05 May 2023

leadership training for a diverse workforce

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Why is leadership training essential for a diverse workforce?

Leadership training has assumed an important role in society so that people of all backgrounds have these jobs. This is important so that people can become leaders despite different ethnicities and genders. There is an underrepresentation of minorities when it comes to leaders.

A poll found that although African Americans are 12% of the population of this country, their representation in leadership roles is less. They have only 3.2% of these roles. How to fill this gap?

A company can gain a considerable advantage when it has diverse people in the company, especially when it comes to succeeding in the overseas market. With distinct people at the top, it knows all about the culture and customs of the place.

It also has no trouble comprehending the language and can make sure that the employees grasp the language, thanks to the native employees of the company who know everything. A company can also get insight from diverse people into whether the product it plans to launch will succeed in their market.

Benefits of having a diverse workforce:

Launch products in foreign markets with ease

When it comes to launching new products in the foreign market, the most important thing is branding them right. With wrong branding, the customers cannot understand the product’s USP and why they should get it.

For example, when translated, any tagline that works in the US may fail to work in a foreign country. Hence, foreign people in top management who can suggest their versions of the tagline and the product are necessary.

Hire foreign talent at lower rates.

When a company hires from a foreign talent pool, it means hiring talented employees who are not available in its own country. There is also a shortage of local employees unwilling to do some kind of work for which foreign employees are easily available.

Sometimes, having a diverse pool of employees is simply cost-saving. Therefore, leadership training is important so foreign employees can be promoted to top ranks because they are cheaper than their local counterparts.

Easily expand into foreign markets.

When the business has a better talent base thanks to a foreign workforce, it can adapt to any situation, which is necessary for the unpredictable environment. You also gain a comparative advantage in this regard. For example, a company that cannot sell goods in the local markets can definitely head toward foreign shores. This is all possible due to the foreign workforce, which can detect a need in their markets. Once such a need is found, the management consisting of foreign employees can understand how to adapt the product to meet the demand. For example, due to the global recession, many companies move to foreign markets when they don’t have local demand. That’s where having foreign people in top management helps them significantly customize the product.

How to manage a diverse workforce?

Proper communication by a certain group: Companies face challenges hiring people from diverse backgrounds. It has to ensure that everyone feels their voices are heard. Some people are also shy to speak up, particularly those from the East Asian cultures.

So, they must be encouraged to speak up and share their opinions with the rest of the team. Hence, leadership training is important to have assertive employees who know when to express their opinions when needed. Companies need to ensure that although they have people from diverse backgrounds, everyone expresses their opinion.

Interaction between teams:

The companies also have to ensure communication among different teams so that they talk to each other. There should be no communication gap between teams because of their inherent prejudices. For example, there can be stereotypes in the workplace which can also prevent development. So, the morale of other people working in the company can be reduced.

There can also be hatred between different groups; only leadership training can eliminate it.

This hatred has to be mitigated so that people from these ethnicities openly talk to each other and knowledge transfer happens. For example, the biggest stereotype is that all Asians are very intelligent, which is untrue. The top management’s job is to see that this does not happen.

How can leadership training help?

Inculcate Respect for each other’s values:

It’s the leader’s job to see that the employees respect the diverse values of each other. A communication policy should be in place so that employees know that they can’t avoid communication with people of a certain race. The employees should be told the advantages of diversity so that they don’t resent talking to the other person or mingling with him.

Ensure the following rules:

It’s the leader’s job to see that employees follow the right strategy for diversity. The upper management can set down the rules, but it’s the leader’s job to ensure that they are followed. Leadership should hence display a model behavior regarding diversity that all employees can follow.

Employees can’t negate any rules set by their leaders. Hence when a leader respects people of other backgrounds, the employees will follow suit. Leadership training can serve the purpose of teaching the model behavior to a leader. Hiring an employee from a different background can also command respect for diverse people.

Create a strategy for diversity:

It’s the leader’s job to devise a strategy for diversity in the workplace. The upper management then decides the goals so that strategy is attained. When such goals are correctly devised, the leadership can ensure that the strategy is implemented and employees follow the company’s diversity philosophy.

22 Mar 2023

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5 essential skills of leadership training

Companies need leaders to provide the proper motivation to employees. But it can be tough when they want to promote someone from within to this position.

Managers can have the wrong notion that someone with high intelligence can be a good leader. The managers might have wrong ideas about the calibre of a leader. When it’s about finding the right leader for the organization, he should have a certain energy level. The leader must know how to stimulate and encourage others for their roles.

The right person must indeed be selected for the leadership role because everything can’t be taught in leadership training.

