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Leadership Development: Fostering Manager of Choice in the Rehabilitation Sector
Nilima Sonpal-Valias
Introduction
Nonprofit organizations have recently been paying particular attention to the topic of leadership development. A lot of this stems from the realization that, to succeed in today's rapidly changing, demanding and resource-constrained conditions, organizations must not only be ready to react to change quickly, but also be capable of anticipating or leading in setting potential trends. To effectively realign strategic priorities and day-to-day activities, organizations need individuals with complex and diverse leadership skills not just in positions of formal authority but at all levels of the organization.
In the first part of this paper, we present what leadership development is, suggest why it should be among the top priorities of rehabilitation services in Alberta, and describe one particular model from the most current research on fostering leadership development. In Part Two, we describe our own experience as rehabilitation practitioners implementing leadership development activities in our organization.
Part One: Defining leaders and leadership development
In learning organizations (i.e., organizations focused on expanding their capabilities so that they can control their own destiny despite changing demands), leaders are seen as "designers, stewards and teachers" (Senge, 1990; p.340). According to this view, leaders are: people who create the systems and culture needed to achieve the organization's mission (designer); see the mission of the organization in the context of its contribution to broader society and find personal meaning in this mission (steward); and are able to instill in others the inspiration to achieve the common vision (teacher).1
Senge's definition is similar in spirit to that of the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), which defines leadership roles as "those that facilitate setting direction, creating alignment and maintaining commitment in groups of people who share common work" (Van Velsor & McCauley, 2004; p.2). According to both, leadership is less about one's formal position and more about one's actions and attitudes.
Thus, leadership development is simply the expansion of a person's (or an organization's) capacity to be effective in enacting leadership tasks and roles, irrespective of the formal position(s) held.2
Why we need to develop leaders
In recent years, organizations have been facing unprecedented service and accountability demands, decreasing funding, increasing monitoring and legislative controls, and greater pressures to engage in mandated collaborations with other organizations. The limited number of individuals in formal leadership positions simply cannot meet these diverse and complex demands by themselves. Complicating the problem is that organizations, particularly those providing social services, are experiencing a severe shortage of skilled staff, largely due to funding instability (Statistics Canada, 2004).
Recent research of services to persons with developmental disabilities in Alberta shows that staff turnover in the field is 32% (VRRI, 2005a) and that 57% of people in senior management are over 45 years old (VRRI, 2005b). In North America, 20 - 50% of formal leaders in rehabilitation services are expected to retire in the next 3 to 5 years (McFarlane, Dew, Enriquez & Schroeder, 2003). Such attrition and demographic patterns could lead to the loss of organizational wisdom and social capital vested in formal leaders, with new leaders having fewer role models and mentors to draw from. Leadership development must, therefore, be an immediate strategic priority for rehabilitation organizations if they are to continue providing quality services and retain a skilled and educated frontline workforce.
Model of leadership development
There are numerous leadership development models in the literature; the one presented here is that proposed by CCL (McCauley & Van Velsor, 2004). This model is appealing because (i) it is based on extensive empirical research, and (ii) it assumes that leadership skills can be learned by anyone, given the right conditions and opportunities.
In CCL's two-part model for leadership development, the first part identifies the elements necessary to make a developmental experience effective, while the second part asserts that leadership development is a process dependent on three aspects (i.e., a variety of rich developmental experiences, an individual's motivation and ability to learn, and organizational context).
Elements in a developmental experience
Assessment: This enables people to benchmark where they are now in relation to where they need or want to be. It clarifies what they need to learn, improve or change. Assessments may be formal (e.g., performance appraisals, team reviews, performance-based rewards) or informal (e.g., interpersonal feedback, others' reactions, self-observation/reflection).
Challenge: This forces people to go beyond their comfort zone, and stretches their skills, assumptions and knowledge. It provides an opportunity to experiment and practise new skills, i.e., learning how to work differently, not just harder. Challenge can come from being assigned a new task, having to manage conflict, or doing something that has never been done before (innovating).
Support: This helps people to learn and master new challenges in a safe environment. Sincere support creates confidence and a sense of self-efficacy, and validates the lessons learned. Support can come from other people, access to resources (e.g., having the tools needed to do the job) or organizational systems and culture (e.g., consistent norms or guidelines).
Strategies to enhance the developmental process
An effective developmental process requires, first, that the person be provided with a variety of rich developmental experiences (each combining the elements of assessment, challenge and support). This requirement recognizes that people learn different things under different conditions; a variety of experiences is more likely to lead to more well-rounded growth than just one or two learning opportunities.
Secondly, the person must be provided with the tools to enhance their ability to learn. These include: being clear about areas in which the learning is required; providing training opportunities; putting learners in situations where new skills may be exercised; and giving honest, continuing feedback.
