Top Strategies to Develop Leadership Bench Strength

Key Takeaways:

• Leadership bench strength ensures continuity and supports business valuation.
• Assessing dependency on the owner is key to understanding current bench strength.
• Strong bench strength starts with clear vision, defined leadership skills, and aligned roles.
• Leaders need autonomy, accountability, and ongoing development to grow effectively.
• Future leaders expect values-driven, forward-thinking companies that invest in employee growth.
• Training, performance management, and HR support services strengthen the talent pipeline.
• If the organization’s product or service has particular technical demands, does the talent reside within the company?
• What processes does the organization have for identifying and developing talent to meet current and future demands?
• Will an aging workforce create talent gaps?
• Could the company achieve the goals and objectives agreed upon if you were to step away from your role for an extended period?
• Could your leadership team create an atmosphere of confidence and urgency during your absence?
• Upon your return from an extended period away, would you hear strong positive responses from clients that mirror (or even surpass) those you’ve come to expect?
  • Are employees engaged and able to communicate their status on active initiatives?
  • Can the team keep you updated on the company status at any time?
  • Are there systems that track progress, communicate issues, and allow swift action when needed?
• Define a clear vision and values for the future of the company.
  • Strategic planning can help.
• Complete your due diligence to define the skills and abilities needed by leadership in your company. 
  • Effective job descriptions matter in defining and attracting leadership-worthy employees.
• Work to make sure the right people are on board and performing in a way that leverages their skills.
  • Consider personality testing as one method to put the right people in the right seats.
• Formal coursework
• Mentorship
• Executive coaching
• Self-study
• Workshops
• Conferences
• The generational flux will begin to subside, with more potential employees looking for companies to whom they can pledge their loyalty, grow within, and create social networks that benefit the individual and their family.
• You want to be the type of company to whom one can pledge loyalty – fair, compassionate, evolving, enjoyable, flexible, and sustainable – to attract the best and the brightest stars.

Leadership bench strength refers to the depth and quality of talent available within an organization for leadership and other key roles. It’s essential to your company’s growth and ability to survive a transition of ownership. Here are some considerations for employers when building their bench strength and developing future leaders.

The Importance of Leadership Bench Strength in Business Continuity

A strong and functional leadership team is one of the most critical contributors to organizational value. It reinforces the credibility and likely success of a transfer of ownership and is a subject of scrutiny in equity investment conversations. Leadership bench strength is demonstrated by the availability of skilled and high-performing talent in crucial positions within the company. There are several considerations for employers when identifying future leaders:

Assessing Your Current Leadership Bench Strength

One of the most common measures of leadership bench strength is dependence on the owner. Every business owner ultimately wonders, “If I step away from my role, will the company remain viable?”

To assess current bench strength, owners should consider:

Over time, your presence or absence should not affect the organization’s daily performance. The strength of your leadership bench is apparent when you have leeway to be as engaged as you want for special projects, events, or circumstances, but also as removed as you want for elements in life that bring personal satisfaction.

How to Foster a Culture of Leadership Development

It would be simple to have a strong bench if people and businesses remained static. However, markets are volatile; companies need to be agile, and able to shift talent quickly. The ultimate opportunity to build leadership bench strength begins with you.

The Role of Mentorship, Training, and Professional Development in Strengthening Leadership

To foster professional growth among your leadership team and beyond, keep these three focus areas top of mind:

1. Leaders are viewed and treated as leaders, regardless of your presence or absence.

Your leaders must have a level of autonomy that affirms decisions are within their realm and that they aren’t just placeholders performing the duties of an absentee owner.

2. Leaders are prepared and can expect to be held accountable. 

The leadership team members must lead. Leaders don’t grow and develop when owners step in to correct mistakes. Emerging leaders should expect coaching and mentoring to help them learn, explore, and recover from errors.

Giving the opportunity to understand where things went wrong and realign goals is an important part of leadership growth. At the same time, their success needs to be credited, especially as they take on broader aspects of leadership. Recognition of their individual and collective performance levels should be forthcoming and consistent. Their rising level of success is a credit to your skills as an owner with a vision for the future of the business.

3. Leaders must be able to expect and accept professional development.

Setting performance and development goals will help the team focus on the skills and abilities that will drive leadership. The ability to grow in a position and develop new skills doesn’t end after attaining an executive title.

Professional development can include many facets:

Decisions about when and what method(s) are chosen for professional development may be incorporated into conversations about company strategy and goals, as well as individual goals, metrics, and targets.

Future-Proof Your Organization for Success with Strong Leadership

Every reasonable owner is aware of how important a skilled and enthusiastic workforce is to the viability of their business. Finding, training, securing, and retaining talent is a constant in the equation for business success. Even as you manage your current employee group, a vigilant business is scanning for its future workforce.

You might already be looking at your future leaders within the confines of your current business. Companies are increasingly beginning to effectively manage their future workforce by creating vehicles for in-house development. Often, a company can identify future “stars” and then provide consistent growth opportunities. Corporate leadership academies result from a diligent look at what the company needs and which current employees can be developed to meet them.

What Future Leaders Expect in Return

Likely, however, your future workforce is still being discovered, and it is both unique and changing.

Your future workforce expects as much from you as you do from them. They want to know that your company is current and diligent in its own development. Does it strive to be a forward-thinking company regardless of the product you make or the service you provide? Does it genuinely value its employees and adhere to the values expressed in promotional literature? They want to know that you consider them a resource in decision-making and that their thoughts and influence will be heard and respected.

As you develop your leadership bench strength, keep in mind:

We Can Help Nurture Your Talent Pipeline

Compensation Resources offers training and development services, including executive coaching and educational sessions of all kinds to support your talent. We also provide performance management services, so employees have a clear pathway to leadership with the incentive structure to match.

Finally, if your current HR department lacks bandwidth, outsourcing some HR functions could be an excellent solution. We can provide HR outsourcing services as well.