How can L&D professionals optimize leadership development? Combining development with high-quality leadership assessment is one major way to make development more impactful for your leaders.
But first, what does it mean to use high-quality leadership assessment?
According to DDI’s Leadership Transitions Report 2021, high-quality assessment should:
- Be competency-based.
- Offer an objective view of strengths and development areas.
- Pinpoint the exact behavior within the competency that a leader needs to focus on.
- Give insights about readiness for future roles.
- Provide resources to support development post-assessment.
For example, simulations are a type of assessment typically used during the hiring or development process. Unlike many general tests, simulations focus on tasks required in the job or role.
In addition, leadership tests are often used to gauge the abilities, skills, and motivations of employees and job applicants. Another example is a 360, which is an assessment tool that solicits feedback about an employee from their managers, co-workers, and direct reports. Each tool can be helpful when it’s used appropriately. But why is it so impactful for leaders when their development is combined with assessment?
How Does a Leadership Assessment Transform Development?
Here are a few ways leadership assessment and development combined will benefit the leader:
- Leadership strengths and opportunities for development are validated using various perspectives, which helps leaders in developing better self-awareness.
- Development opportunities are prioritized by the best chance of success, so leaders work on the highest impact areas first.
- It’s easy to understand how strengths and development opportunities impact performance (you can’t argue with data).
- An individual development plan can be built around goals to enhance leadership effectiveness.
In short, while you can certainly develop leaders without using assessments, it is nearly impossible to gauge the effectiveness of the development efforts without some form of assessment. Why? Data from an assessment makes strengths and gaps abundantly clear. When this data is combined with development, organizations can invest where it matters most. They can focus their resources on the most important skill gaps.
Additionally, DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2021 tells us that leaders prefer personalized development to a generic one-size-fits-all approach. Assessment data allows leaders to focus on their development gaps as well as find ways to leverage their strengths. This allows them to focus and make the best use of the time they have to spend on development.
Ultimately, when leaders have assessment data, it can serve as a catalyst by providing meaningful insights. Leaders can reflect on what’s working or not and fully embrace development plans. This engagement, plus the personalization of development plans, means there is an increased likelihood in development that leads to behavior changes and better business outcomes.
When you give your people the insights and development they need to grow, you’re also making it easier and faster for them to get ready for their next career leap. Read DDI’s blog to learn more about how and when you can best use leadership assessment to transform all your talent management practices.