Leadership is the engine and backbone of any successful organisation. A true leader does more than just manage – they motivate, create and empower. However, how do you ensure those in charge of propelling your divisions are equipped with the right skills? That’s where leadership assessment comes in, offering an informed and targeted way to identify and develop the attributes that characterise exceptional leadership.
Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
What Are Leadership Assessments?
Leadership assessments are designed to assess the potential, skills, experience and capacity of either current or prospective leaders. They’re not there to simply scratch the surface. Instead, they go for deeper insights: what is their style? How do they make decisions?Â
From psychometric testing to feedback, these can help provide organisations with the data-led approach to better understand leadership. Armed with this rich information, businesses can make better decisions about how they structure their teams and who needs what kind of support.
Identifying Leadership Strengths and Weaknesses
Every leader has their particular strengths and corresponding weaknesses. Leadership assessments help to illuminate these blind spots, allowing for an honest and accurate view of where they stand and what they can build upon. For example, a leader might excel in strategic thinking while battling to communicate with their team effectively.
With the results of their assessment, a targeted support course can be implemented, ensuring they can evolve into well-rounded leaders. A firm can also use the results of an assessment. By better understanding the strengths and weaknesses of leadership in the organisation, concrete decisions can be taken. Should they reconfigure their teams in a certain way? What is the most pressing need for development at different levels?
Developing Future Leaders
Succession planning is the lifeblood of company continuity. Without a cohort of leaders-in-waiting, firms are putting themselves at a huge risk; what happens when the leader of a division leaves? Here, leadership assessments are very helpful in singling out the team members who display high potential to take on leadership roles.
Consider a retail organisation which is experiencing rapid growth. By running a leadership assessment for all mid-level managers, they are able to find those with the know-how, combined with enough emotional intelligence to work successfully with their team members.
Those who come out on top are most likely to be effective managers. The high-potential individuals are then channelled to development programmes which are tailored to their needs. The company is, in turn, able to build their model while giving space for the leadership roles to quickly evolve as the company grows.
Enhancing Team Dynamics and Performance
Effective leadership is in the performance. More than that, it is about getting the most out of the people you are in charge of. Leadership assessment measures how well you communicate, resolve conflicts and motivate people toward the same ultimate goal.
If a team is struggling with communication, it’s best to whip the leader into shape. After all, they should be setting a precedent for the rest of the group. Leadership assessments empower this process though illuminating those communication styles, which often extends to areas that include motivation and conflict resolution. Once you know how they operate, you can harness profiles into suitable teams to enable a greater recipe for success and plenty of room for growth.
Assessments for Organisational Needs
Leadership assessments can reflect the specific challenges, goals and values of an organisation. A tech start-up might seek out innovation and agility in their metrics of effective leadership, while a healthcare provider might consider empathy and making decisions under pressure as the cornerstone criteria for their leadership assessments.
Measuring the ROI of Leadership Assessments
Many common indicators of ROI, such as turnover rates, cost savings related to employee retention or even improved team performance, can be linked to a program tied to leadership assessments. A multinational corporation that had embedded finance and operations leaders reported self-assessed leadership development gains of 25% on productivity one year after starting to incorporate the assessments.
Investing in Leadership Excellence
Great leadership isn’t an option; it’s an absolute requirement. Help your business find, develop and unleash leaders who can create, inspire and execute well with leadership assessments. Do so with the right investment and watch how not only leadership assessments but also your business grows.Â
Learn what your business can achieve by leveraging hidden opportunities in your organisation. Leadership talent assessment services give your business the right tools to help your team grow faster than you imagine.
Leave A Comment