There’s an old joke about finding talent in the business world: The war for talent is over. The talent won.
It isn’t just the electrical distribution industry looking high and low for talent. Corporations in a myriad of industries are throwing up their arms, acutely aware of the scarcity of in-demand talent. It isn’t just an expensive proposition to attract employees – retention is tough as well.
While many companies opt to develop inside talent to combat these issues, not all are actively grooming employees to become tomorrow’s leaders.
While that might seem surprising at first, it isn’t when you think about the studies that show 47% of managers don't receive any training when they take on a new leadership role. And with the rapid advancements in technology and digitization, soft skills are becoming far more critical for managers to possess.
In short, the “DIY approach” to leadership development that has been an accepted practice for decades may create leaders who can only realize a fraction of their full leadership potential. This practice also stunts the professional growth of those they lead.
Case in point – if an employee’s job suddenly shifts from being an expert to leading experts, the communication and delegation skills aren't likely in place. The team can suffer from a lack of knowledge transfer.
That's why the NAED Leadership Development Program was founded. The program has been developed and designed around what it takes to be successful as a leader in the electrical distribution business today.
While being developed, one of the components of the project was to interview male and female leaders with 10 or more years of industry experience who led privately held, family-owned, or employee-owned businesses, with anywhere from 4 to 650 branches, across the nation.
"Each leader was asked the same questions regarding leadership experiences, lessons learned, and their perception of leadership within their organization as well as the electrical distribution industry," said Kelly Jones, Director of Learning Program Content at NAED. "Several key themes emerged from both a business/industry perspective as well as a leadership perspective. We used those interviews to develop the five critical leadership competences for the industry along with a customized curriculum that gives electrical distribution leaders the tools they need to successfully drive growth and progress."
If you’re interested in learning more about the program, please contact Kelly Jones, Director of Learning Program Content at NAED. She can be reached at kjones@naed.org or by calling NAED at 314-812-5322.
Watch for communication from NAED in the coming weeks for more information!
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTORS