Rethinking executive development
| Published date | 01 November 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390480000574 |
| Pages | 14-15 |
| Date | 01 November 2004 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
14 Volume 4 Issue 1 November/December 2004
RESEARCH AND RESULTS
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A look at current trends and data
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Leading organizations take an
entrepreneurial approach to how they
design, deliver and evaluate executive
development. True entrepreneurs
typically forge ahead without much
structure or resources, are great at
creating a vision, building virtual teams,
being persistent and resourceful, and
simply getting the job done in the face
of multiple challenges.
CEOs and their executive
management need to enable the
individuals responsible for executive
development to be successful in the
same way they would an internal start-
up: Appoint a high performer (who
may or may not come from within HR)
to lead the effort, give them aggressive
goals and provide executive support to
make it happen.
Senior executives need to have direct
involvement in providing input into
executive development activities, and
participate as both students and
instructors. Without senior
management support and involvement,
executive development programs will
falter, limiting successful corporate
performance.
The call to action
The transformation of executive
development will take a great deal of
sustained effort. Executive trainers need
be scrappy and tenacious in order to
change the mindset of all stakeholders.
Many organizations that have successful
executive development programs
already have strong entrepreneurial
components. Their leaders possess the
Highlights of “Transforming Corporate
Leadership: Best Practices in Executive
Education” are available at
www.execsight.org/resources
MORE INFORMATION
h
C
orporations need to take a
radically different approach to
executive development, according
to a recent study, “Transforming
Corporate Leadership.” Direct research
into 28 leading global organizations
found that senior executives are keenly
aware of the strategic imperative of
developing senior leaders and the
impact that this has on corporate
performance. Executive training,
increasingly interwoven with strategic
planning, is perceived as the fuel that
powers management to move along its
strategic roadmap.
The problem, however, is on the
supply side. There is a poor perception
among both HR and line managers of
most organizations’ executive
development activities. Practices in
executive development, even at
benchmark organizations, are
inconsistent.
HR and training departments are
faced with a number of constraints such
as shrinking budgets, disconnect from
strategic planning activities, and low
levels of coordination across business
units that prohibit the delivery of
effective executive development
programs. Incremental improvements
will not enable them to effectively meet
organizational demand – executive
development programs need to undergo
a transformation if they are to deliver
value to the executives they serve.
Development as a start-up
One solution is to manage executive
development as an internal start-up.
Rethinking executive development
Change and the psychological contract
The real reasons employees leave
perspective of an entrepreneur who’s
working hard to deliver a vision within
the context of rapidly changing
company dynamics.
It is possible that development
professionals who have never worked
outside HR will have difficulty with this
framework, while education
professionals who have worked outside
of the HR function will be more
accepting of the notion.
The development toolkit
New times call for new strategies, and
an entrepreneurial mindset and bag of
tricks will help drive the change.
Executive development is becoming
increasingly important in the
organization, and the resources, tools,
and vendors which are at the disposal
of the executive development
professional are both improving and
proliferating. An awareness of these
trends allows industry practitioners to
proactively manage them, and optimize
the programs they deliver.
In the next issue of Strategic HR
Review DIEU,The Danish Leadership
Institute and ExecSight will reveal in an
in-depth article how European
organizations are rethinking executive
and leadership development.
© Melcrum Publishing Ltd. 2004. For more information, go to www.melcrum.com or e-mail info@melcrum.com
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