Finally, these developmental experiences need to be integrated with each other. For example, a growth area may be identified during a performance review. The employee may then be provided with formal training in the area, followed by an assignment that requires implementing the new learning. Being clear how the different experiences build on and complement one another enables the learner to see the link with the larger learning goal. Many organizations fail at articulating these connections, consequently constraining the potential breadth of learning.
Workplaces that foster leadership development
CCL's model suggests that leadership development is determined as much by individual capacity and motivation as by organizational systems and processes. Leadership development thrives in organizations that value continuous learning and who see leadership development as a strategic priority. They recognize that it takes time and a variety of efforts to achieve meaningful learning, and allocate adequate resources to this objective. Specific strategies implemented by such organizations include integrating developmental activities to other systems, e.g., performance review, training, communication, rewards/recognition processes. They identify clear learning objectives, roles/responsibilities and outcome measures, and create a culture that encourages employees at all levels to share knowledge and information.
In the next part, we present what we as a rehabilitation organization are doing to foster leadership development among our employees.
Part Two: A Case Study from the Field
As an organization whose mission is to be leaders in innovative services and research, the VRRI recognizes that we need individuals with leadership skills not just in positions of formal authority but throughout our organization. Our activities stem from our firm belief that we need strong leaders at all levels if we are to continue to provide responsive and innovative services, and if we are to attract and retain a skilled and educated workforce.
Early indications of issues and needs
For some time, we had been receiving signals from our various systems and processes suggesting that we needed a planned and systematic approach to enhance our organization's leadership capacities. These diverse and initially disconnected indications included the following needs: consistent application of our performance management system; employee goal development that was congruent with organizational mission and strategic outcomes; a "big picture" understanding by all employees of the organizational impact of their daily decisions and roles; succession planning to identify future leaders; and, in keeping with our value of being a learning organization, a need to promote and develop learning paths for all employees.
Early activities to deal with these issues included: getting formal leaders across the organization to agree on what the priorities were and obtaining their commitment to address those; using an appreciative inquiry approach to identify our strengths and expertise; developing a performance management system which included clearly articulated standards for each position; and providing training to all supervisory staff in the application of the new system and standards. Once work on these initial issues was underway, we began a parallel process of related activities with employee leadership development as the ultimate, overarching goal.
Setting the stage
As an organization we felt we had to take action immediately to explore our leadership needs, inventory our current leadership resources, and plan for our future. The first task was to create a manageable, planned approach and strategy. This entailed examining our current procedures and employee demographics, identifying where we wanted to go, and determining how best to get there.
Some of the questions we asked ourselves were: Who are our leaders now and in the future? What do they look like in the workforce? What are their work habits? What do we need to do to make ourselves an employer of choice for these leaders?
We discovered that our current leaders had many outstanding leadership qualities and that these same attributes would likely be present in future leaders. The difference would be in how these future leaders manage, work and lead. We recognized that we wanted to have an organizational culture and structure that would enhance the capacity of current leaders and support the emergence of new ones.
The main act
Having articulated our current situation and future vision, the next step was to examine our organizational systems and culture and implement the necessary strategies to optimize the learning capacity within our environment. Our exploration into our current leadership resources and needs had helped us to penetrate and permeate all levels of the organization to "flush out" the leadership talents present in so many of our employees. This assisted us to understand the extent of our current talent pool and see where further skill enhancement could be helpful.
We decided to focus on two key strategies: staff training, and mentorship. Staff training was provided in several areas: (i) Situational Leadership, which focused on understanding oneself as a leader, recognizing personal strengths and opportunities, understanding other people and their behavioural styles and learning to adapt to those; (ii) Performance Management, in order to have consistent application of the newly designed system and to continuously improve standards; (iii) FISH training, designed to promote an atmosphere of fun as part of our culture; and (iv) Mission, Vision and Values, focusing on how each person's role contributes to the fulfillment of the organization's mission and the achievement of its outcomes.
Our second focus was on mentorship, i.e., how to create opportunities for employees to excel and demonstrate their leadership skills. We acknowledged that mentorship was already occurring throughout the organization and that we needed to highlight instances of it. As well, we identified areas where more focus was needed, e.g., financial management responsibilities, strategic planning, business development, supervisory skills etc. We engaged staff by, among other things, encouraging them to participate on internal and external committees, share their experience and knowledge through presentations or publications, and widen their professional networks. We made a conscious effort to ensure that emerging leaders worked alongside formal and informal experienced leaders who could "show the way."
Simultaneously with these activities, we were continuously examining, evaluating and improving our human resources systems, policies and processes. The recently implemented performance management system was now well underway and ready for preliminary review and revision; pay policies were being developed with the assistance of external expertise, with pay scales of positions across the organization aligned based on assessment of skill and competency equivalencies; and staff development and training needs were being identified and addressed for emerging priorities.
Next steps
All of the activities identified above are still under implementation and ongoing review. In the meantime, we have begun thinking about and working on some of the next steps in leadership development.
