The need to attract and develop future generations of leaders in South Africa has never been greater. In order for us to sustain this country into the future, we need to invest in leadership excellence as much as we do in other areas of our economy. But, what is leadership excellence and how are traditional leadership development programmes in the IT industry changing?
New leadership excellence models are emerging and that shows leadership in an organisation has to span beyond the domain of only formal leadership programmes. Organisations that rely on outdated leadership development programmes may spend time and costs in ways that are not linked to future organisational success.
Techniques effective in developing leaders through only formal programmes are unlikely to be the same as those required to develop organisational leadership excellence. Shifting the leadership focus from formal programmes to a practical framework within the broader organisational context has practical and immediate implications on a company's leadership development strategy, says Dr Madelise Grobler, Managing Director, Bytes People Solutions.
Bytes People Solutions leadership excellence approach
At Bytes People Solutions, we have a holistic approach to the leadership excellence needs of our clients, says Business Unit Manager, Melanie Kok. Not only does our leadership excellence area of speciality enable clients to effectively identify, develop, position, measure and support their leadership talent pool, but we also assist them to adopt a leadership excellence approach suitable for the IT industry.
The leadership excellence approach adopted by Bytes People Solutions is dynamic and fluid in nature and can be summarised in the following four phases:
Phase A: Leadership talent framing and benchmarking
The leadership talent framing and benchmarking phase consists of a session with the executive and human resources team in order to develop a baseline understanding of the current leadership situation in the organisation and to envision the future leadership for the organisation.
The importance of identifying and developing leadership talent is a critical element of business planning. Leadership must be fostered and grown in the entire talent pool - not just in selected individuals. Organisations should focus on developing the key skills and attributes across the entire talent pool to build a transformational culture. From this pool of talent or leadership pipeline, natural leaders can emerge at all levels of the organisation.
Phase B: Leadership talent identification and assessment
When it comes to identifying, understanding and addressing the development needs of leaders, we favour an individually based approach. A potential leader's performance might need development in various competency areas. For this reason we utilise as many sources of 'diagnostic' information as possible (psychometric assessments, in-baskets, 360 feedback, etc). Each potential leader's development plan is unique, reflecting the unique combination of factors in their situation.
Phase C: Leadership talent development
The appropriate development interventions, including workshops, mentoring and coaching, e-learning and action learning are designed/sourced and implemented. Business driven action learning forms an inherent part of our leadership development approach where participants are expected to provide practical solutions to real business challenges in real-time.
Phase D: Leadership talent maintenance and impact
It is imperative to ensure that other people management or HR systems, such as recruitment, selection, performance management, remuneration and reward, support any leadership development initiative.
If you require more information about our leadership excellence offerings and products, please contact Melanie Kok, from our Leadership and People Consulting Business Unit, on 011 205-7000 / 084 503 6730; e-mail Melanie.Kok@bytes.co.za or visit http://www.bytespeoplesolutions.co.za.
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