A Transition Plan for Today’s Leader

 

A report of more than 15,000 leaders and more than 2,000 HR executives was completed by DDI completed in 2021 as part of its Global Leadership Forecast series. The results prove their transition into their current leadership role has not been successful.

2020-2021 were the most trying times of the pandemic for businesses. During this time an organization’s lack of transition support can be attributed to its need for survival. In the past two years leadership roles changed for several reasons i.e., companies quickly downsized, transformed, or reorganized leaving them needing to fill leadership roles quickly.

Before COVID-19 leadership transitions were already challenging. According to DDI, leadership transition is among life’s most challenging adjustments, ranking up there with personal illness or a major life event. (DDI, Leaders in transition, 2015).

Transitions are not getting any easier as leaders are now being expected to have a greater conception of emotional intelligence, connect with others, and support the communities they work in. Additionally, being socially invested in the communities their business impacts.

A lack of transition support can quickly turn into burnout, create a culture of development gaps among leadership or result in them leaving the organization.

To make the transition successful for an employee, the organization must invest in their training and development before advancing them. For a smooth transition employees should receive leadership/interpersonal training to develop the skills needed for a new role.

3 ways to help employees transition:

Provide examples of success.

Define what it means to succeed at the next level, what does success look like beyond metrics, what behaviors must one exhibit, and are there clear expectations of what they need to achieve? Provide them with relevant training opportunities to develop skills based on required competencies.

Assess strengths and areas of improvement.

What needs to be the focus on their development efforts? Have them complete assessments and use data to help guide the direction of their development. It also helps their superior to understand what type of development they would best benefit from.

How to navigate the organization.

Despite the level of leadership, all employees should be trained on navigating the organization. The processes for decision-making, engaging team members, or gaining support from stakeholders or board members. For real-life applicability try offering job shadowing or mentoring.

Regardless of the advancement level, employees transitioning into first-time leadership, executive leadership, or c-suite level roles must work on their skills gaps and organizational confidence to be set up for a successful transition.

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