There are several studies to suggest that the success or failure of an organization can be attributed to the strengths (or lack of it) of its leaders. Strong leadership has a direct impact on all aspects of an organization, including revenue, margins, market share, employee satisfaction, policies, partners, and investors. Without effective leadership, organizations struggle even to an extent that it raises questions about their survival. In a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) world, having leaders who are resilient and adapt to grow their capabilities is a great differentiator.

Often organizations depend on leadership development programs to prepare the next level of leaders or identify employees with high potential (HiPo). Many organizations are unsure of who their best leaders are or where the next set of leaders should come from, either through internal selection or external hiring. How do you identify employees that can be developed and groomed for the next roles or made more effective in team management positions? How do you invest in the identification and development of these emerging leaders?

Leadership Assessments are the go-tools for identifying potential leaders and helping them improve their leadership qualities. The most effective leadership development assessments evaluate the future potential with an intent to develop and measure the competencies that are central to present as well as future demands from these leaders. They enable an organization to develop a pipeline of future leaders and help in retention as well - employees stay with organizations that develop them.

The assessments provide data about the strengths and development areas to work on. The knowledge helps them make an informed decision about their careers and aids employee development and retention. For an organization, it offers an unbiased and scientific measure to decide who to invest in. Organizations also want to be confident on the talent pool and how to provide personalized development.

The next question comes, what should an ideal leadership assessment include? At the very basic, it should include the following components to be effective.

1. 1. Identify and measure the competencies required for the role
2. 2. Clear and objective view of strengths and development areas
3. 3. Development action plan for all the desired competencies
4. 4. Fitment for a particular leadership role
5. 5. Resources that can be utilized for development in a competency area

Leadership assessments can be used for a number of use-cases including:

1. 1. Selection - Assessments are used to hire or internally identify a candidate's leadership potential as per the specific requirements of the job.
2. 2. Development - Identify the gaps and prepare a roadmap to develop the candidate on each of the competencies.
3. 3. High-potential - Identification of high-potential talent pool to develop future successors.
4. 4. Talent capability development - Identify and baseline the competencies required to drive organizational success.

So, where do we start?

Effective leadership identification and development starts with an assessment as a starting benchmark and identifies the best opportunities for a leader to develop.

Any leadership development program starting with an assessment benefits the organization and the employee by building better awareness and prioritization of the development areas. A personalized development plan can be created for the highest effectiveness.

There are sceptics who can claim that they can identify and develop leaders without using assessments, but even for them, it is very difficult to measure the effectiveness of the development efforts without any sort of benchmarking. Data and insights from the assessments make strengths and development areas amply clear. When this data is combined with the development efforts, organizations can now invest where it matters the most. They can deploy their resources on the most important development

This personalized development means there is an increased likelihood of development that promotes behaviour change and achieving desired business outcomes.