Why You Should Develop Your Team, Not Train Them

While training garners short-term results, these are not long-lasting. Leadership training imparts knowledge and learnings that are easily forgotten. In contrast, leadership development fosters change and improvement in the way your employees think, work, act, and interact with others.

Leadership development is specifically designed to provide both instant and sustained improvements in your employees’ performance and productivity – garnering real results and a return on investment for your organisation.

Leadership Development vs. Leadership Training

Leadership development programs are more engaging, with interactive workshops that challenge your employees’ way of thinking. With a combination of quality learning resources, collaborative exercises, and dynamic facilitators – it is all about nurturing people’s critical thinking skills.

Leadership training in comparison is mostly focused on imparting knowledge and testing information learned through traditional methods. There is a higher element of rote learning and while this assists your organisation in the short-term, there is a lower chance of long-term impact.

Leadership training teaches people to follow processes through knowledge and learning about leadership styles, while leadership development programs champion true leadership through building problem solving and changing behaviours.

Developing your team rather than training them makes a huge difference to your organisational culture both instantly and in the long run. As opposed to ‘training’ which often means simply ticking off a qualification or being tested on knowledge, leadership ‘development’ improves attitudes and behaviours.

Why should you develop your team?

Imagine increasing your organisation’s productivity and performance long-term and witnessing thought leadership and initiative. By investing in leadership development training, you’ll see these results transform your business.

Leadership development programs are not only good for your organisation – they raise employee morale, giving your team purpose and demonstrating that you value their contribution to the business. This increases staff retention and attracts higher performing employees.

Your employees will learn how to effectively lead, manage, and motivate team members. They’ll also acquire strong planning and prioritising skills, increase personal results with effective delegation, and improve their abilities to make effective decisions and solve problems.

With the opportunity to develop more effective communication skills, create successful working relationships, and improve their team’s overall productivity and performance, developing your team has measurable results for your organisation, with an identifiable Return On Investment (ROI).

How to identify leadership development training needs

One of the trickiest parts of developing your team is figuring out where to start. Every employee is unique, with different skill sets, responsibilities, and levels of knowledge. The most suitable type of leadership development training will vary from individual to individual.

There are different leadership development programs for different needs, such as managing remote teams or learning workplace leadership essentials.

To determine what suits your employee’s specific leadership development needs, you should follow these steps.

Review their job description

Before deciding on the leadership development training your employee needs, consider their job description – what responsibilities do they have, and what skills are needed to do their job well? Ensure that their job description is up-to-date and reflects what they do on a daily basis.

Have a one-on-one meeting

To determine which leadership development programs are necessary, have a one-on-one meeting with your team member. In this meeting, allow your team member to explain what type of leadership development training they think they need to improve their work and career.

Evaluate the employee

Observe how the employee leads and where there is room for improvement. You can also gather information from those who work with them, such as clients, managers, or co-workers. Ask for specific examples, rather than generalisations.

Performance reviews shed light on what leadership development programs would be useful. Be transparent throughout the process so that the employee does not feel undermined.

Once you have the information needed to evaluate the team member, create a development plan.

Decide next steps

Now that you have a good understanding of the leadership development training needed by each team member, you can decide how you would like these skills to be developed. Some options include on-the-job training, mentoring or coaching, instructor-led training, or e-learning. You can choose a combination of these options for a more holistic approach.

Why choose leadership development programs?

Instructor-led training such as leadership development programs are particularly useful as the facilitators have years of experience and expertise in leadership development.

By seeking expert knowledge, you’ll access an effective way of developing your team. Rather than attempting to train your team internally, you’ll have access to advanced resources and engaging workshops that will make a real difference to your team.

Leadership development programs are an innovative solution that surpasses leadership training options. A mixture of quality learning resources, interactive workshops, workplace application, and engaging facilitators replace traditional training methods.

‘Developing’ vs. ‘training’ makes a huge difference in leadership. While training helps impart information and teaching practices – true leadership is about thinking originally, not following methods.

At LMA, we have created a unique learning and development process which is far more innovative than traditional training methods. We recognise the difference between simply training your team versus developing them into thought leaders.

Our leadership development programs guarantee lasting attitudinal and behavioural change and measurable results. Contact us today to learn more or browse our leadership management programs now.