BY KIM LAMOUREUX

TO SUCCEED, EVERY LAYER OF MANAGEMENT HAS TO BE EQUALLY PREPARED.

Imagine if a football coach shared game strategy and scripted plays with half of the team. Then imagine the team is on the field and the quarterback yells out a play. What do you think would happen?

Most likely you’d see chaos. Half of the players would be trying to execute, but the other uninformed players would have no idea where they should be, what they should be doing, or how they could help their teammates.

Is this what you want for your management team? When a company targets only a subset of managers for leadership development, this is exactly what can happen.

Over the last several years, Bersin & Associates has researched and identified a process for achieving high-impact leadership development. One of the best practices in successful leadership development programs is targeting multiple levels of leadership, something often overlooked by many organizations. As a matter of fact, according to a recent study, only 29% of respondents indicated that their companies target all levels of leadership for development.

We will discuss the importance of targeting multiple levels of management for leadership development; the different competencies associated with each management level; and a curriculum model that can be applied when developing program content.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TARGETING MULTIPLE LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP
Effective leadership development isn’t about training individuals. Its primary objective should be the development of a leadership team capable of moving a company forward and meeting key strategic objectives. To do this, every layer of management has to be equally prepared.

As leadership talent becomes scarcer, many companies are looking further down the organizational chain to identify potential executives. Leadership development supports succession planning by providing opportunities for managers at all levels to develop the skills necessary for future, successive roles. Many companies are discovering that identifying and cultivating highpotential employees within the organization for more senior roles is far less expensive than recruiting outside talent.

Often a company’s success is contingent upon successful change management. Leadership development teaches managers at all levels how to improve decision-making and planning, react more quickly, and anticipate issues – all required ingredients for successful change.

THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE
Leadership strategies should include specific developmental activities geared toward different levels of leadership. The skill sets, competencies, and knowledge required to lead change with each successive level of management. Different combinations are required to manage individual contributors, other managers, a department, and a business unit.

A first-line supervisor is learning how to delegate and develop relationships with his or her staff. A mid-level manager is becoming more involved in budgeting and strategic planning. Senior managers have to work on managing other managers and multiple functions, implementing business changes, and long-term planning.

The performance expectations for management levels differ as well. For example, mid-level managers must learn to balance the needs and resources of teams within their departments or functions. In comparison, business unit managers must learn to manage and integrate entire functions to achieve business strategic goals.

Differences exist in the work values and time applications of leaders at different levels: “Time applications and work values are normally linked. People decide how to fill their work hours based on their own value systems as well as the company’s values. Contrary to popular belief, time isn’t allocated based on a boss’s directives but on what the individual views as valuable work.”

Above is a sample of the differences in competencies, work values and time applications of two different leadership levels.

In leadership programs designed for multiple levels, discussion topics will increasingly become more strategic and business-focused at each successive level of management. Program topics for a midlevel manager, for example, could include budgeting and creating strong teams. A senior leader program might focus on strategic planning and business acumen.

All of these factors make it difficult and usually ineffective to conduct a leadership development program in which managers at multiple levels receive the same instruction and participate in the same activities.

LEADERSHIP CURRICULUM MODEL
Our research found that leadership development curricula focused on developing skills and competencies in three primary areas: management, leadership, and business strategy. The emphasis on each of these areas changes within the curriculum designed for each different level of management.

1 First-level managers – Programs targeting first-level managers emphasize tactical management activities.Most emphasized skill sets are operational in nature and encompass delegating, budgeting, and staffing.

2 Mid-level managers – Programs for mid-level managers generally focus equally on all three categories. In addition to honing management and operational skills, programs cover topics such as communications, team building, coaching, and motivating.

3 Senior-level managers – At this level, programs have much higher emphasis on leadership and business strategy. Much less attention is given to operational skills.

4 Executives – At the most senior levels, the focus is primarily on running the business and includes topics such as strategic planning, business acumen, financials, and value-creation.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Given that typically large percentages of training budgets are spent on leadership development,metrics tomeasure impact are important. Commonmeasurements include:
Increased internal staffing or promotions;
Percentage of critical roles filled by identified successors;
Percentage of critical roles with “ready” successors;
Employee and leader retention; and
Employee engagement.

