Creating leadership development plans for Gen Z

Preparing new employees for future leadership positions helps them see how they can have an insurance career.

Developing the next generation of leaders is important and requires planning and training. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Even though Generation Z employees are at an early stage of their career development, they will someday assume leadership roles at carriers and brokers throughout the insurance sector. To help these young people acquire the necessary leadership skills, an important first step is to develop a leadership development plan.

How do you create a leadership development plan/?

Begin by creating an outline for certain carrier and agency positions. For example, a person may be a claims advocate who you believe can be groomed to someday fill an executive position in your organization. List the current roles and responsibilities of that person.

Next, identify leadership development goals you have for that position and person. One leadership development goal may be improved communication skills. Alternatively, it could be improved financial skills. Another typical goal would be problem-solving skills. Whatever the leadership development goal, this is the first place to start in figuring out what you want that individual to improve upon.

Drilling it down

Here is a more in-depth analysis of the process:

Not everyone is a leader, so identify the rock stars in your carrier or agency. These will be your future leaders. Develop an action plan.

  1. Identify the top 3–5 strengths your future leaders possess. For example, financial skills, accounting skills or problem-solving skills.
  2. Identify each rock star’s top 3–5 weaknesses. These will be their development needs. For example, your rock star may need to take an active role in decision-making. He or she may need to help train and develop other staff.
  3. Go beyond listing and identifying these needs. Focus on a plan for improvement. Don’t just identify needs. Determine how to build better skills. Resolve the needs through cross-training by bringing in outside consultants or other palliative measures. Go to lunch or coffee and talk about how important your future leader is to the organization. Under these circumstances, he or she will be much more receptive to your suggestions.
  4. Be candid. Candor is positively correlated with improvement.
  5. Show your employees you care and empathize and want him or her to grow in your company.

What sets amazing companies apart from second and third-tier shops is the fact that they engage their staff to get better at what they do every day.

Write it down

It is great to talk about the process, but committing areas for improvement to writing and taking time to list steps to achieve development milestones will lead to positive, successful outcomes.

What about timing?

Leadership development plans should be updated quarterly.

They should complement the annual review. If plans are updated only once a year, you will lose momentum and there will be missed goals. Quarterly is the best way to monitor it so you can see how that individual is tracking on the leadership development plan. If there is an issue, you will want to solve it within that quarter.

Explain how the leadership development plan will help your future leader to grow. Show where your organization wants to go with that particular position and outline the employee’s role in the organization.

Without a plan — it can be a one- or two-page word document that lays out developmental milestones and how they will be achieved — you won’t succeed.

Dealing with problems or weaknesses

Turn them into positives. Maybe find new responsibilities or new duties for someone who is having issues. Work it out.

It is never easy when you have to be candid with someone about his or her development needs. Employees may have a different perspective on their development needs. The goal is to have that interaction.

Don’t do this over email or text. Talk about the importance of the future leader’s continued growth inside the organization. Your future leader will be more receptive to hearing feedback or constructive criticism because he or she will realize maybe this is an issue. Here is an example: A future leader may be introverted and be very good at understanding strategy but lacks the communication skills, or doesn’t have enough confidence to speak to these things. The leader of an organization will bring out those attributes in the future leader.

We are all busy, but developing the next generation of leaders is important. Face-to-face interaction is the way to discuss development needs and build a plan to make improvements in a constructive manner.

Michael Lamm (mlamm@corpadvisorysolutions.com) is a managing partner at Corporate Advisory Solutions, a boutique investment bank headquartered in Philadelphia.

For more insights on claims-related topics like this, join us at the America’s Claims Executive Leadership Forum & Expo in New Orleans, April 20-22, 2020.

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