As a learning organization, we firmly believe that leadership development is based on having well articulated learning goals which are clearly tied to the development of the core competencies and skills that are essential in future leaders. These individual learning paths need to be aligned with the organization's outcomes and have measurable objectives that can be evaluated by means of the performance system. Thus, one of our next steps will be to assist employees at all levels to identify their individual learning paths and ensure that these mesh with the organizational mission, values, goals, annual outcomes and vision for leadership, i.e., with the organization learning path.
The other important task we need to systematically undertake is succession planning. We need to clearly identify how many formal leadership positions are expected to change in the next 5, 10 and 15 years, and ensure that we develop a pool of new leaders through properly articulated and supported individual and organizational learning paths. One of our biggest challenges will be knowing what strategies we need to implement to retain this up-and-coming talent: how to keep them engaged and stimulated, how to recognize their performance achievements given that financial rewards are not an option in the increasingly budget-constrained environment of nonprofits, i.e., how to ensure we are not training future leaders for organizations other than our own. As well, we will have to determine how to gain acceptance among current leaders without making them feel threatened, and perhaps more critically, how to identify and address ineffective leaders.
Each of these strategies will need to be supported by and tied to organizational systems and structures (e.g., performance management and staff development). Additional systems and processes may need to be developed as we go further down this road. As well, additional resources will need to found and tagged if leadership development is to be a true strategic priority. Such resources may include financial, human, time and systems-related, e.g., tracking employee data and conducting trends analysis, or providing targeted training. We know our human resources systems and planning processes will have to play a central role in ensuring alignment across these different streams.
Final words
Leadership development, in our experience, has been and continues to be both an adventure and a consuming task. It demands not only considerable commitment and resources from the organization, but also a system-wide approach and a genuine willingness to examine and perhaps overhaul many existing practices. To persist in this endeavour requires an organizational culture that firmly values and supports growth and development. Only then can we build the leadership capacity of our employees and our organization.
References
McCauley, C.D., & Van Velsor, E. (Eds.). (2004). The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
McFarlane, F.R., Dew, D.W., Enriquez, M. & Schroeder, F. (2003). Rehabilitation leaders: The challenges to build tomorrow's organizations. Journal of Rehabilitation Administration 27(3&4), 71-81.
Pauls, M., & Sonpal-Valias, N. (2003, June). The business of learning: Crating an organizational culture for change. Rehabilitation Review 14(1).
Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York, NY: Currency Doubleday.
Statistics Canada. (2004). The capacity to serve: A qualitative study of the challenges facing Canada's non-profit and voluntary organizations. Ottawa, ON: Small Business and Special Surveys Division.
The Vocational and Rehabilitation Research Institute. (2005a). Staff turnover in PDD services for 2004. Calgary, AB: Author.
The Vocational and Rehabilitation Research Institute. (2005b). Trends, issues and best practices: A synthesis of the labour market intelligence about the rehabilitation field in Alberta. Prepared for AARC. Calgary, AB: Author.
Van Velsor, E. & McCauley, C.D. (2004). Our view of leadership development. In C.D. McCauley & E. Van Velsor (Eds.), The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development (2nd ed.) (pp. 1-22). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Footnotes
1. For more information on learning organizations, see Pauls and Sonpal-Valias (2003).
2. CCL distinguishes between leader and leadership development, the latter referring to the expansion of the organization's capacity for leadership; in this paper, we have chosen to ignore the distinction.
Submitted by
Joan Lee, Yvonne Martodam, Karyn Richardson and Nilima Sonpal-Valias
Author Biographies
Joan Lee is one of the two Director of Services at the VRRI. She has over 25 years experience in the rehabilitation field, and as a member of the VRRI's senior executive team, Joan has an extensive background in supervision and leadership development, strategic planning and organizational change processes.
Yvonne Martodam is the Director of Human Resources at VRRI. She has been actively involved in numerous local and provincial groups on human resources topics, and as part of VRRI's senior executive team, Yvonne has played a central role in planning and facilitating major organizational change processes over the years.
Karyn Richardson is one of the two Directors of Services at the VRRI. She has an extensive background in rehabilitation, having worked in a number of service areas. She is actively involved in a number of community initiatives and brings passion and a strong commitment to the field.
Nilima Sonpal-Valias is the Director of Research at the VRRI, with a graduate degree specializing in organizational/occupational sociology, followed by 8 years of experience in the rehabilitation field. Her research work has encompassed health, education, employment, workforce issues and program evaluations. Her current interests include organizational leadership and management in not-for-profits human services.
The Vocational and Rehabilitation Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta (www.vrri.org) is a leader in innovative services and research that support persons with disabilities to live as contributing and valued members of the community. Affiliated with the University of Calgary, and located in Research Park, the VRRI has been providing its services in the Calgary community for over 35 years.
The Vocational and Rehabilitation Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta;
Email: nsonpal@vrri.org
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