Learning Maps To Grow Your Future Leaders

In the "new normal" organizations have to do with the resources they have or trade them out. As companies have slimmed down to the best performers, they are still faced with the prospect of growing them to become the future leaders of the company. Who knows how long this economic trough will last?

Growth is a basic imperative for companies today. One is to grow sales. That one is easy to identify and requires a concerted effort by an organization to focus and communicate effectively, while keeping their eye on the marketplace. If you don't have 100% market share, growth is very possible, but every function must have the skills to support that objective through more highly skilled teams in sales, engineering, customer service, supply chain and marketing.

But how do you grow organizations that have been ravaged by the economic cycle quickly create its new leaders? Individual Development Plans (IDP) are another key element in the development of an organization. With the addition of online education and a carefully crafted learning and development map, it is possible to identify and grow near term leaders.

All professional activities require continuing education that is focused on developing new skills, or refining existing ones. A Learning Map is a document that outlines a series of activities in which a functional professional would participate, in order to advance their career/profession. The Learning map consists of a series of:

• Classes
• Seminars
• Certifications
• Interim assignments
• Leadership development courses

This combination is designed to communicate strategies, solidify culture, develop skills and test leaders. It is also intended to act as a planning tool for the employee and manager for the purpose of career planning and development. In the following diagram, a three pronged approach is proposed for creating an IDP for a professional in an organization.

As can be seen in this diagram, professional career route will have a unique path to follow. In order to properly develop, a carefully planned core group of courses and assignments will move the professional through this development path.

With the addition of tools available on the internet today, on the job training can be easily complimented by unique courses, seminars and certifications on a cost effective basis. In the past, continuing education typically meant significant costs for tuition, attendance to seminars and time off the job, lowering overall productivity.

The internet provides a plethora of opportunities for continuing education in the convenience of a professional's office or home. Continuing professional education and certification can be done in bite sized chunks, making it more accessible and provides a high level of scheduling flexibility.

Organizations who don't utilize these basic tools will take longer to develop people and will have a poorer operating result.

Group50 Consulting has significant experience in organization development for major companies and government organizations. Combined with access to a complete library of professional development courses through its Global Leaders project: www.tgleaders.com, Group50 can create a learning map for every functional organization in a company, which provides clear direction for developing an organization. Contact Group50 about its learning map program by calling 909-949-9083.