organization both achieve and maintain success. When creating and implementing a leadership development strategy, ensure that all existing and potential leaders:
Understand the Strategy
Emerging leaders must start with a strong understanding of the overall business goals and the strategy for achieving them. Without this foundation, they won’t have the ability to effectively prioritize and assign tasks. Managers will make very different decisions depending on the organizational goals. For example, a goal to expand internationally will generate different priorities than a goal to increase profits without growing the business. Instilling an understanding of the overall business strategy when individuals enter the leadership pipeline will ensure that they stay on target as they continue their growth within the organization.
Link the Strategy to Their Work
Effective leaders are able to translate strategic concepts to the work they do as individuals and, more importantly, to the work their teams perform. Once they understand the strategy, leaders should create a clear line of sight from the organizational vision to the daily tasks and short-term objectives they create for their teams. For example, if an organizational goal is to increase profits by optimizing efficiency within teams, implementing a resource allocation process will reduce downtime and help balance workloads. Managers in the leadership pipeline who start with a clear understanding of the strategy will have the ability to connect these types of initiatives to larger goals.
Build the Necessary Skills
Achieving organizational goals usually requires building the skill sets that will contribute to their success. Even with a clear understanding of the strategy, not every leader in the pipeline will have the ability to execute without proper training. Leadership development includes building a broad range of skills such as:
- Accelerating performance within teams
- Mastering communication
- Shifting from strategy to tactics
- Maximizing productivity
- Managing conflict
These are just a few examples of the many types of skills that should be taught as individuals make their way through the leadership pipeline. Without providing the knowledge and a clear framework for applying it, emerging leaders will not be able to execute the strategies for achieving the stated business goals.
When every individual in the leadership pipeline understands the business goals, connects the strategy to their work, and continues to build the competencies required for execution, the result is an alignment between leadership development and the vision for the organization. This alignment contributes to fewer leadership gaps, smoother leadership transitions, and the ability to stay on the charted course to achieving business goals.
