Getting the most out of effective leadership development: A complete organisational learning solution
After twenty years work on leadership development I recently came across two estimates which intrigued me
- It is suggested that between 70 – 90% of actual learning is not transferred into the job and that when it is calculated,
- academic research on the ROI for leadership development has estimated that the average return from leadership development is 61% for senior leaders and 169% for mid-leaders
How do we know and if it is the case why isn’t it common practice?
I have spent 20 years working on leadership with a global research based organisation called Management Research Group. During this period of time I have used MRG’s Leadership Effectiveness Analysis® to work with companies in the private and public sector to enable them to:
- Define the strategic leadership behaviours which will deliver their business strategy
- Describe their existing leadership behaviours to analyse the gap between their strategic leadership requirements and the reality of leadership in their organisations
- Evaluate the effectiveness of their leadership against global best practice and well researched evidence.
- Develop focused tailor made developmental opportunities for individuals, teams and organisations.
I know that MRG based leadership analysis and development programmes are effective, and at the cutting edge. But;
- How much is actually being applied on the job 6 months later?
- How can we measure this and then maximise the amount being applied?
- How can we demonstrate, and then maximise the return on investment from our effective leadership development?
How do I know that the learning from leadership development is being transferred into the workplace and
How can I demonstrate that that movement towards more effectiveness can be calculated as a return on investment?
Integrating two approaches (leadership and learning) into a complete EFFECTIVE Leadership Development process which answers the questions?
Management Research Group was launched in 1983 in Portland, Maine. The founders were psychologists and Human Resources Development experts who believed in a more scientific approach to assessment and feedback for people in organizations. They have studied thousands of people in management, leadership, and sales roles. MRG products and research reflect sound scientific principles and keen business awareness. Their ongoing research and experience working with people around the world have led to even greater ideas about how assessment can enhance the power of insight and contribute to success in the world of business.
Also built on sound research, (developed by Dr. Ed Holton, University of Louisiana) and good learning practice, the Learning Transfer Systems Inventory (a scientifically validated assessment tool) provides an evaluation of the return on investment of developmental learning programmes.
The LTSI is a diagnostic which provides a description, or map, of the current learnscape. It makes visible what are the enablers and disablers of learners to apply their learning at work. It works to build on good practice in learning and identify where the catalysts and barriers for transferring learning exist. This enables the design and evaluation of learning events for efficiency and effectiveness. It also enables focus on the necessary changes in the organisation to ensure maximum leverage of development to align business strategy and organisational change.
Combining the two approaches, MRG’s Leadership Effectiveness Analysis® and Transfer Logix® system, provides a complete collaborative learning and leadership process which is well researched, offers a simple, integrated, accountable, flexible and predictive approach which enables learning transfer to be calculated as a return on investment.
Delivering Effective Leadership Into Action
How do the two systems, leadership and learning, interact?
Management Research Groups Leadership Effectiveness Analysis
- The MRG leadership model uses 6 functions and 22 leadership behaviours and is contained in the Leadership Effectiveness Analysis® report
- The same simple model can be used to define and describe future and existing leadership behaviours for the organisation, team, role and individual
- Using 360 degree feedback and reporting the ability to define and describe organisational, role, situational and individual preferences is available on line
- Using research, evidence based examples of Best Practice® can be used to benchmark leadership within national groupings, sectors, roles, between genders and economic conditions
- The Leadership Impact Report® enables an evaluation of leadership effectiveness to be undertaken.
At point 3 in the diagram below a consultant would have taken the organisation, team and individual through the process and defined, described and evaluated individual and team leadership learning requirements.
The individual’s coach/consultant would have defined specific behavioural objectives which the individual would take into a leadership development activity; either in applying the learning to work, or by attending a developmental programme.
Stage One and Two: The Needs Analysis and the Behavioural Objectives have been undertaken by the Leadership Effectiveness Analysis
Stage Three: Performance Pre test
Stakeholders in ‘delivery’ have been identified and a pre test questionnaire ensures that:
- The behaviours are appropriate and relevant for the job being performed
- All those involved in the learning community (the person, the boss, peers and direct reports) are all engaged and involved.
- The extent of current performance on the job has been assessed.
Stage Four; Transfer Contract
The stakeholders are engaged through a pre test and transfer contract to ensure everyone’s involvement and commitment to a change in behaviour and an increase in performance. A Transfer learning contract is established to ensure that pre deliver any barriers to learning transfer are reduced and the enablers to learning transfer are increased.
Stage Five; Your Training
The Training programme designers have an indication of the specific behaviours which have been targeted and identified as relevant and appropriate to the performance on the job. The training department/providers have to ensure that the learning design is up to date and that the most effective methods of learning are employed.
Stage Six; Transfer Diagnosis
The Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI) will give you diagnostic data on the 16 most important factors that have helped or hurt participant’s ability in the past to transfer learning to their jobs.
The 16 factors are grouped into 3 blocks:
- Ability Scales
- Motivation to Transfer
- Work Environment
Results from the LTSI (a scientifically validated assessment tool) will give a diagnosis of where the barriers and catalysts for transfer lie, thus helping to redesign training events for impact and make the necessary changes in the organisation to ensure maximum leverage of development towards the business strategy and organisational change.
Stage Seven; Action Plan
Individuals have their Action Plan for their own behaviour change. Likewise, the company will have their action plan to increase the enablers and decrease the disablers to learning transfer. The company will have their action plan to ensure that the learning is transferred and effective actions can be undertaken to enable the learning to be embedded.
Stage Eight; Post Test
A post test can assess the degree of change. The post test reengages the stakeholders to establish whether there has been transfer and the individual has changed their behaviour.
Stage Nine; Transfer Evaluation
The whole process is evaluated to establish whether the learning has been applied and the requisite behaviours embedded.
Stage Ten; Return on Investment
A report is produced which calculates the return on investment brought about by the increase in performance and the impact of the change in behaviour.
If performance improvement through learning is measurable and transparent, it increases accountability, engagement and satisfaction across your stakeholders (participants, trainers, managers, peers and direct reports.)
Measurement which builds on good practice and actively involves all the stakeholders ensures learning is transferable and delivers a return on investment. In this way, learning becomes a central and accountable part of the business development process.
- Defining, Describing and Evaluating Effective Leadership is a Leadership Learning Needs Analysis
- Establishing accurate learning behavioural objectives comes through a process of one to one feedback and coaching
- Creating a transfer contract between participants, colleagues and line managers on specific learning and performance objectives for the participants to ensure transfer
- Anchoring these with pre- and post-training support, targeting only the top factors that will impact the specific participants on a specific training
- Designing and delivering focused and leading edge Leadership Development programmes
- Assessing the appropriateness, validity and relevance of the learning event
- Focusing the application and transfer of learning to the entire organisational "learning landscape"
- Enabling individuals, teams and the organisation to evaluate the effectiveness, appropriateness and validity of the transfer of learning to the organisation
- Defining the Return on Investment of the learning event to the individual, team and the organisation
