eLearning Helps Equip Managers for Demanding New Expectations

Organizations increasingly view leadership development as a strategiclever. The rapid pace and global nature of today’s business environment isputting more responsibility on leaders down the organizational ladder, leadingto higher expectations even earlier in their careers.

Yet, senior executives don’t have confidence that their leadership bench isready to step up to more demanding roles. According to a 2013 survey by HarvardBusiness Publishing, only 32 percent of the more than 800 respondents believedthat their organizations have the right leadership talent and skills to achievetheir organizations’ strategic goals.

Overcoming this leadership gap is of primary importance to organizations.

Organizations need stronger leaders at all levels

The most significant goals for leadership development, according to theHarvard Business Publishing survey, are to drive business transformation (43percent) and to build more general management capability at all levels (24percent). Organizations need a stronger cadre of leaders throughout theorganization to drive business performance.

Midlevel managers are the driving force

In the same survey, the resultsreinforced that managers need to develop more strategic capabilities earlier intheir careers. For example, 80 percent of respondents named change management asa priority for middle managers, 76 percent chose talent management, and 65percent selected innovation as the top priority.

Organizationalflattening, outsourcing, and new business models have made mid-level managersthe driving force behind most corporate initiatives. They serve as both theoperational engine and the glue that holds far-flung teams together. They need to know more than how to manageoperations; they need to develop true leadership skills.

Developinga leadership mindset

Toevolve as leaders, managers have to internalize the idea that leadership isfundamentally different than managing tasks. Research from numerous experts,including Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, authors of Being the Boss,shows that knowledge and skills training is simply not enough. Helping managersmake that mindset shift is equally important. While the process of shifting aperson’s mindset can take years, many organizations are implementingsophisticated blended-learning solutions to accelerate the process.

New design extends eLearning

With the right approach, eLearning offers a means to reach this large andimportant group—in a meaningful and lasting way. Themost successful development for midlevel leaders extends traditional eLearning,blending experiential on-the-job learning, coaching, and feedback with formaltraining. And the best approach keeps the learning as close as possible to amanager’s day-to-day work. eLearning can provide the formal training along witha connection point for the other elements. It can act as the guide to help busymanagers apply what they’ve learned over time, and really grow into their newleadership mindsets.

An initiative in FarmersInsurance service operations unit sought to increase engagement and preparemiddle managers to quickly adapt to higher roles. Steve Mulder, director ofUniversity of Farmers at Farmers Insurance, describes the program’s goals anddesign: “We needed to equip our leaders to transition to fully integratedpeople leaders who can manage themselves, their broad network, and their teams.We needed to do it in a way that is effective, engaging, and efficient,utilizing technology to connect. And we needed an approach that treatsleadership development as a journey, not an event.”

When done right,technology-enabled development can have a huge upside for busy middle managerswho don’t have time for a lengthy in-person classroom program.

A large electronics company hastransformed their program to take advantage of virtual learning. In thepast, their training program consisted of a two-week residence program withaction-learning business projects. While the action-learning element continues,the organization’s redesigned program keeps the action-learning projects, butbegins with three months of virtual education, followed by a one-weekresidency, and then another three months of virtual reinforcement. Thisorganization is extending the global reach of its young-leader developmentprogram and enabling its employees to experience learn­ing in a self-paced, technology-enabled, and collaborativeenvironment.

Carefully combining eLearning elements with other learning approachescan be an ideal approach to engaging and developing mid-level leaders,accelerating the growth of this large portion of an organization’s leadershippipeline, and engaging these challenged managers throughout the process ofbecoming great leaders.