CIPD calls on HR to review organisational structures and processes in order to enable truly distributed leadership
6 May 2014 02:34 PM
New research from the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people
development, has found that rigid organisational hierarchies are one of the
main barriers to improving management and leadership skills in today’s
workplaces. Many employees without formal managerial responsibility are now
expected to own the organisation’s agenda, lead from the front line and
do ‘the right thing’ for the customer and for their employer, an
approach known as ‘distributed leadership,’ but poorly targeted
training and restrictive organisational structures are getting in the
way.
The
report, ‘Leadership - easier said than
done,’ finds that leadership development in some businesses
relies too much on developing the capability of individual leaders and
managers, with outdated organisational structures and cultures preventing
would-be leaders from applying what they’ve learnt in the training room
to their day-to-day work. The report recommends that leadership development
should give greater consideration to organisation-wide factors that can help or
hinder the practical application of great leadership skills by employees at all
levels.
The
CIPD is calling on HR professionals to make a greater difference by taking the
next step from training individual leaders, to improving the leadership
capacity of the organisation as a whole, by focusing their efforts on
understanding what kind of leadership their organisation needs and whether or
not the structure of their organisation will support it.
The
three main recommendations are:
- Define the type of leadership and management needed and
put appropriate training and succession planning programmes in place. For
example, some companies may be looking to grow the next generation of senior
leaders, and need to identify potential among junior managers, whilst some may
look to achieve greater employee productivity.
- Training of leader and manager capability should be
aligned to the needs of the organisation. HR also needs to talk to staff about
their learning requirements and any questions they might have over
organisational change.
- HR
should identify and influence key players with the power to change the status
quo. Implementing formal processes is not enough; they must also understand
where individuals are demonstrating leadership behaviours and where shifts can
be made in the organisational structure.
Ksenia Zhelthoukhova, Research Adviser at the
CIPD, comments: “The fast-moving pace of change in the
world requires a more distributed approach to leadership. It’s not enough
to have one or two strong leaders at the top of an organisation. Everyone,
particularly those on the front line, needs to be empowered to respond
effectively to evolving external challenges and help take others with them on
that journey. However, our concern is that rigid organisational systems,
characterised by hierarchy, short-term focus, individualism and
‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality, stifle the productivity of
employees, undermining their ability to lead on the organisational agenda from
the front line.
“In order to be effective, leadership development
has to be supported with organisational practices that empower the workforce
and foster engagement: team-working, behaviour-based performance management and
succession planning, collective reward and recognition, to name just a few.
Forward-looking organisations are using innovative methods of job and
organisation design, to create agile organisational environments and cultures
that enable leadership at all levels of the business.”
Dr. Steven Chase, Director of People at Thames
Valley Police, said:
“Thames Valley Police was pleased to be able to
collaborate with the CIPD on this important research as we continue to grow our
organisational leadership capability and capacity. In addition to those
in more obvious leadership positions, our front-line staff exercise leadership
responsibility day in, day out as we work to protect the public and reduce
crime. In my view, leadership resides at organisational, team and
individual levels and what matters are the collective outcomes that we
deliver. In sum, we need resilient, ethical and agile leaders throughout
the organisation with a focus on public service.”