What Are the Benefits of Executive Development Programmes for Communications Leaders?
Navigating uncharted waters is one of the major challenges facing today’s marcomms leaders, particularly when we consider the unprecedented pace of change that we are all facing. Leaders are collectively heading into the unknown and attempting to lead organisations’ external activity with the likes of AI and automation, geopolitical conflicts and political changes all impacting them.
This makes being adaptable and empathetic even more vital than ever before, however, not all professionals naturally possess these traits. That’s why we’ve outlined the importance of executive development programmes for communications and marketing leaders, and highlighted why all professionals should consider taking on these training opportunities to not only develop themselves, but also help their organisations grow.
Leadership development
Training is, of course, critical for leaders and professionals at all levels, and junior and early-career employees who don’t look to build on their abilities will struggle to rise up the ranks and further develop themselves. However, executive development for leaders is equally as important. Reaching director or managerial level doesn’t mean professionals should suddenly stop looking for development opportunities for themselves, quite the opposite in fact.
Leaders from various walks of life such as Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon, or Sir Alex Ferguson and Bill Belichick, didn’t enjoy sustained and long-term success by becoming complacent and resting on their laurels. Instead, they focused on continuous development - even when they reached the apex of their individual fields - and on consistently seeking and building new competencies. This is one of the reasons why they reached the top and stayed there, while many of their rivals fell away.
Within marketing and communications specifically, it’s key for leaders to build evergreen attributes that provide a foundation for success, but also to develop competencies that help them to stay relevant, and be able to capitalise on emerging technologies. This can be difficult; the pace of evolution in the world of marcomms is so fast that it can be hard to keep up. After all, professionals who have been in their jobs since the turn of the millennium, for example, have experienced such significant change that their roles from 25 years ago are almost unrecognisable from those of today.
This means that it’s fundamental to do everything to keep pace with the wider market, and not doing so will mean professionals at all levels will struggle to remain at the cutting edge in what is a highly competitive employment market.
Setting an example
Equally, and particularly in difficult economic climates, employees look further up the chain for inspiration, and if their leaders are unable to engage and motivate the workforce, then they will struggle to compete. Some individuals are born with these skill sets and others develop them over time, but most professionals fall into the latter group and the only way they will be able to build attributes like adaptability and agility is by undertaking relevant training. The right opportunities can teach all leaders new ways to inspire others and spark enthusiasm and ambition within their teams to create an environment whereby employees are driven to excel.
Employees who see that that their leaders are focused on constantly improving will also be more encouraged to develop themselves, and their organisations will subsequently gain from working environments that promote innovation, and find themselves with more skilled and adaptable workforces as a result.
In the UK, most employers have recognised this need for managerial and executive training opportunities and collectively invested approximately £7.5 billion in leadership development in 2023, which represented a significant portion of total training expenditure. And this investment is paying off; research has also shown that for every £1 invested in executive development, organisations see an average return on investment (ROI) of £2.86, which translates into an 186% increase in value.
The returns manifest themselves in various ways but leaders who do undertake executive development opportunities gain from enhanced productivity, higher levels of employee engagement, and more proficient strategic ability, to name just three. The Government-backed ‘Help to Grow’ programme, which provided development opportunities to 10,000 small business leaders is a great example; 91% of those who undertook the scheme reported enhanced leadership levels which supported increased revenue at their organisations.
Advisory services and executive development programmes for communications leaders
Here at VMA GROUP, we offer executive development coaching as part of our advisory services offering, helping communications and marketing leaders to better prepare for the challenges of the modern-day business world, and become inspiring and agile leaders who spark enthusiasm and ambition within their team. By pushing them out of their comfort zone, executive coaching supports leaders to build a unique blend of motivational acumen, technical prowess and adaptability that all modern executives require.
We utilise a combination of the skills of our in-house specialists and a network of external associates to offer services tailored to individual business and leader requirements. As well as executive development and coaching support, we provide organisations with consultancy into their strategy and organisational design, helping them to review their current working structures and strategies, and putting them in a better position to assess where improvements could be made.
Equally, our equality, diversity and inclusion coaching enables leaders to foster more inclusive workplaces that are more capable of harnessing a range of talents and perspectives of employees. This isn’t only the right thing to do, but it’s also an imperative step to becoming a more successful organisation.
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If you're looking to find out more about our advisory services and our executive development programmes for communications and marketing leaders, get in touch with our team today.