According to Bersin research, companies with leadership programs targeting all levels of management see increased business results. But perhaps even more importantly, these companies also see greater engagement and retention of leaders and higher retention of employees.

It’s not surprising that companies with leadership programs targeting multiple levels of management are more effective and impactful towards the business. In such companies, there should naturally be an improvement in the way that leaders work together, communicate with one another, and execute key initiatives. By providing a common language and compatible and complementary skills to leaders at all levels, companies can more easily create – and execute – a shared vision.

FIVE CONSIDERATIONS FOR GETTING STARTED
Once companies decide to expand their leadership strategies, they are often confused about where to start, what to focus on, and how to implement. Below are short answers to five commonly asked questions:

AT WHAT LEVEL DO I START?
Do you start at the top and focus on developing an in-depth curriculum for senior managers? Or should you direct your resources to developing first-line managers?

HOW DO I DEFINE THE CONTENT FOR EACH MANAGEMENT LEVEL?
Leadership competencies should be the guiding factor for establishing program content. Competencies are those behaviors that become associated with effective leaders; leadership programs should drive the development of these competencies.

Some companies have one set of leadership competencies for all leaders at all levels. In such cases, differentiating performance expectations for each competency at different levels of management is critical. Or, as with Aetna, some companies have a set of competencies for each level of management.

DO I NEED TO CREATE A DIFFERENT CURRICULUM FOR EACH LEVEL?
The curriculum for each management level should incorporate key company processes, tools, philosophies, and other business practices. Doing so will create a common understanding and language for leadership and business strategy across the organization. However, each curriculum will differ by addressing the specific and appropriate capabilities that are necessary at each level, based on the roles and expected contributions of each level of management.

For example, a single program could be developed for creating and managing effective teams. However, when delivering the program to different management levels, the focus of the topic and the activities integrated into the training will be different. When delivered to first-line managers, the program would focus on managing single teams; for senior managers, the focus would be on managing multiple functions.

SHOULD DIFFERENT LEVELS OF MANAGERS PARTICIPATE IN THE SAME PROGRAM?
Even if the same program is offered to multiple levels of management, program participants should be at the same or similar levels within the company. This practice is very important. Each management level has very different interests, needs, and experience levels. Each level will also have different expectations and objectives. Mixing the audiences usually means losing at least part of the audience. Some will be too junior for the discussion and will not feel comfortable in participating. Others will find the activities too elementary and feel the time is wasted.

WHO SHOULD DELIVER THE PROGRAMS?
Proper facilitation is a key success factor to any leadership program. (The other two major success factors are relevant content and appropriate audiences.) Program leaders must have excellent facilitation skills, the ability to share relevant stories and examples, and be adept at tailoring a program to meet the interests and needs of a specific audience. Program participants will make a judgment as to the facilitator’s credibility within the first 15 minutes of a program. If a facilitator is not credible, the program’s success and the participants’ takeaway value will be compromised, no matter how well developed and relevant the program actually is.

Most companies bring in highly experienced external facilitators for senior leadership development. Such facilitators bring an outside perspective, a different mindset, and objectivity that will challenge senior-level managers and executives.

WARNING
Unfortunately, too often companies take a one-size-fits-all approach. This practice invites disappointing results and the perception that leadership development is “not for us.” Furthermore, without any demonstrable impact on the business, senior managers will become less supportive of leadership development initiatives.

So if you want to win the game, make sure everyone on your team knows the strategy, the plays, and his or her role during the game. Make sure the drills you give your quarterback are different than those practiced by your defensive backs. As leadership talent becomes increasingly scarce in coming years, your company will gain competitive advantage by focusing resources on building a robust, wellplanned strategy for developing leaders at all levels of the organization.

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Kim Lamoureux is a senior analyst for Bersin & Associates. To secure the research referenced in this article, visit: www.bersin.com

1 The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership-Powered Company, Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, and James Noel, Jossey-Bass, 2000.

2 The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership-Powered Company, Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, and James Noel, Jossey-Bass, 2000.

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