Every year, global organizations spend more than $60 billion on leadership development programs, according to Harvard Business Review. It’s no secret why—a study by McKinsey & Company shows the top quartile of companies investing in leadership development are 2.4 times more likely to hit their desired outcomes.
Clearly, leadership development is more than just a nice-to-have; it’s essential. Effective leaders drive higher team engagement, foster a positive work environment, and enhance organizational performance.
At OpenSesame, we often hear from L&D pros struggling to show ROI. With insights from our experts, we’ve got some great tips to help you get started and stay on track.
The unsung value of leadership development
“Strong leaders can increase motivation, foster teamwork, and bring out the best in their employees,” says Ashley Brown, Team Lead, Customer Success at OpenSesame. “Most full-time employees spend more time engaging with their coworkers than most other people in their life. How they feel about the people they work with—and for—truly matters.”
Brown highlights that employees thrive when they feel appreciated, supported, and invested in. Prioritizing leadership development boosts engagement, retention, productivity, and innovation. And let us not forget strong leadership leads to better financial performance—all of this is a win-win.
The hidden cost of poor leadership development
On the flip side, poor leadership can have many unsettling effects all the way down. “Bad leaders breed resentment and create more exits from an organization,” says Tina Jones, Learning Program and Talent Development Manager at OpenSesame. When employees lack clarity about their jobs, she adds, disengagement is almost inevitable.
Forbes reports that 4 out of 10 employees disengage when they receive little to no feedback.
Poor leadership also breeds unhealthy competition among teams as well as organizational confusion.”Often, we think of the really bad leaders,” Jones says. “But even a mediocre leader creates confusion, decreases motivation, and takes up more time, energy and money.”
Showing clear growth avenues for leaders
That’s why, at OpenSesame, Jones says, there are many ways for both established and emerging leaders to engage in leadership training. Options include a leadership skills development program, an Emerging Leaders program, and even a two-way mentorship program, all tailored to different leadership roles.
“It stemmed from our need to provide a clear growth path for people we were hiring as our organization evolved,” she says. “We can now tell potential candidates, ‘We’re hiring you for this role, but we also see these opportunities in your future.” The Emerging Leaders program, for example, is specifically for rising individuals curious about the critical skills expected of leaders and managers.
What are the most critical leadership skills to develop?
Our experts recommend evaluating where the skill gaps are in your teams — these topics are a good list to start with:
Emotional Intelligence and Empathy: “Employees need holistic support,” says Jones. Understanding and managing emotions require training, especially as organizations become more remote and global. Creating psychologically safe spaces is also crucial.
Coaching Skills: The workplace is ever-evolving, and managers must facilitate development rather than simply instruct people. “Not only are we developing leadership skills and leaders, we’re also reinforcing the culture of OpenSesame we want,” says Jones. “It’s aligned with our values of care, collaboration, and growth mindset.”
Team Building and Motivation: Managers must consistently use soft skills to create and motivate strong teams. “It’s so important for managers to listen and build authentic relationships with their teams,” Brown says. “If a manager truly listens, gets to know individuals, and understands what motivates them, they’ll be able to work with their teams even more effectively”
Storytelling and Communication: Jones points out that leaders and managers are the communication hubs. They need to convey messages clearly and persuasively to all audiences, both inside and outside the organization.
Strategic Thinking and Decision-Making: Leaders must set clear visions, drive innovation, and make informed decisions. The right training helps them navigate complexities, use resources well, and solve problems efficiently.
Delegation: “Without a good delegation process, leaders are limited in their ability to impact their department and organization,” Jones emphasizes. By empowering team members, leaders build trust and ensure tasks are handled efficiently. Delegation lets teams work smarter and lets individuals try a new skill and grow within their team. “It also enables managers and leaders to be more strategic and forward-thinking.”
Organization: Leaders ensure projects run smoothly, deadlines are met, and resources are used correctly. Still, the exact skill of “organization” isn’t always a natural skill for those in management roles.
Proof, metrics, and tangible goals
Brown admits that L&D professionals often face harsh challenges in gaining and sustaining buy-in for leadership development programs. L&D teams may hear objections and skepticism like, “I don’t have time,” or “I’ve had bad experiences with training before.”
Another big challenge for L&D teams is turning theory into action. Tailoring development programs and keeping participants engaged takes a lot of work, especially with limited resources. This is where showing off metrics becomes crucial—proving the impact and making the effort count.
She advises using any process or tool to quantify benefits, such as performance assessment data, retention rates, and internal promotion rates, or tracking key metrics like employee engagement scores to see how well your leadership programs work. Use surveys, performance management systems, and data analytics tools to gather and crunch the data. Set clear goals, establish baseline metrics, and check in regularly to track progress. This way, you’ll get a clear picture of what’s working and where you can improve.
Teaming with HR, finance, and IT is key to comprehensively capturing and analyzing these data points. Working together ensures you get a complete and accurate picture.
“Metrics should always be connected to the organizational goals instead of a separate goal,” Jones says. And they should demonstrate that leadership programs support retention, create opportunities for growth and development, and improve recruitment.
Jones emphasizes it’s also just as crucial for people to be able to walk away from leadership or management after the program as it is for them to continue. “In our leadership programs, we want people to come away with real clarity about their desire and fit for management and leadership,” she says.
Communicate your findings
Brown and Jones both emphasize that L&D must ensure that those in charge of training have the correct data and talking points.
“Communicating findings should happen on multiple levels,” says Jones. “Keep the team member and manager in the loop for continuous professional development and share growth updates with broader leadership teams. Management and leadership training never really ends. Highlighting different types of leadership and showcasing its value is crucial for attracting more team members to future roles.”
Use data visualization tools to create eye-catching reports tailored to the different audiences. Once these elements are in place, keep improving by using feedback, engagement data, baseline data, and post-training results to refine your programs and keep the momentum going.
“Remember, there isn’t a finish line for management and leadership training,” Jones says.
How to get started today: growing from the ground up
Impactful programs are built one step at a time. It is easy to get stuck trying to plan the perfect program and never getting started. “Starting one layer at a time gets learning happening sooner and allows you to evolve the program to your organization’s needs,” Jones suggests. “Just start, then improve it.”
Show the need with solid proof to get senior leadership on board: use employee surveys, performance metrics, and turnover stats paired with a clear, actionable plan. Start tracking simple metrics today to prove the ROI of your programs in the future.
OpenSesame offers resources and tools to help you start on the path to stronger leadership and better organizational outcomes. Our Leadership Development toolkit has all the necessary pieces to take your training initiative to the next level.