Leadership Development in Today's Down Economy

Presented by Barbara Stennes, CSP, LTMT

FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2009
7:30 am Networking
8:00 am Program
9:00 am New Member Orientation
LOCATION: Tero International, Inc. 1840 NW 118th, Ste. 107 - Clive

What type of leadership development are organizations offering in today’s economy? What impact has the recession had on leadership training, and what is the prognosis for the remainder of 2009 and into 2010?

I have asked these questions of many colleagues in the training industry, and I’ll discuss the answers at the Iowa Chapter ASTD meeting on June 12. Until then, here’s a taste of what we are seeing.

As most everyone knows, leadership development is on hold – at least through late 2009, and perhaps into 2010. But this is really the result of two different effects. First, businesses are slashing the resources available for training. And by “resources,” I mean both personnel (in terms of layoffs) and budget cuts. Some learning departments are still waiting to learn their 2009 budgets. In other cases, training managers have been allocated a budget but aren’t allowed to spend it, as those funds are being used to shore up another business unit. One training manager calls the situation doubly frustrating, as he can’t get funding in the downturn, nor does he get support during boom times.

As a result, training managers are increasingly turning inward, doing things themselves, running fewer programs, and doing everything possible to avoid spending money. As one person told me, “Training managers here are just lucky to have a job. We aren’t asking for anything extra.”

Second, training departments are seeing a clear drop in demand for their programs. With employees universally concerned about layoffs, employees are hesitant to step away from their desks to attend a training sessions. In some cases, employees have already survived several rounds of layoffs and are far too overworked to attend training courses. In other cases, employees don’t want to send the message that they have enough spare time to attend training and are therefore dispensable. Attendance at training programs has dropped dramatically. Class size has fallen by as much as 50%, frequently resulting in class cancellations. ASTD is predicting that attendance at its upcoming International Conference and Expo in Washington D.C. will be 40% lower than usual.

But enough of the bad news! What’s the good news?

For one thing, training managers are gearing up to resume their regular programs in 2010. I hesitate to make a prognosis, since this is by some measures the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. But it’s nonetheless encouraging that many training managers expect “real life” to resume as soon as next year.

Moreover, the crisis has forced CEOs to focus on their companies with laser precision. As such, we have seen renewed support of training that leads to quantifiable, bottom-line improvement. Senior executives are increasingly demanding that leadership training include strong application practice. So while training in general
is down, we see an uptick in measurement of organizations’ training efforts.

Finally, organizations are demanding an innovative culture – even more than before the current economic crisis. Leaders are expected to be creative and to encourage innovation within their teams. In particular, we see an increase in the number of organizations expecting their leaders to be skilled facilitators. The need to be capable of leading mission critical meetings that result in solid business ideas and decisions.

The objectives for the June 12 session for Iowa Chapter include:

• Polling Iowa Chapter members to determine the state of leadership development in Iowa
• Reporting on the state of leadership development nationally
• Discussing what organizations are doing to develop leaders into stronger facilitators of business issues
• Discussing how application and measurement are changing the impact of leadership development.

ABOUT BARBARA STENNES

Barbara Stennes, Founder and President of de Bono Consulting, a Resources Unlimited company, is a well-known expert in innovation and creativity. Barbara is one of only four Lifetime Certified de Bono Master Trainers worldwide. The Lifetime Certified Master Trainer designation was awarded by Dr. Edward de Bono and is reserved for professional consultants who have been affiliated with the de Bono organization for at least 10 years, have trained over 10,000 people in de Bono thinking techniques, have demonstrated outstanding platform skills, and who exemplify the highest standards in customer service.

Barbara is a former board member and past president of the ASTD Iowa Chapter, and she is a three-time recipient of the Outstanding Member of the Year award. She is a frequent presenter at ASTD’s International Conference and Expo and has been a member of ASTD for over 20 years.

In 1996, Barbara earned the CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), the highest earned designation awarded by the National Speakers Association. Barbara is also an Authorized Inscape Publishing Distributor of DiSC, the Team Dimensions Innovation Assessment, and other Inscape Publishing learning assessments.