The word ‘Inventory’ sounds a little odd when you are talking of ‘Leaders’. But when we want to take ‘Stock’ of a situation, ‘Inventorying’ of leaders in the organization becomes an interesting exercise. After all it’s a ‘Value proposition’.
Depending on the organization’s structure we have leaders at all levels, right from the ‘Supervisor’ at the basic level to the ‘CEO’ at the highest level. As the ‘HR Head’ it is your prerogative to decide, leaders up to what level you want to include in this ‘Inventorying’ process. Please make yourself feel comfortable.
People get designated as ‘Supervisors’, ‘Managers’, ‘Executives’ and so on. They have their job description and the work profile spelled out adequately or sometimes not. However there are some questions you need to ask from time to time, irrespective of their experience and seniority.
- How many of them consider themselves as ‘Leaders’?
- How many of them have a mindset of a leader?
- Are they skilled enough as leaders?
- How many of them are actually getting the opportunity to lead people?
- How effective they have been as leaders?
- Are their leadership skills development needs being addressed properly?
The findings may surprise you on three counts.
- How well your department has mapped the respective positions in terms of leadership needs.
- How well the individuals in their present respective positions are justifying their roles as leaders.
- How well your inventory reflects the assets in terms of potential leaders your organization has.
Annual employee appraisals largely take into consideration the individual performance and possible growth factors for the individual. However from organizations growth point of view, leaders in different positions become the driving force. The leader at the top, if s/he is supported by good leaders at different levels in the organizational hierarchy can become a force to reckon with.
The ‘HR Initiative’ taken up by you to identify, recognize & groom leaders and make them available as per the organizational need at different levels will create a new buzz in the organization you represent. Though leadership skills development is an individual effort, the opportunities to become leaders exist within the organization.
Once the news of this initiative goes around in the organization, two things can happen, people with ambitions will get charged up and start demonstrating their competency level to get noticed or you may end up setting a kitten among the pigeons. Irrespective of what happens, you have to communicate your intentions clearly. Your plan to recognize and groom leaders for future should not backfire. Your ability to communicate well and keep things in proper perspective will impress the senior management. As a visionary you are pooling & grooming your leader resources for organizational development and growth.
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