How to leverage your learning platform to develop leaders in your organization

A business is only as strong as its leadership team. As such, senior business leaders must continuously develop their skills and knowledge. The business landscape is ever-changing, so, without regular leadership development, your business risks falling behind.

Only when business leaders have the most up-to-date knowledge can they drive innovation, improve employee morale, and increase customer satisfaction.

So, we’ll analyze how you can leverage your learning platform to develop leaders. We’ll start by outlining the benefits of using a learning platform for leadership development, before examining how to create a leadership development program.

Benefits of using a learning platform for leadership development

Using your learning platform for leadership development is every bit as important as using your learning platform to upskill the rest of your workforce. Your organization may have several learning platforms, but a learning management system (LMS) is one of the most versatile. An LMS can deliver leadership level-specific training that covers a range of subjects and formats, including:

• Online courses
• Webinars
• Case studies
• Whitepapers
• Podcasts
• Videos

This ensures that, regardless of their preferred learning style, leaders can develop in a way that suits them. There are also many other benefits to using a learning platform as part of your leadership development program.

Learning platforms can help employees learn at their own pace and in their own time

Your leadership team is likely among the busiest in your organization, meaning they're unlikely to have much time to dedicate to development. Yet, upskilling your leadership team is vital to ensure your organization stays ahead of its competitors. Using a learning platform offers the flexibility to make that happen.

Through your LMS, you can access course materials whenever you have a free moment to learn. Whether it’s an hour or just five minutes, online learning is designed with micro-learning in mind. Not only can senior leaders learn at their own pace and in their own time, but learning in this way increases retention, too.

Learning platforms can track employee progress and provide feedback

LMS’ are a fantastic tool for pulling together learning-focused reports. The same applies to your leadership team, which allows your business to support team members who may require additional training or resources.

Learning platforms can help build an organization's learning and development culture

Building a culture of learning and development is vital in any organization. For that to happen, learning must be a priority. When your leadership team actively uses your learning platform, it will help instill a culture of learning throughout your entire workforce.

Creating a leadership development program

Creating a development program for your leadership team is similar to creating a development plan for an employee at any other level. Training should align with both employee and business goals. The good news is, personalized learning at scale extends to those in leadership roles, which improves engagement and retention.

To create a leadership training program, consider the following steps:

1. Understand your organizational goals. 
2. Undertake a skills gap analysis of the leadership team.
3. Identify which skills leaders should develop to fill these gaps.
4. Source learning materials, such as online courses available through Go1.
5. Establish achievable learning and development goals. 
6. Offer feedback to employees on progress. 
7. Celebrate successes, even in senior leadership, to build a culture of learning.
8. Continue to monitor progress to evaluate the effectiveness of training.

Leveraging technology for leadership team development

As with delivering any training to your workforce, measuring the impact of leadership training programs is vital. If training aligns with your business goals and you select the appropriate metrics, you should be able to measure the impact of your leadership training program.

• In today’s remote and hybrid environments, virtual collaboration tools such as Slack, Zoom, and Miro are fantastic for collaborative learning.
• Online learning providers, such as Go1, offer content from many recognized sources, allowing you to access learning materials quickly and easily.
• Improve engagement and retention with assessment tools.
• Gamification encourages engagement by adding an element of competitiveness to learning.
• Use data analysis to provide insights on how employees are engaging and what you can do to improve engagement in the future.
• Virtual mentoring and coaching allows leaders to receive help and guidance from other experienced leaders.

Measuring the impact of leadership training programs

As with delivering any kind of training to your workforce, it’s vital to measure the impact of leadership training programs. If training aligns with your business goals and you select the appropriate metrics, you should be able to measure the impact of your leadership training program. 

Metrics to measure include:

• Training completion and drop-off rate
• Engagement rate
• KPIs
• Post training performance
• An updated skills gap analysis

Using data to measure the impact of training ensures your organization can continuously improve and refine your leadership training to make it as effective as possible.

Go1 can support your leadership development program

At Go1, we work with leading learning providers to deliver an extensive range of online courses to support your leadership team and senior managers. Read our case study on helping workers expand their knowledge and horizons, or speak to an expert today to learn more.