Quite often, it is said that organizations should look for leaders rather than managers. This is true for startups and small businesses too. Agreed that the onus of the leader in a small company usually falls on the founder/owner, but in order to scale up, especially when the company’s headcount is expanding, leaders are needed to rally the teams and get them going.
However, getting good professionals who can also be leaders is no easy task. So it becomes increasingly important for startups and small businesses to look for alternative ways to ensure that they have leaders on board. One way is to look within the organization itself for leaders. Why?
Here are a few reasons for grooming employees for leadership:
Performance & Productivity
Though remuneration is one of the key reasons for people to come and work in a startup, offering them a chance to lead will surely have an effect on their productivity, a positive one that is.
Many organizations, especially startups and small businesses have seen an increase in performance from individuals who were being groomed to take a leadership role at the organization. These individuals, who are inspired, also tend to motivate their teams to better and thus increase productivity.
Loyalty
Various studies have shown that the average time a person stays at the same job has come down drastically. Job-hopping is not looked down upon as it used to be. Organization now have to find ways through which they can retain good talent. When you are grooming employees to take leadership positions in the future, you are giving them a solid reason to be loyal.
With so much information available, employees too have become averse to the traditional ‘bonuses’ handed out to them. However, when you offer them a chance to be a part of the decision making process, employees tend to be loyal.
Increase Morale
A few days ago, we had published a post on the important values of HR management and how embedding leadership development is very vital to startups and small businesses. One of the reasons was that it affects the employee morale.
When an organization, of whatever size, has a staff that is high on morale, it sure affects the growth in a good way. And when you are grooming employees to take leadership roles in the future, they would be eager and happy to work in such an environment.
Different companies use different tactics to get good leadership. Feel free to share your thoughts about it in the comments section below.
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