It’s tough to find leadership traits in a person because they must have the perfect mix of skills and abilities. The senior management must try to recognize these qualities and what to look for to ascertain whether the chosen candidate has them. But can an employee who has the potential today become a leader tomorrow based on the circumstances in the future?

Better talkers:

The leadership potential should be present in any employee before he has chosen for such training. This potential shows how much people will be useful as leaders. The managers usually see a good employee as having the potential for a leader.

Leaders are more people’s person than anyone else. When something wrong has happened, they are likely to share the problem rather than chat on the phone. This is why it’s better to enlist those people as leaders who want to talk with the team in a troublesome situation.

Feeling enthusiastic all the time:

A good leader must be zestful about his role and willing to learn more when needed. When a leader is always willing to learn, he brings something new to the table for his organization. When a leader is positive, he sparks positivity around him as well. A successful leader is always open to communication. He has what it takes to be a good listener.

Regarding leadership training, the top management can start with it by ensuring that such people have command and control for some time. When they have been given the command, notice how they are performing because if they are good, they can be enrolled in leadership training. They will prove to be assets to the company in such roles.

Handle his own failures and those of others:

The biggest part of the journey of any corporate employee is a failure. A leader also knows when they have made mistakes and how to accept them.He can fail many times, but he must never give up. Anyone who starts looking down because he has failed is not leadership material. Even if he is made a leader in the future, chances are that he will blame someone else for his failures or not be able to move because he has failed. Also, he will not be able to forgive an employee for his failure, and that’s why he can’t succeed as a leader.

He does not blame the employees for everything. When employees confide in him about their failures, he ensures that they know how such problems can be prevented in future.

Work in a team:

Good leaders are always cautious about what they want others to do for them. They don’t always want to be in the limelight but want others to do so too. A leader ensures that others get credit when it’s due for them.

It’s important for a leader who works hard to ensure collaboration from his team rather than working hard and doing all the tasks. Leaders show empathy to others when required because it can only make the latter give their best despite shortcomings.

Listen to the signs:

When the world environment changes continuously, it’s better to have leaders who know how to take better decisions. Leaders must know how to engage with others and listen to them before concluding. The world needs to be proactive in such situations and needs to read the writing on the wall.

Every leader should know that he is not an omniscient person and does not have the solution to every challenge. But that does not mean a leader should not consult others and take a hasty decision. A leader never loses his morale and makes others stay calm even in complicated situations.

Any leadership training can’t prepare him for this kind of capability. Therefore, the leader should be willing to get feedback from others, too and give them acknowledgement when required. If a leader is rash in making decisions and does not listen to others for the sake of popularity, he is not leader material. In the future, he can impose his decisions on the team without knowing that they can backfire. The organization has to suffer these implications and pay the price for his ego.

28 Feb 2023

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5 essential points to ethics-based leadership training

Ethics-based leadership training is necessary for managers because it guides their actions. It can enable them to take correct choices.

Leaders are often caught in complicated situations which require them to think morally. Their decisions can impact behaviors and force employees to even quit the companies. Furthermore, they have to take altering decisions like what should be the actions and who should take them. Leadership training based on ethics can teach the following things:

Taking tough decisions:

For example, leaders often have to take hard decisions to fire people. This can impact the livelihood of these people, and they may often have trouble finding jobs in other companies. So, what should a leader do in such a situation? Even promoting an employee because of his good performance or distributing bonuses are controversial decisions that can land a leader in trouble. When a leader fires people, it affects his image in the company and makes people wary of him. People can become scared of the leader and become sycophants.

Being rational:

See, a leader as to decide based on facts, not on his emotions, whether he likes an employee or not. He has to calculate the risk before firing someone. When ethical training is, imparted, leaders get an insight into justifiable behavior. It helps them modify their behavior in the right direction.

Leaders must get more rationality from ethical leadership training rather than just knowledge.

Inspiring ideal behavior:

A leader has to become a role model for others and always make correct decisions. People emulate the personality of leaders to get ahead. As such, he can’t display wrong behavior in being loud or hiding things.

The leader has to set the correct example for others, which is why he should value transparency. Hence, employees should be encouraged to talk so they can be open about them if they are facing a problem. But the leader should know where to stop as far as the transparency thing is concerned because employees don’t need to know everything.

That is also another ethical dilemma that leaders can learn to resolve after leadership training.

The leaders have to ensure that employees give their best to the company, but it’s also their job to create the right atmosphere in the company. As far as setting the tone of behavior in the organization is concerned, the leaders have to think about the organizational values and their own values too. A leader should be creating a paradigm before people take their work ethically. This can be done when the leader performs sincerely and respects his work.

