Have you had a chance to download our new white paper, “Transforming Leadership Development Through Technology: A Strategic Imperative”?
We created this report when we saw that today’s change-filled business environment is making it increasingly difficult to cultivate the leaders that organizations need. Only 12% of companies report confidence in their bench of prepared future leaders, according to DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2023.
What’s behind this crisis? Here are a few factors we’ve identified. Each is covered in more depth in the white paper.
1. Training Budgets Are Stretched Thin
There’s no question that leadership is valuable. But that value can come at a hefty cost. Executive coaching can run from $200 to $3,500 an hour, and the average length of a coaching engagement is nine months. Bringing a leadership trainer in for a class of 15-20 people also has a daily price tag in the thousands of dollars.
2. Potential Leaders Get Overlooked
Because of those budget realities, organizations tend to limit leadership development to high performers and high potentials. That means we’re missing out on the skills and talents of countless other potential leaders.
3. Employees Say They’re Too Busy
Time also gets in the way of leadership development. For busy professionals, finding room for training in their packed schedules is a tall order. In one survey, employees said they have only about 24 minutes for learning during a 40-hour week. That’s no surprise when we consider that 55% of workers say their jobs have gotten more intense and demanding.
4. Distractions Take a Toll
But a lack of time isn’t the full story. Even if an employee manages to set aside an hour to take an online course, they may have trouble focusing on it for long. The average amount of time that people spend on any single event before being interrupted or task switching is about three minutes. Our attention spans are taking a beating: The average time we can pay attention to one screen is 47 seconds.
5. The Forgetting Curve Is Real
Leadership development isn’t just about what employees learn. It’s about what they retain. You’ve probably heard about the “forgetting curve”: A week after training, those busy, distracted employees we’ve been talking about will remember only about 10% of what they learned. Why does this happen? Info just doesn’t stick in our minds if it’s not relevant to us or we can’t use it immediately.
Transform Your Approach to Leadership Development
If these problems are affecting leadership development at your organization, our white paper can be your roadmap to solving them and building a stronger leadership pipeline. In it, you’ll learn how technology now enables to do some pretty cool things:
Create training that makes a real difference in just a few minutes.
Make learning and development happen every day.
Expand access to leadership development.
To learn more, get your free copy of “Transforming Leadership Development Through Technology: A Strategic Imperative.” We’re excited about all the possibilities that the tech revolution in L&D creates. And we think you will be, too. Check out our white paper, and then join the conversation about it on LinkedIn.