Leadership training programs can increase retention within the management team and allow an organization to plan for succession. Include these topics in your leadership program to ensure its success.It is sometimes difficult enough to prove the value of basic skills and new hire training. But once that’s done, supervisors, managers, and executives must be developed, as well. Leadership training programs can provide management with the technical and soft skills needed to maintain effective teams - and retain employees. Not only that, a well-placed leadership training program will increase retention within the management team. Leadership training programs also give the executive team a cross-section of the groups that may succeed them. This positioning allows an organization to begin talent management planning, for both planned and unplanned absence of leadership. Once the organization has decided that it is time for leadership training, what subject matter works?It’s important to remember that assessment of the current leadership team to determine subject matter will only take care of current issues. In order to implement a continuous leadership training program that creates a pool of qualified talent, organizations should start at a basic level and work up. With all leaders at the same footing, the organization can be sure that each succession candidate has the same set of skills, knowledge, and attitudes.One of the most basic leadership modules is team building: teach leaders how to listen, to understand and utilize consensus, and to embrace group differences.

After team building, another natural module can be centered on leadership and management. In this module, teach leaders the difference between management and leadership. Operational items are management, while building the team, coaching, and ensuring successful goal accomplishment are leadership. A very good exercise to go through in this module is to have leaders determine their own leadership framework: identify which leadership behaviors they value and how they will use those behaviors on a daily basis.

One of the more management-oriented subjects that can be addressed in a leadership training program is the selection and hiring of employees. Many managers do not know how to accurately assess a candidate through behavioral interviewing. Also, many of them do not know how to translate job duties into a behavioral interviewing template. The organization’s leaders should also be adept in coaching, so be sure to include this module in the program. Most organizations choose a coaching style or template to follow, but many do not communicate and practice the model with managers.

Another subject to consider for leadership training programs is that of managing via values. Leaders should know the organization’s values, usually from its mission statement. They can then take those values, along with their own business values, and lead the team based on that value framework. Having the values framework ensures that every member of the team is working toward the same goals. During this module, have leaders identify the things that both create and destroy values. For example, positive attitudes create value, while negativity destroys value. It’s a beneficial activity.

Strategic thinking is also a skill that should be delivered in leadership training programs. Many leaders get caught up in the day to day operation of the organization, which is normal - and expected. Leaders should learn to assess where their organization, team, or department is, where they want it to be, and what steps they are going to have to take to get it there.

Finally, there are operational considerations in leadership training programs. Successful programs usually include a module on quantitative thinking, or the use of the organization’s statistics to get a realistic picture of where the organization is. Systems management should also be included, which could be specific to applications that are managed by the organization’s leadership. It may be wise to include a module on finance and budgeting, for those leaders who may not have fully developed financial skill sets.

Leadership training programs can add great value to an organization as well as help to retain both front line employees and managers. Once the program is in place, executive leadership will have a constant pool of qualified management candidates, which keeps the organization moving forward.