Leadership Development for Employees at All Levels

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As organizations navigate change and rising complexity, leadership development can no longer be reserved for those with formal titles. Today’s workplaces thrive when leadership capabilities are cultivated across all roles and levels.

As organizations navigate change and rising complexity, leadership development can no longer be reserved for those with formal titles. Today’s workplaces thrive when leadership capabilities are cultivated across all roles and levels.

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ATD Research recently published Leadership Development: Cultivating Critical Skills for Employees at All Levels , which surveyed TD professionals, C-suite executives (excluding TD and HR executives), and working Americans (learners). While the findings show that the majority of TD professionals and C-suite executives say leadership development at all levels is a high priority, in practice, things look different. Fewer than half of TD professionals surveyed (47 percent) report offering leadership development to all employees.

ATD Research recently published Leadership Development: Cultivating Critical Skills for Employees at All Levels, which surveyed TD professionals, C-suite executives (excluding TD and HR executives), and working Americans (learners). While the findings show that the majority of TD professionals and C-suite executives say leadership development at all levels is a high priority, in practice, things look different. Fewer than half of TD professionals surveyed (47 percent) report offering leadership development to all employees.

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Organizations that do, in fact, offer leadership development at all levels cited a variety of benefits. The most common include continuation of organizational culture and strengthening of the leadership pipeline—both cited by most TD professionals. In Succession Planning for Today’s Work World , Anette Cremo and Tom Bux highlight the use of leadership development programs as a tool in succession planning. They suggest, “Rather than identifying specific people or thinking of replacing a person, think about building skill areas in employees so they have the required competencies to transition into a leadership position.”

Organizations that do, in fact, offer leadership development at all levels cited a variety of benefits. The most common include continuation of organizational culture and strengthening of the leadership pipeline—both cited by most TD professionals. In Succession Planning for Today’s Work World, Anette Cremo and Tom Bux highlight the use of leadership development programs as a tool in succession planning. They suggest, “Rather than identifying specific people or thinking of replacing a person, think about building skill areas in employees so they have the required competencies to transition into a leadership position.”

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With leadership encompassing a wide range of skills, ATD Research explored which ones C‑suite executives believe are most important for employees to develop. While they think a variety of leadership skills are very important, communication, decision making, and adaptability are most notable. Ninety-three percent of C-suite executives said it is very important that employees at all levels develop communication skills, 84 percent said the same about decision making, and 75 percent about adaptability.

With leadership encompassing a wide range of skills, ATD Research explored which ones C‑suite executives believe are most important for employees to develop. While they think a variety of leadership skills are very important, communication, decision making, and adaptability are most notable. Ninety-three percent of C-suite executives said it is very important that employees at all levels develop communication skills, 84 percent said the same about decision making, and 75 percent about adaptability.

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The good news is that when asked to choose which leadership skills they are most interested in developing, learners were most likely to choose communication and decision making. However, they were less likely to be interested in developing adaptability skills. The report includes similar statistics on additional leadership skills. Organizations can use these findings to determine what skills to continue emphasizing in leadership development programs as well as where there are opportunities for growth.

The good news is that when asked to choose which leadership skills they are most interested in developing, learners were most likely to choose communication and decision making. However, they were less likely to be interested in developing adaptability skills. The report includes similar statistics on additional leadership skills. Organizations can use these findings to determine what skills to continue emphasizing in leadership development programs as well as where there are opportunities for growth.

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This was a brief overview of the findings in Leadership Development: Cultivating Critical Skills for Employees at All Levels . Whether your organization already has robust leadership development programs in place or your organization is creating a leadership development program for the very first time, you can use this report to benchmark and help plan your next steps in strengthening your organization’s ability to adapt, evolve, and meet the business needs of the future. Thank you to SIY Global for sponsoring this research.

This was a brief overview of the findings in Leadership Development: Cultivating Critical Skills for Employees at All Levels. Whether your organization already has robust leadership development programs in place or your organization is creating a leadership development program for the very first time, you can use this report to benchmark and help plan your next steps in strengthening your organization’s ability to adapt, evolve, and meet the business needs of the future. Thank you to SIY Global for sponsoring this research.

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