A 2015 joint study by the Conference Board and Development Dimensions International found that CEOs of global companies ranked leadership development efforts as one of their top five human capital strategies. In addition, the study highlighted that 82 percent of the people reporting to a manager who had been through leadership development training witnessed that manager’s positive behavioral changes. Improvements included leadership skills such as performance management, managing conflict, fairness, communication, building trust, influencing, and leading change. Further, 81 percent of those reporting to recently trained managers said they were more engaged in their jobs.
Here are some other very compelling and scientific metrics from the same study that prove the incredible value of leadership development and learning, all from the organizations that reported post-training changes in leadership behaviors:
- 114 percent higher sales
- 71 percent higher customer satisfaction
- 42 percent better operational efficiency
- 48 percent more product and work quality
- 300 percent additional business referrals
- 233 percent extra cross-selling
- 36 percent higher productivity
- 90 percent lower absenteeism
- 49 percent reduced overtime work (and overtime pay)
- 105 percent fewer grievances
- 11 percent less downtime
- 90 percent less rework
- 60 percent fewer workplace accidents
- 77 percent lower turnover.
When armed with these convincing statistics, any chief learning officer should be able to secure both funding and commitment for future learning and leadership development programs.