Reacting to necessary situations:

Such training can help dealers navigate through critical situations with ease which is crucial for them:

First of all, they have to prepare in advance for such situations. When they have already thought about a situation, they know how to react to it. Sometimes, reacting to a situation at the spur of the moment is not helpful. Leaders don’t act impulsively when they know what’s to be done in such a situation. For example, they have to think before whats to be one when someone is about to be fired, should the situation be disclosed to him so he can start looking for a job.

When leaders act rightly in such situations, they also prep up other people on how to face such scenarios.

When decisions like firing up someone have to be taken, a leader has to evaluate all the evidence against him. They must gather as much information as possible and judge whether firing someone is right.

Leaders can also consult others before taking a decision. When deciding, a leader must consider whether it will be taken easily. If it isn’t, then they must ask other people for advice who are in senior positions in the company before taking such decisions. People in the senior management have often taken such decisions before and can guide the leader about such unpopular but necessary decisions.

A leader must be bold because sometimes he has to make decisions that place other people in trouble, like losing jobs. But that does not mean he refrains from taking such decisions. But a leader has to do what is in the organization’s best interests. Leadership training teaches a leader to base their actions on logic than emotions. Only then can they keep calm about such decisions rather than bothering about their growing unpopularity due to such decisions.

Being ethical and not crossing the legal limits:

Leadership training should train such people about a company’s core values, and every business decision must be aligned with them. It teaches leaders not to ignore such values and to have a herd mentality that if everyone makes such choices, why should they not?

Ethical leadership training is all about making the correct decisions and not always thinking about the profits. It’s because making any wrong decision just considering the bottom line can affect the company’s image when it gets mired in controversy.

10 Feb 2023

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Why is leadership training important to prevent burnout?

Leadership training is essential in today’s world, where employees suffer from burnout.

The leaders are the only ones who can prevent employees from losing interest in the job. Burnout was not only a factor of the pandemic but also has been there afterwards.

The leaders can detect when an employee starts losing interest in the job. They also start making mistakes at work because they are no longer keen to work. The employees in such situations need support from the leader, who must understand their condition. He must give them sick leaves, so they spend some required family time and bounce back from this stage.

Leaders should be emphatic:

It is traditionally regarded immature to express emotions anywhere except at home.

However, in the office, it’s the leader’s job to see that the organization creates the right culture, which includes providing emotional support to employees.

A good leader asks about the well-being of employees every day or as frequently as he can. This includes that employees are made to talk whenever required. When leaders listen to employees, they must show empathy and take decisions as if they were in those situations.

Due to leadership training, when employees have compassionate leaders in the organization, they have the courage to talk about their feelings, preventing burnout. Whenever an employee faces a problem, instead of scolding him for having a negative attitude, the leader should listen to him compassionately.

When the problem is rectified, the employee feels like he is part of a company.

Employees must be encouraged to open up with colleagues also about their emotions.

Encourage employees to share knowledge:

Employees should not be called after work hours when they are at home. That is their personal space, and it should not be disturbed. An employee might not always have to work overtime, but this situation can’t be avoided when there are deadlines.

Hence realistic workload goals must be set for them. The workload should be distributed evenly among employees, which is an easier way to handle work. Some employees also might be facing difficulty in doing their work, which is better to train them.

However, for that, a culture of jealousy should be avoided because it’s the senior’s job to train the juniors.

Have a reasonable number of working hours:

Leaders must also ensure that they can have a healthy workplace in the company. Employees must be given leaves. Their working hours must be normal also, and they should not be asked to work overtime. Analytics has proven that employees who work at least 50 hours per week suffer from burnout. But these problems can be avoided when employees are not called to offices but have remote work.

Remote working is the best way to prevent burnout because employees get access to family hours. If a company does not have a stringent need to is employees work from offices, remote work must be allowed or at least hybrid work.

As a result, their commuting time is avoided, and they don’t get burnout.

A company must prefer quality over prefer quality to quantity. If an employee’s work quality is deteriorating because he is handling too many projects simultaneously, that means limiting the workload. Employees must know what is expected of them and perform accordingly rather than overworking. The risk of not knowing their goals increases with the number of hours employees work in a week.

Employees could be asked how they could complete tasks because they have better knowledge of their work. They might have creative ideas to complete work on time without getting overworked.

The companies must also avoid rigid work schedules:

It’s because every day working 9-5 can prove to be monotonous for employees. They should have flexible working hours when they control the number of hours worked.

The company’s focus should be on the advancement of employees; hence they should be encouraged to use learning apps. These apps could be for learning new skills useful at the workplace.

