2. Importance of Training Front Line
Leaders
2
Importance of Training Front Line Leaders
Bruce Brady CCLP
3. 3
The costs of weak leadership
in a workforce
Leadership principles
How to develop a leadership
training program
Importance of Training Front Line Leaders
Bruce Brady
4. 4
Importance of Training Front Line Leaders
Bruce Brady CCLP
Low Employee Morale
The Cost of Weak Leadership in the Work Force
5. 5
Importance of Training Front Line Leaders
Bruce Brady CCLP
Low Productivity
The Cost of Weak Leadership in the Work Force
6. 6
Importance of Training Front Line Leaders
Bruce Brady CCLP
High Turnover
The Cost of Weak Leadership in the Work Force
8. 8
Leadership principles
Importance of Training Front Line Leaders
Bruce Brady CCLP
Self Improvement
Provide Clear Instructions and Objective
Solve Problems
Set The Example
Build Teamwork
Explain Decisions
Develop and provide training
Treat people fairly and respond to concerns
Seek current information
Learn from the experience of others
Maintain and promote the company values
and vision.
9. 9
How to develop a leadership training
program
Importance of Training Front Line Leaders
Bruce Brady CCLP
10. 10
How to develop a leadership training
program
Importance of Training Front Line Leaders
Bruce Brady CCLP
Decide what is important to the organization.
Make Leadership training / education part of the
annual goals and objectives
Include Leadership training in staff meetings
Assign projects that require the influencing of
employees or changing behaviour.
I think it is safe to say this is not the kind of person we would like to work for. Worse, I think we can all think of examples of this type through out our careers. If this type of person is leading our front line staff, drivers, warehouse workers, customer service, or technicians, we are going to have problems
The skill most consistently asked for in any job posting is leadership skills. My own research in preparing for this webinar demonstrated that for front line supervisor positions, almost 90% of the time leadership skills are listed as a job requirement, and being either the most important or one of the most important skill. However, the majority of hiring managers do not feel applicants have the required leadership skill.
This is do to many people learning management skills in college or university, but management skills do not equal leadership skills. So where do our front line leaders learn the required skill, usually on the job. These people join companies with only their personal experience of how a supervisor or manager should lead people. This can be positive – but for many, career experience can leave leadership skills underdeveloped and incomplete. Supervisors, dispatchers and team leads are the link between the working staff (both union and non-union) and higher levels of management. Supervisors motivate or de-motivate staff based on how they behave and how they treat the people who are responsible for getting the work done.
So today we are going to learn the cost of weak leadership, and the negative impact it can have on our organization. Leadership principles we should be looking to instil in our supervisors. These principals will allow supervisors to develop their skills and motivate the front line staff. Finally, we will exam some of the ways to develop a leadership program within your organization.
The
Poor front line leadership can and does have a disastrous effect on the organizations overall performance. Some of the negative effects are qualitative and can be difficult to measure, others are very tangible and costing the organization real dollars.
A supervisor with poor skills does not take the time to give proper instructions to employees, this can lead to confusion, and incorrect results. The supervisor then blames the employees' for the confusion. The first effect poor front line leadership has is on moral. No one wants to work for a bad or poor supervisor. A supervisor lacking in leadership skills has the ability to suck the fun out of a kid’s birthday party. Not being able to come to work and enjoy your job, will cause an increase in both absenteeism rate and the rate of employees reporting for work late. This causes work to be left undone or others having to pick up the slack by working extra hours $$$.
A failure on the supervisors part to address negative employees or poor performers can cause good performers to feel resentment as they have to pick up the slack.
According to an article from 2013 on Bad Bosses in Forbes, employees' become frustrated, there is a greater likelihood of coworkers abusing one another, and lack of confidence in the company as a whole.
General sense of nobody else cares so why should I .
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2013/02/07/the-dark-side-of-leadership-the-impact-of-a-bad-boss-can-go-viral-though-the-office/#4b24bef14265
As Moral drops productivity soon follows. Productivity drops as employees feel they are only working to make the supervisor look good.
It is hard to work your best when you are not happy with where you work. Really bad management can bring down a company. According to Psychologist and author on workplace interventions, estimates bad managers cost $360 billion dollars in lost productivity in the US alone.
Florida State University study that concludes that as high as 40 percent of employees think their bosses are bad. The respondents of this Florida State survey said that their work environment was more important than pay level, meaning that they would leave a job with a bad boss for a lower-paying job with a good boss
While many issues cause employees to leave, according to Dr. Travis Bradberry, coauthor of “Emotional Intelligence 2.0” 50% of employees leave their jobs due to their immediate supervisor. According to Canadian HR Reporter turnover costs for a manager or professional is 1.5 times their salary and half the salary for an hourly worker . And if the employee is high-performing, the costs could be even greater – and the person more difficult to replace.
Leadership is like art. I will know it when I see it. However it is also a skill and like all skills leadership can be learned and developed. It is difficult at first, over time the skill gets easier and easier. If not practised leadership skills will deteriorate. So the following are 11 principals you should be teaching your front line supervisors.
Self Improvement- understanding your job, your own limits and developing skills.
Provide Clear Instructions and Objective – making sure that people understand what is being asked of them. Provide not just what you want accomplished but why. When people understand why they may be able to develop a better solution to accomplish the task
Solve Problems – this may seem self explanatory however, the leaders task is to remove barriers to allow people to be successful.
Set The Example – control your emotions, be calm and confident, avoid profanity, the rules ably to everyone, including the leader.
Build Teamwork - ensure everyone understands their role and responsibility, hold people accountable for their responsibilities. Ensure everyone understands the importance of their role within the team.
Explain Decisions – Why? When people understand why they are more motivated to complete the task. Even if they disagree with the decision. Give people the opportunity to have their say.
Develop and provide training – nothing makes someone feel more isolated then when they do not understand what they are doing. Not everyone is going to speak up to say they do not understand.
Treat people fairly and respond to concerns – This goes beyond the work place, peoples lives do not stop when they report for work, if their mind is not on task they are a danger to themselves and others.
Seek current information – keep up to date with information about the company and industry. Regulations change all the time.
Learn from the experience of others – everyone has different experience and can provide a different perspective. Use all resource to help form decisions
Maintain and promote the company values and vision - all companies are different and have unique values. These must be supported by the front line leadership. If not these values will not be maintained by the workers.
Understanding the impact of poor leadership and what one skills one needs to develop to become a good leader are just part of the equation. How you integrate leadership training and development into the organization is equally important.
All companies provide training to new hires, ranging from safety to company policies. Only 20% of companies actually include leadership training. The easiest way is to simply hire a leadership consultant, place everyone in a room for a few days and poof you have trained leaders. Problem, where do you find the time, and money. Also, what is the follow up to ensure the new skills are practised.
Your leadership training needs to be a road map of development. So where to Start.
First, decide what is important what must your leaders know, the principals we reviewed are a good starting point.
When leadership is included in the goals and objectives of an employee you are stating this is important. Set not just annual goal but monthly / quarterly. This keeps the learning on going.
During meetings review a leadership principal, provide links to articles on leadership, have a continued discussion with the employees.
Giving assignments and tasks allows the employee the ability to practise the new skill and gain confidence in their abilities. The tasks do not need to be large or complicated. But, they should be ones that allow the employee to engage the work force for input and change behaviour.
When you follow the principals I discussed and make leadership part of the daily conversation you will avoid this situation. Thank you.