Tim Hebert
A&W Electric, Inc.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Management Services Committee Member
As noted in my article published in January Currents, EASA’s most recent Member Needs Assessment Survey revealed that one of the top areas that members want the association to focus its management resources on is leadership. The survey found that members want more information on the broad subject of leadership, but it did not indicate the specific types of information and how members want to receive this information.
The Management Services Committee discussed this extensively at our most recent meeting. We decided a Management Pulse survey would help in our quest to determine more specifically want members want.
Therefore, a survey focusing on this topic was sent to members in mid January. The results were very insightful and will help the committee provide the support that members want.
Training and developing leaders
One of the overwhelming findings to come out of this survey is that most of us are currently working on ways to train and develop future leaders of our companies. Of 185 respondents, 66% indicated that they are currently engaged in training and developing their own people for future leadership roles. Just under half of the remaining 34% reported that they are planning to recruit new ones to fill those positions. If this is reflective of the entire membership, it indicates that most companies plan to fill the majority of those positions from within.
This creates opportunities for those working on developing and training leaders from within rather than recruiting and onboarding new ones. That’s a process that should start sooner rather than later.
Main topics of interest
This was supported in the finding that about 74% of 140 respondents want more information on development of others. Additional areas of interest (in ranking order) are understanding leadership styles, selecting people for leadership roles and developing yourself as a leader.
However, we cannot develop leaders without having a plan or goal. In the area of self-development, more than 70% of 166 respondents indicated that they are interested in information to help develop a company vision and culture.
From my take on the survey findings, it appears there are three main themes for the categories of leadership information sought by members:
- Setting the vison and culture for a company
- Developing ourselves as leaders and learning different styles of others
- Developing and retaining our next generation of leaders from our current employee base
These are all distinct and unique challenges, each with obstacles and rewards along the way. As I think about our path at A&W Electric, I often think about how company vision and culture lives, breathes and changes over time. For most small companies, the vision of a company is often to survive (at least until the next payroll!). And the culture of smaller companies often reflect the core values of the company’s owner. But as companies grow, that vision and culture must capture the vision and dreams of other key company associates.
Maintaining balance
It can be a major challenge when incorporating the beliefs of others to make sure you do not lose the values and vision that allowed you to become successful in the first place! For example, many companies were founded and grew on an impressive work ethic by the owner/s that allowed them to provide superior customer service and response. As the company grows and more employees value work/life balance, how do you ensure that same commitment to service? That is just one of the many challenges that growing companies face as they expand their vision and values to incorporate the needs of their key team members.
As we look at developing ourselves as leaders and work on leadership styles, we face some similar challenges. How do we learn to understand that all employees (and leaders) have different methods of communicating and processing information?
When we communicate with our people, it is our responsibility as leaders to recognize their processing style and adapt our method of communicating to deliver information in a format and pace that they are comfortable processing.
How can we make sure that when we are selecting future leaders, we look for qualities that are what the company requires going forward, not just a candidate we like or who is “like me”?
More importantly, how do we look at ourselves and recognize that as our companies grow and change, that what we have always done may not be good enough going forward? Are we focused on developing ourselves, regardless of how long we have been in a leadership role?
Resources in the future
In our Management Pulse survey, we didn’t just ask about what kind of information you want, we asked how you would like to receive it.
Members would like to see leadership topics covered at the convention, in Currents, at chapter/regional meetings, and in webinars and seminars. When the Management Services Committee meets next fall, we’ll discuss options for resources to cover leadership topics more in depth for the presentation opportunities available to members
EASA’s Management Services Committee appreciates those members who took the time to participate in our Management Pulse survey.
Open forum on management topics at convention
Join members of EASA’s Management Services Committee for an open discussion of management topics at the 2019 EASA Convention in Las Vegas. The session is scheduled from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 2. Bring your questions about leadership and other management topics.
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