Leadership Development - How Can Companies Develop Their Talent?

This week, the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) have published a report on the Leadership and Talent Pipeline which, for any business leader, should make for interesting (and perhaps concerning) reading.

One of the report headlines suggests that "93% of respondents expressed concern that low levels of management skills are having a direct impact on their business achieving its goals".

The report which is based upon research findings from 750 UK based organisations looks at how the skills required to operate at middle and senior levels in companies should "filter up through a business via training and investment from first line management onwards" which should then "give employers confidence in the talent coming through the ranks and enable them to make the majority of managerial appointments internally".

Given this, it is quite staggering that "only 18% of employers expect candidates to have received management training prior to being appointed to a management position. This means the vast majority of first line managers are expected to learn on the job with no support, creating a ‘sink or swim’ scenario".

The report also looks at the shift of skills that takes place from junior to senior positions with strategic and financial acumen becoming increasingly important as functional technical skills diminish.  However, "with no focus on recruiting or developing these skills at more junior levels, employees are finding themselves insufficiently equipped to take on senior management roles".  

The report highlights that many employers are turning to external recruitment to overcome this with. "Almost half (47%) of employers cite the lack of internal staff capability as the single biggest barrier to ensuring an effective pipeline of leaders and managers. Without the necessary skills and capabilities being developed internally, the cycle of external recruitment, with its additional costs and risks, can impact on the ability of UK businesses to build their future operations".

So what should employers be doing?  Well the simple answer is that they should be looking to develop the talent within their organisations  and this is where Brass Tacks comes in.

Brass Tacks is a unique approach to Management Training, providing basic training across a broad range of management, supervisory and general business skills.  Brass Tacks uses a blended learning approach, combining highly interactive training workshops, candidate self study & reflective learning and assessment and resulting in an ILM Endorsed Award.  Brass Tacks has partnered with the Marshall Gurney Institute to provide the candidates with an extensive source of web based training and support materials to assist their learning.  

Brass Tacks courses are aimed at new managers and/or supervisors or to personnel aspiring to these positions, working in anything from SME’s to Corporate Organisations and everything in between.  The training demystifies the complexities of business and management and provides candidates with the necessary skills to develop into their job roles.

The major benefits associated with Brass Tacks events are:

• Brass Tacks offer a wide range of skills development programmes that can be tuned to the particular needs of the candidate and/or their organisation. This can be used to ensure that the right blend of learning is achieved to ensure that employees are ready for advancement within their company or business.

• Brass Tacks is focused upon learning rather than training to ensure that the skills are embedded and utilised leading to ongoing and sustainable business improvement rather than simply sitting in a training manual on the shelf. This is achieved through ongoing post learning support and development following attendance at a Brass Tacks event.

The Brass Tacks Trainers are all highly experienced business leaders and managers within their fields.  They offer an engaging and “no nonsense” approach to the training, making business and management “simple to understand, easy to implement”.

<Read the full ILM Report here.>



Further information on Brass Tacks events can be obtained from:

steve@beaufortperformancemanagement.co.uk