By Dennis Armstrong
Talent development is an often-quoted cure for improving individual and company performance, a critical element in successful succession planning and instrumental in talent retention. But the reality of talent development, especially Emerging Leaders Development Programs (ELDPs), is that it can be difficult to design, implement, and deliver.
Key Questions to Answer in the Development of Your ELDP
There is a relatively short list of questions that need to be answered in order to develop an ELDP for your organization. These questions are designed to assist you in creating an ELDP that will enable you to develop and retain your talent to build your bench for key positions, have ready now talent for succession planning, and achieve organizational success.
1. What is the purpose of the program?
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the current state of your talent pool?
- What knowledge, skills, and capabilities do you need to support your business strategy in the next three years?
- What talent do you need to be ready soon or ready now to fill key positions and achieve your goals?
2. Who is the target audience and how will you select them?
Be sure to identify a fairly narrow leadership level to focus on in order to maximize the impact of your ELDP, and define specifically how you will select participants.
3. How will you evaluate the success of the program?
What are the desired outcomes and critical success metrics for your program? It is important to define these outcomes and metrics following the definition of program objectives and prior to implementation to ensure you are designing with the end in mind.
4. Who will sponsor the program?
Sponsorship of the program is critical to the effectiveness and success of the program.
5. What is the content of the program, and how will it be structured?
Determining the key knowledge, skills, and abilities required to be effective leaders in your organization is critical to the success of the program. While there are a number of topics that are common across many organizations like analytical skills, AI knowledge, and financial analysis, many key areas are unique to your business sector and specific to your company.
Start by defining what your current senior leadership excels at and the knowledge, skills, and capabilities your company will need to grow in the future.
6. Who will you partner with to design, develop, and deliver the program?
An external partner like the Center for Professional & Executive Development (CPED) has a roster of instructors with experience teaching at the graduate level and delivering similar programs at other companies. Working with an external partner can be very beneficial.
7. How will you support the program and participants?
What additional tools and support will you provide to your participants to support their development during the program and after? Feedback surveys, mentors, and other tangible support will maximize the impact of your program.
Are you looking for methods to develop and retain your top talent for more senior-level positions to support succession planning? Are you curious about developing and Emerging Leader Development Program?
Contact CPED to discuss how we can help address your needs!
Dennis Armstrong was Chief Human Resources Officer at Blain’s Supply and Blain’s Farm and since August 2016, where he introduced many effective HR systems and processes to support Blain’s growth strategy. He is currently a Talent Transformation Strategist reporting to Mark Hasting, CEO & President at Blain’s. Dennis has a broad background in human resources and has been in several operating positions throughout his career. Dennis has a Master’s and Ph. D. in industrial and organization psychology from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and a BS from Old Dominion University.