Although over three-quarters of organizations have reported the importance of high-quality leadership development programs and recognize that it’s important to invest in developing leaders for their organizations at all levels, not many do.
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Organizations don’t always know how to measure the impact of their leadership development programs. And if they can’t measure their impact, they’re much less likely to invest time into developing and implementing them.
Aside from simply following learning and development (L&D) leadership trends, a few tangible ways to measure the impact of your organization’s leadership development programs include the following.
Employee Attrition and Retention Rates
A few months after individuals participate in your leadership development programs, do more or fewer employees quit or start to call out of work each week or month? Seventy-five percent of employees claim to quit (or think about quitting) their jobs because of their bosses or managers, not because of the jobs themselves.
So, if you notice more employees quitting or calling off work once they get assigned to a newly trained manager who participated in your leadership development program, it’s a sign that your program is not very effective.
Employee Productivity Rates
Effective leaders encourage or inspire their employees to be as productive as they can be, with minimal levels of unnecessary stress. They encourage them to be more autonomous and innovative, and they do not micromanage their employees.
Once individuals complete your leadership development training programs, you should expect to see your employee productivity rates increase, not decrease or remain stagnant.
Employee Surveys and Assessments
If you want to gain real-time insight into how your leaders are performing once they complete your leadership development programs, ask the employees they manage. Solicit feedback from employees via surveys and assessments regarding their leaders’ approaches and performance. By doing so, you will learn more about where your leadership development programs are effective and where they are not.
Organizational Results
Once your leaders participate in your leadership development programs, do your organization’s partners or customers report being more satisfied? Are everyday interactions and business dealings better reflecting your company’s culture? Is your organization achieving higher profit margins and earning more revenue? Overall, if your leadership development programs are effective and successful, your organization itself will reap the rewards, too.
To measure the true impact of your organization’s leadership development programs, evaluate the metrics highlighted above.
If you want to learn more about creating an effective leadership development program, join us for the full-day preconference session “Leader as Coach: Leadership Development Training” at Workforce L&D 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee, November 14–15. Click here to learn more or to register today.