Global Leadership Development: Why It's Important to Your Business

by Bettina Chang | Talent Management

A recent study by the American Management Association (AMA) showed that global
leadership development programs are correlated with success at companies around
the world. Competition was the main driver behind these programs, and almost
half of the companies surveyed said that they had already implemented such
programs or were currently developing them.

The survey included more than 900 organizations, 40 percent of which are
headquartered outside the U.S.

"Whether or not you are only located in one country, you're competing all over
the world with your products and services," said Sandi Edwards, senior vice
president of AMA Corporate Learning Solutions. "[It's important] to have people
all over the globe who understand what the [business] is about and how to
compete successfully."

These leadership competencies, though not completely different from typical
domestic leadership programs, emphasize certain global nuances. Important
aspects include branding in other parts of the world, being agile and
understanding cultures, and effectively working across cultures and remotely.

To implement an effective global leadership development program, an
organization must first set business goals and determine the metrics through
which they will be measured. "The most effective global leadership initiatives
are tightly linked to the achievement of critical business goals," Edwards
said.

Once the business goals are developed, it's imperative for senior-level
executives to communicate why being a strong global leader has important
business impact on the organization. "That can be stressed most effectively by
senior leaders," Edwards said. "[The initiatives] are not successful if there
isn't some component of executive sponsorship and senior leadership
involvement."

Other ways for senior leaders to be involved are to be a part of the program
and to contribute by co-teaching. They must also monitor the metrics to
determine the return on investment of the program.

The study showed that organizations with successful programs can expect to see
increased revenue, shareholder value and customer satisfaction. These programs
also improve the bench strength of an organization. Of the targeted employees
who participate in these programs, about 20 to 25 percent are upwardly mobile
and able to take on higher positions. After the training, up to 40 percent will
have the capability to take on higher positions and more responsibility.

"That's vital to the strength of the organization, to have a healthy leadership
pipeline," Edwards said.

As with most leadership programs, global leadership development can increase
engagement and retention, especially among high performers at a company.

"Top talent are high-value assets in every organization, there's no doubt about
that - and the best performers always have options," Edwards said. "In the
companies we studied, correlation was high between those organizations that
were high performers and those that had developed and implemented global
leadership curriculums."

Another finding was that almost 10 percent of companies said that they open
their global leadership programs to everyone in their organization. Edwards
said that this was unexpected, since scarce budgets for development programs
typically limit the number of employees who are able to participate in them.

For the companies that do limit the employees who enter these programs, they
often offer other development opportunities for all employees. Coaching
programs, on-the-job learning, job shadowing and rotations can give an
individual more exposure to the different parts and people in an organization.
An employee's performance during these opportunities may qualify him or her for
further development training.

Edwards stressed that while companies can do many things to ensure employees
are engaged, there must be a consistent thread of logic that links every
development program to competency expectations within the organization.