The evolution of leadership development: challenges and best practice

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the attitude of European organisations to leadership development initiatives and to identify best practice initiatives that organisations should employ to build skills and capabilities for the future.

Design/methodology/approach

The research, Leadership Development in European Organisations, conducted by DIEU, the Danish Leadership Institute. The study was completed in November 2004 and was conducted among 51 global organisations via face‐to‐face and telephone interviews. The respondents all operate at a senior level within their organisation – for example, they are senior development managers, directors or vice presidents. Over 70 per cent of the participating organisations employ over 20,000 people and 22 per cent have between 5,000 and 20,000 employees. Participating companies include Astra Zeneca, BMW, BP, Cadbury Schweppes, Dell Computers, HBOS, IBM Europe, Pearsons plc, Siemens, UBS and Vodafone.

Findings

The DIEU study has found that more than half (53 per cent) of key European business players have not increased their leadership training budget for the last four years and 46 per cent say they cannot see this level of investment changing in the next three years. Less than one‐quarter of boardrooms and under one‐third of senior management teams are fully committed to their companies’ goals for leadership development and nearly half (48 per cent) are not integrating their leadership development with business needs. The report cites organisational frictions and a general lack of awareness that leadership development matters as being among the reasons for this lack of support for leadership development.

Originality/value

This paper is valuable to organisations and HR and development professionals who are considering or reviewing their current leadership development activity. It makes a number of recommendations for organisations seeking to implement best practice leadership, as well as detailing the likely future nature of leadership development across the board.

Citation

Buus, I. (2005), "The evolution of leadership development: challenges and best practice", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 185-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850510602088