Business management courses are more about creating leaders who can anticipate change than managers who react to change. MBA candidates should learn to invest in people in order to cultivate a more engaged workforce and form meaningful relationships with their peers and subordinates. Here are some uncertainties businesses have to deal with which tomorrows leaders would be wise to keep a tab on:
Change is the new constant: Change initiatives are the new buzzwords, with organisations launching on average up to 5 such measures every year. That being said, the increasing uncertainty in today’s business environment is prohibiting such change to stick. As per a new research, the ability to lead change is a primary challenge for most businesses.
The demand-supply gap is intensifying: Business leaders have their task cut out for them in the coming years balancing workplace needs and the available resources at their disposal. Talent shortage is a key concern as effective leadership would entail hiring the right people. And they won’t always be available from outside. Leaders need to identify and hire desirable talent early and nurture them through retention and training. The right business management course will help leaders to invest in other emerging leaders.
Front-line matters: Front-line leaders form more than 50% of management. They are critical to strategy execution, customer engagement and employee satisfaction. They are the linchpins in internal and external communication, enabling better performance from all stakeholders. For gaining a competitive advantage, companies need to invest a third of their entire leadership development budget in these front-line leaders. Their bottom-line can’t thank them enough for this.
People-leadership abilities to benefit organisations: Studies have demonstrated the ability to lead people efficiently is around thrice as important to a leaders success as knowledge and other skills. The four top people-leadership skills are thinking and acting like a leader, coaching and mentoring one’s team, engaging people and achieving results through others. Top business management courses enable students to develop these skills that are a requisite for front-line leaders.
Businesses have to deal with employee engagement: Customers aren’t the only ones organisations need to focus on. An engaged workforce exhibits lower absenteeism and greater turnover. Keeping employees motivated will give tremendous market advantage and leaders should be aware of the factors which are responsible for more engaged teams.
Leadership is more collective now: For the past 50 years, leadership has revolved around the individual. But, over the last 15 years or so, this trend has changed a fair bit; and has proved more effective. Its now more collaborative, which entails working with others rather than in solitude. The best institutes have realised that their business management courses can inculcate such qualities in candidates and give them an edge over their peers. Students are now prepared to function in multi-level organisational leadership development frameworks as well as be competent in maintaining consistency across language, concepts and themes.
No more boot camp training: A new study involving 700 leaders globally reveals that more than 90% of the respondents believe they have bitten off more than they can chew. They are multi-tasking like theres no tomorrow and still having work left to do. Some 75% revealed they have little to no capacity to achieve more with less resources. Where education is concerned, the boot camp model of learning is obsolete. People are overworked and putting them through their paces will only aggravate their condition. True, there has to be a certain degree of challenge in learning and it needs to be practical, but a business management course should have room for team bonding, open discussions and some surprise elements.