Leadership development and fostering right talent is a crucial challenge for any organisation in this competitive world, and even more so in the telecom sector because of the current milieu. HR plays a critical role in hiring the right talent and building a strong leadership pipeline for any organisation. The critical question then is as to what could be the design and module of a programme for future leaders?
Few other doubts arise such as are we dwelling too much on the process than the business realities? Are we creating enough leaders to drive the challenges of the past or are we fostering the talent to tackle the future business dynamics? Hence, it becomes imperative for a company to build an ideal paradigm for the rising stars to operate in the competitive business environment with diverse roles and leadership styles.
As far as home-grown leadership is concerned, it should respond to the future business strategy. Leadership by accident can work at times but a powerful organisation is built through ?leadership by design?. A future leaders programme for critical roles is not left to the obvious role holders but is one of the main responsibilities of the entire CXO group.
With this vision, Aircel started its own academy which has slowly become the hub of learning and development. A learning-wishing tree as a logo clearly indicates that learning is meant to be both an inward and an outward journey. Just like a tree must have deep roots to enable it to touch the sky, so must learning enable an employee to dig deep within to improve skills and branch outwards to utilise the skills in attaining higher benchmarks towards self and organisational development.
A comprehensive training programme also helps build leaders who not only understand the diverse ecosystem but are also prepared to handle extreme situations. Trained and fully groomed talent drives innovation and productivity in an organisation. An intense leadership development comprises of the following:
l 360-degree feedbackl Behavioural profilingl Development experience providing feedback on leadership competenciesl Live development centresAlso, building a pipeline of future leaders is critical for continued business success. A ready talent pool ensures proper workforce planning. This helps identify leadership talent and design a track to build leadership capability for critical business roles. A comprehensive training programme helps build leaders who not only understand the diverse ecosystem but are also prepared to handle extreme situations.
The author is chief human resource officer, Aircel
