Strong leadership is of the utmost importance at any company, but recruiting leaders from outside your organisation can be time-consuming. That’s why the ability to develop your current employees into future leaders is crucial. According to research, organisations that have weak leadership grow their profit and revenue only half as fast as those with strong leadership pipelines.

This means it’s all the more important to ensure your company has ready-made leaders to take on new roles when they become available. However, you need to make sure your future leaders are nurtured properly, and that they have the right attitude and determination to succeed. With so much competition in the business world, creating a leadership pipeline is the key to the growth of your company. So, read on to discover four ways to effectively develop your company’s future leaders.

CHALLENGE EMPLOYEES

Challenging your employees is one of the best ways to grow their potential. When you place your employees in new situations, you’ll be able to push and stretch their skills so they can overcome the new challenges you’ve assigned them. Setting your employees difficult tasks is a great way to build confidence and resilience, both of which are needed to perform well in leadership roles. With unfamiliar tasks, employees can step outside of their comfort zone and try new approaches, which will help them move up within the organisation.

For example, why not invite your sales executive to conduct a presentation for a client? For sales managers and leaders, this is fairly straightforward but much more difficult for junior or midweight employees as they have less experience. The same can be applied to other managerial responsibilities, so by giving employees more challenging work, you’re giving them a route to leadership and once they get there, they’ll be more prepared and more likely to succeed.

BUSINESS EXPOSURE

If you want to develop the best leaders, you need to make sure your employees understand the business in context, as well as the wider industry. This includes the direction the company is going in, its culture and what the vision for the future looks like. Good leaders can make key decisions, gather options and think conceptually. Having a broader knowledge of the company is essential for any future leader who may one day make decisions that affect the whole organisation. Leadership development works best when your employee understands how they can make an impact and what’s most important to the company. So, give your future leaders exposure to the key decision-makers and allow them to share their ideas.

STRUCTURED LEADERSHIP TRAINING

When developing leaders in the workplace, you need to create a culture of continuous learning. Make sure that your work environment is a place where people are encouraged to grow and take on new opportunities at the company. One of the best ways to achieve this is by creating a well-defined and structured leadership program that you can offer to employees once you feel they’re ready for the next step in their career. The basics to leadership practices include being a role model, motivating a team and managing conflict. It’s important to establish a mentor-mentee relationship with your future leaders, and help them perfect the key management skills.

KEEP HIGH-POTENTIALS ENGAGED

If you want to nurture your leadership pipeline, you need to keep your high-potentials engaged. As the world has now shifted to remote work, it’s all the more important that you develop strategies to ensure your future leaders are motivated and have the tools needed to develop their skills on a daily basis. One of the best ways to develop your future leaders and keep them engaged is by setting regular goals. The best employees are ambitious and driven by the opportunity to grow, so it’s integral that these employees have clear goals to strive towards. In this way, you’ll be able to provide structure and pave the way for your high-potentials to succeed.

ARE YOU LOOKING TO RECRUIT FUTURE LEADERS?

When you develop your company’s future leaders, you’ll be able to future-proof your business and create a culture of accountability. Our team here at BMS has years’ of experience when it comes to recruiting the top salespeople with the potential to become leaders. We’re experts at finding the most in-demand talent to help your company grow. We have a friendly and dedicated team of consultants who are always happy to work with new clients and candidates. Contact us today if you’re looking to hire and take a look at our blog page for more career-related articles.