The business environment is changing rapidly, with stronger global competition, shorter product development times and widespread economic uncertainty all clearly evident. These and other external pressures are creating new internal challenges for businesses, ones that can only increase the pressure on leaders and teams everywhere. In the workplace, where agility is now key, reporting lines have become increasingly blurred, with fewer leaders working in the same location as their teams, or with a direct line of sight over their work. Amid the chaos, new approaches are needed for leading and managing – and yet most leadership recruitment and assessment models are unsuited for enabling rapid cultural change.
The key to spotting and developing talent – and how it adapts to changing circumstances – lies in enabling current and future leaders to unlock their own potential. The most effective learning is experiential – and new technology is at its best when it enables businesses to offer simulations to large numbers of people, with little administration and at low cost. Managers can take advantage of assessment simulations that give them insights about their performance, help them test-drive what it is like working at the next management level, or make personal development plans. And experiential development at a senior level is the best way forward, because leaders in business have to be able to adapt to the new environments in which they find themselves.
Leaders can’t change a business on their own. A successful leadership team also needs, individually and collectively, to adapt its collective style to suit all circumstances. This is easier said than done. There is a strong tendency amongst leaders, when faced with rapid change, to take back control from their teams. Yet the only certainty on offer is that they will never, ever know how capable their team is, unless they are in turn stretched by experiential challenges.
The beauty of the Pinsight technology we use is that it allows live interaction with role-playing consultants to bring this sort of simulation alive as it happens. For 2 or 3 hours the simulation becomes their job as new challenges are addressed, goalposts are dramatically and deliberately shifted and situations change. The research suggests that when experiential learning is applied in this way, the time for in-person assessment centres can be reduced from 1 or 2 days down to as little as 2 or 3 hours; that the simulations carried out are 250% more accurate than job interviews; and that combining technology with high quality consultancy can cut the cost of in-person assessment centres by around 80%.
That’s great news for leaders – and great news too for the teams they need to develop rapidly in a fast-changing world.
The Scala Group combines world-class consultancy & Pinsight™ technology for better leadership hires, talent reviews & impactful leadership development. Click here to find out more