Digitization in Leadership Development

If digitization is used correctly, offerings can be rolled out much more broadly and made available to a larger target group. This starts at the launch of programs or initiatives. Compared to traditional communication cascades, we can now reach large target groups in one fell swoop by using digital kick-off events. For example, in the context of leadership programs, we can initiate a joint kick-off with all participants and thus create a different momentum than if we proceed top-down. Such a joint kick-off, which is only made possible by the digital setting, can help a leadership development program to achieve more joint commitment from all participants and thus also more sustainability.

A second advantage is that we can create uniform offerings that enable broader access to knowledge and offerings. One example from our work practice is a self-assessment that we developed and implemented for a customer as part of its leadership development program. In a digital setting, we were able to make this offering available to 3,000 managers uniformly and simultaneously. All managers, from the board of directors to the team leader, completed the same self-assessment and then received recommendations for an individual learning journey. In this way, the digitization of such offerings makes it possible to address more people from the outset.

At the same time, it also becomes possible to put together individualized programs for more people (usually from various predefined modules) that suit their specific situation. This means that even with broad or large target groups, everyone can choose the format that suits them best. While some people prefer self-learning solutions for individual topics, others prefer coaching programs, for example. Our experience shows that there is no one-fits-all solution, especially when it comes to individual offerings. A digital platform makes it possible to offer such different formats while at the same time significantly minimizing their administrative burden.

Time and again, we are increasingly finding that free access to offerings via a digital solution breaks down barriers. A concrete example of this is free access to coaching or workshop offers via a digital platform. For managers, this means that they can request coaching directly with little effort and within the defined rules, without first having to seek personal contact with an employee from the HR department, for example. This has the effect of making it quicker and easier for managers who are concerned about a topic to make their requests. At the same time, these topics become present in an organization in the first place and can therefore be discussed.

Basically, it should be noted that for each leadership development measure, it should be examined which digital elements can be used to make each individual measure more efficient, user-friendly and/or sustainable.

If you would like to learn more about the possibilities of digitization in leadership development, please feel free to contact us via our contact form for a no-obligation exchange or get in touch directly with our contact person for digitization in HR development, Carlo Fischer: carlo.fischer@fgi-mail.com.