HR learning: 26 Sep, 2016

1.

Leadership development: The new rule book

Companies across the globe are now realising the difference between managers and leaders, and also looking at different ways to groom leaders. 

Often organisations assume that a manager is also a leader. However, the two cannot be put on the same pedestal. A manager is the one who is more hands-on and responsible for the day-to-day operations. A leader, on the other hand, has a bigger goal to achieve— to inspire and motivate the workforce.

So how does an organisation differentiate between a manager and a leader? After all, the leaders of tomorrow will grow from among today’s managers.

There are certain traits that differentiate a manager and a leader. For instance, a manager might have a great idea, but it is the leader who will implement that idea. Similarly, a manager would always like to communicate to the employees but the leader will always persuade the followers. However, there is nothing sinister about being a manager. After all, the leader and the manager need to work together to drive the organisation.

Having said that it is also a fact that while managers are easy to find, leaders are difficult to groom.

These are some of the new global trends in leadership development

Redefining of leadership

Collective leadership 

Individual ownership

Technological advancement

Voluntary leadership 

2.

Learn the science of competency mapping

Quick pointers on competency mapping framework for organisations to enhance the effectiveness of their processes manifold.

While competency mapping helps an individual to identify his/her own strengths and weaknesses, it also lays the foundation for multiple HR practices such as talent acquisition, talent management, and learning & development. A well-crafted competency framework can go a long way in enhancing the effectiveness of these processes manifold.
Here are some quick tips to develop an effective competency mapping framework.

• HR verticals must have their basic processes in place before they get started. For instance, one should have signed off job descriptions for all roles and framework for training need identification ready.

• Competency mapping frameworks have to be driven from the top in alignment with the vision and mission of the organisation.

• Create a common framework for behavioural competencies for the entire organisation. This goes a long way in building a sound organisational culture and common behaviours. For instance, customer centricity will be an organisation wide competency that will help in building customer focus as a theme in the organisation.

• Functional competencies are function specific and should be crafted accordingly. Involvement of senior leaders as well as line manager will help to ensure that the framework is a robust one.

• Define the scope of the project by clearly stating the areas (functions, sub-functions, etc.) being covered. Also, decide on whether the project will be carried out by internal experts or with external partnership.

• Ground work by the facilitating team to understand the vision, mission, strategies, functional strategies and focus area, challenges, market scenario is vital. Focus group discussions to gauge the perspectives of senior leaders as well as target group for the competencies is essential.

• Involve external industry experts while finalising the competencies to ensure that the same addresses future requirements and also add value.

• Anchor the competencies to processes while designing to ensure time efficiencies and better synchronisation.

• Simplicity ensures effective usage. While deciding on proficiency levels, one must limit it to three or four levels.

• Sign offs by senior leaders and trials at various stages ensures that the final model is launched without hiccups.

3.

How role plays help learning in real time

Role plays can be powerful learning tools as they engage the participants and sustain their interest.

After spending a decade and a half in the learning profession, I continue to be amused with the difference that I observe in participants who attend a technical training and a soft skills session. In the former, there is often rapt attention seen at the start (missing only in those who come in with a hostage mentality).  In case of a soft skills session, on the contrary, the attitude is mostly that of, “Oh, I know it”. 

From a learning stages perspective, participants at technical trainings are ‘consciously incompetent’ while at the soft skills sessions they are ‘unconsciously incompetent’. A good behavioural trainer is quite adept at moving the participants from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence as quickly as possible, since without the awareness and acceptance that one does not know, no learning can happen. Various experiential learning techniques like simulations, games and outbound activities support this move/ shift. Role play is one such experiential tool used widely in learning sessions.