4 Reasons to Invest in Leadership Training for Managers

Managers across industries have a wide variety of skills and responsibilities, but they also have one requirement in common: effective leadership. According to Gallup, “Each leader’s capacity for success in their role is the result of natural talent combined with intentional development.” That’s where training comes in. Here are four reasons to invest in leadership development for managers.

1. Improve Soft Skills

Most experts agree that the list of required management skills is extensive: c

• Clear communication
• Empathy
• Organization
• Delegation
• Strategic thinking
• Problem-solving
• Conflict resolution
• And many others

Some skills are innate, but many can be developed with the right kind of leadership training.

Consider using surveys to identify the strongest soft skills of your current managers. In the busyness of daily operations, it may be difficult to notice where managers are excelling and where they could benefit from improvement. Additionally, managers at all levels can note where their direct reports can improve. Self-reflection and observation can reveal the best use of the company training budget.

Universities and professional organizations offer a wide variety of online professional development courses and even certifications. Example topics include Conflict Resolution, Empathetic Leadership, or Delegation. For a more rigorous approach, a hybrid online/in-person module can provide a focused experience with intensive skills development. Even a single-session training can help managers think of soft skills in a new way and work to continuously develop them. 

Stronger leadership skills contribute to better communication about deadlines, expectations, and teamwork. They also help managers see their teams more holistically, making adjustments where needed. Each stronger team contributes to improved productivity and company culture.

2. Develop Flexibility and Resilience

Every day, managers face rapid advances in technology and the ever-changing job market. Tiffany Pyritz of Charleston Southern University shares how to remain forward-thinking.

“Flexibility is necessary. Leaders need to be adaptable since change is frequent and unavoidable.”

Flexibility with a positive attitude can indicate resilience, and Pyritz describes three forms of emotional resilience vital for good managers: “Cognitive, Emotional, and Dispositional.”

Cognitive resilience allows you to think about and process multiple things at once. Emotional resilience describes feeling “at ease with transitional processes.” It also aids in earning the trust of those around you to help them in times of distress. Dispositional flexibility allows you to feel “both hopeful and realistic at the same time.”

Each of these facets of resilience can be taught and developed with daily practices. They are universal skills that apply not only to management responsibilities but also to coping with daily life. Investing in training for skills of resilience can pay tremendous dividends in the work-life balance and improved relationships.

3. Create Mentorship Opportunities

Mentorship is the ultimate “pay it forward” act. Managers who have developed skills over their careers offer personalized guidance to someone younger or less experienced. When you assign newer managers to seasoned leaders, they can develop skills in a unique relationship with two primary functions: “providing psychosocial support that includes role modeling, and offering career or instrumental support that includes providing challenging work toward skill development.” 

A trusted mentor gets to know their mentee such that they identify existing leadership skills and note what can be most effectively developed. Mentorship has a connotation of a long-term relationship with the mentor “using life experience and acquired knowledge to guide the development, growth, or entry of the mentee into future life stages or career paths,” but the benefits don’t always require that kind of commitment.

Ideally, those being mentored can take their learned skills and become the mentor, setting in motion a long chain of generosity and skill-sharing that benefits more than just those in the mentor-mentee relationship.

4. Train Future Leaders

When over 1,000 C-Suite level executives were surveyed about their concerns for the future, 64 percent pointed to “Developing Next-Gen Leaders” as their primary concern. The statistics indicate a growing disparity between existing employees and their potential for advancement to management positions. 

Of the HR professionals surveyed in the same study, 65 percent “do not believe their leaders have high-quality, effective development plans.” These statistics point to the need for leadership development to be an ongoing interest. More than just investing in an occasional leadership course for existing employees, managers should collaborate with HR to identify new hires with leadership potential and develop them from day one. 

These types of initiatives draw from a pool of potential managers already well-versed in company culture and procedures. With well-timed and consistent training, you can turn potential into strong leadership.

Investing in leadership training can be an excellent use of the company budget. Supporting current and future managers in skills development benefits the individual and helps inspire best practices in the company as a whole. With WorkforceHub, you can free up time focused on manual tasks, including time-tracking and scheduling, to better support managers in their efforts to become stronger leaders.