Have a learning culture in the company

Work should not be boring for employees, which happens when they cannot understand it. When managers understand employees’ problems and their difficulties, the employees feel supported. Such managers can help employees handle tough jobs by helping them get apt training. Hence, every big organization has a learning academy today which prepares elearning courses for employees to upskill them.

Leadership training can help employees cope better when a manager continuously checks with his employees. When a manager is oblivious to how employees feel, the latter feel isolated and can quit.

04 Feb 2022

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What should be the essential components of leadership training?

When a leader takes on this role, he has to ensure an excellent performance from his team members. Leadership training is essential because leaders need to encourage employees. The employees need to have the proper motivation, which can make them reach their highest productivity levels. This kind of motivation is instrumental to success when the company has to start a new business, project, product line, or take in a new client.

A leader must provide his team members with the right resources. For example, if the sales team is making sales, but the numbers are not right, they must be provided with the course to find apt prospects. This way, employees can get an idea about increasing their sales by pitching in the product to the interested prospects.

How should employees be trained for leadership?

The employees should be taught through games like drag-and-drop and labeling for leadership training. The managers can also give audio reviews about what is lacking in the employees’approach as a leader. The learning materials can also be created to take care of different prospective leaders. Leadership training is needed for the following skills to be ingrained in leaders:

Soft skills: empathy, and coaching:

Coaching:

Leadership training can also teach managers how to provide coaching to their employees.

For this, training professionals can provide simulations to managers to help an employee who needs their advice. Once all the managers have provided their responses, the training professionals can check which manager has included all the critical points while helping the employee.

Empathy:

Leadership training can help managers handle situations that involve consoling an employee who has faced the death of someone in the family, or pacifying someone facing problems at work. The managers should understand how to deal with each of these situations. Managers require skills such as communication and empathy to become influential leaders.

But, measurement of these learned skills is an implausible task and the managers have to be taught how to use these them. And the training cannot replicate every situation a manager might face and prepare him for the skills required.

Setting up team norms:

Handling teams is also challenging for a leader. Team management is a critical task, ensuring that the members collaborate. The team members should also follow some discipline which involves adhering to the team norms. There must be some rules established for team members to communicate to get the work done. Establishing some ground rules is necessary to know how they are supposed to contribute to a project. When such rules are clear to everybody, there is no scope for miscommunication resulting in delayed deadlines. Such team norms have to be specified by the team members, and the team leader has to make sure that they are not unambiguous.

While setting such regulations, the team members have to jot down their experiences of working with the worst and the best teams to know what they should expect from their current team members. Creating the team norms should be a trust-building session so that every member knows what his colleague has encountered in the past and won’t like to see repeated. When all the team members have agreed that specific behavior isn’t permissible, it’s time to decide some acceptable behavioral team norms with mutual consensus.

There could be genuine problems with why this member is flouting team norms. Although a team norm was agreed to, this member can’t follow it, e.g., he can’t attend the conference call because he is a member of different teams, which takes up his time. When the team norms are decided, a unanimous decision is a must because any rule that can’t be adhered to must not be brought into existence.

Making team members more efficient:

The primary responsibility of a team leader is to ensure that the team members are effective and are contributing their best. Hence, he has to encourage them to expedite the job by following time management and prioritizing. The job of a team leader is to ensure that the members feel satisfied with their work and feel important, even when they are encumbered with more duties.

In leadership training, the leaders get the right idea about how to help the team members in establishing these norms. For example, there can be a deviant team member who does not go by the norms. In that case, there must be a protocol established to rectify this team member’s behavior. The team leader’s responsibilities are minimized in this situation, since there is a procedure in place for dealing with such team members.

Dealing with surprising situations:

Team leaders also face challenges when an unanticipated situation arises out of nowhere. For example, the business might lose a significant employee, or a worldwide situation affects the finances due to low sales. So such situations create roadblocks for companies to attain their goals, and the leaders must have strategic plans to ensure that everything is restored to normal. Hence, when such situations arise, the major task before a leader is to ensure that the goals are followed. Set these goals beforehand so that the outcomes are not modified despite the contingencies.

Handling delegation of tasks:

A team leader has to delegate his task correctly and ensure that it is carried out rightly. Therefore, he has to take feedback from his juniors about the tasks delegated to them. A leader has to take the responsibility of delegation quite seriously because otherwise, the desired results won’t be there. So anybody selected for delegation must have the requisite skills and knowledge. Also, the same person must have an impetus to carry out the task delegated by the leader because doing the task can lead to the former’s personal growth.

Creating a positive image for his team:

A team leader must ensure that he has created a favorable image for his team members in the company and different departments. Thus, he can get the senior managers and other departments to contribute when a situation warrants.

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