With baby boomers rapidly approaching retirement, few organizations—regardless of industry—are immune to the potential fallout from leader departures. For the organization that plans strategically, though, the transition of fresh talent into top positions can be successful and rewarding.

DDI recently supported an independent study on succession management conducted by the Aberdeen Group. The study found that “best-in-class” organizations in succession management had three things in common: a standard approach to evaluation and development plans, a process to measure results, and a strong connection between talent management and business strategies.

Sounds simple enough, so why is there a gap between the best in class and the rest? We went to our own experts—three senior consultants who design winning succession management systems—for their insight on putting succession management best practices to work. Read what they have to say.

When implementing a comprehensive leadership development program, designing the courses is often the easy part. The real challenges come with trying to garner support for the effort. Organizational leaders need to feel confidant that the investment of money and employee time will yield business results. Participants want to know what they can expect to gain from the training—and be assured that it’s worth a few days away from their busy work lives.

Measurement is a crucial component of any successful leadership development program and a way of demonstrating the value all constituents seek. DDI frequently conducts research for clients to measure training and hiring efficacy. One recent example is trucking and logistics services provider, Con-way.

Con-way Inc. worked with DDI to develop a customized leadership development program to improve the communication, trust, and coaching skills of their leaders. After the training, 302 leaders (trainees) and 738 observers (trainee’s managers, direct reports and peers) participated in an online survey to measure changes in behaviors tied to the courses. The results were impressive! Among them:

• 89% of trainees felt that the skills and concepts addressed in the program were important to their jobs.
• There was a 41% improvement in positive leadership behaviors after the training.
• 93% of trainees reported that they now frequently send clear, accurate messages to others—nearly doubling the number of trainees who communicated effectively before the training. Observers agreed, reporting that 46% more trainees responded appropriately to others during communications.
• 90% of trainees now report giving others the facts they need to make judgments, thereby building trust. (Less than 70 percent of trainees were building trust that way before training.)

One trainee had this to say: “Before training, I had a difficult time openly communicating with one employee due to a lack of trust between us. Since the training, I have found myself communicating with him more and more openly and being more open-minded toward his point of view.”

An observer had this to say about a trainee:
“[He] is holding monthly one-on-one, away-from-the-cubicle meetings with each employee, which is wonderful. Lack of contact leads to paranoia, so this has helped everyone I’ve talked to. [He] has also become a buffer to outside negatives, which is also important to feel protected. I believe his leadership development was beneficial to the whole department.”

Leadership development proved to have a significant and successful impact at Con-way. To read the full Research Results document or learn more about DDI's experience, follow the links below.