How Leadership Development Improves Employee Retention

When it comes to the working world, there is one thing that is always in flux: people.

People come and go, they move up and move on, and companies have to continually adapt in order to stay ahead.

One way that Mondo has been successful in adapting is through our leadership development programs.

These initiatives help us identify and cultivate leaders within our company, instilling our values into each person so that they can be passed down throughout the organization.

And it’s not just Mondo – research shows that leadership development improves employee retention rates across the board.

What is Leadership Development?

Leadership development is the process of improving and nurturing the skills, abilities, and knowledge of a company’s executives, managers, and other leaders. This can be done through seminars, workshops, training sessions, coaching programs, mentoring initiatives or any form of organized learning activity.

The purpose of these initiatives is to ensure that everyone in a leadership role possesses the skills and knowledge to effectively manage their teams, lead initiatives, and make decisions that will have an impact on the organization.

Leadership development also helps identify potential leaders in an organization before they are needed so that the company can be ready for any changes or transitions of leadership that may occur.

Leadership development examples:

• Leadership retreats
• Burnout Awareness Month
• Mentor program
• Leadership mastery & continuing education
• Professional coaching sessions
• Leadership masterclasses
• Leadership Learning Corner

Leadership retreats

Mondo began hosting regular leadership retreats to foster critical leadership skills like vulnerability and critical thinking with activities to encourage personal and professional growth, ongoing learning, idea generation, and accountability.

Examples of Mondo’s Leadership Retreat themes over the last few years:

• Enneagram personality assessments
• Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
• Becoming a Business Leader
• Shark Tank Style: Business Ideas

Burnout Awareness Month

Over the past few years, Mondo has dedicated the entire month of October to Burnout Awareness to help normalize and prioritize mental health and conversations surrounding burnout.

To accomplish this, Mondo provides tools and resources to encourage personal development as a leader both inside and outside of work and teaches techniques to recognize burnout in yourself and your team members.

Mondo has also included mandatory mental health days, optional virtual sessions on coping with stress, and has provided free access to Wayforward — a mental health solutions platform — to all employees.

Mentor program

Mondo hosts a Mentor Program for some of its leadership team and pairs them with an experienced mentor who can help guide the mentee in their professional development.

The program focuses on developing soft skills, such as communication and problem-solving, that are essential for business leaders.

Additionally, the mentors provide advice on leadership and career development, as well as provide a safe space for the mentee to discuss challenges or questions they may have.

Leadership mastery & continuing education

Mondo encourages Leadership Mastery and continuing education for our leadership team by challenging current ways of thinking through round tables based on books, podcasts, articles, and LinkedIn learning training.

By fostering open round tables like these, leadership can discuss topics like Trust, Difficult Conversations, Looking Within, and Balance.

Professional coaching sessions

Mondo also offers professional coaching sessions to help our management unlock personal and professional growth.

These coaching sessions are held with subject matter experts who work outside the organization yet understand the business in order to foster deeper discussions about what it takes to be an effective leader.

Leadership masterclasses

The opportunity to learn from top producers, high-level managers, and leadership at Mondo is also offered in the form of educational sessions that are open to the entire company.

These masterclasses enable anyone who is interested in career advancement and growth to learn how these leaders got to where they are and how they developed their leadership skills both as individual contributors and as team leaders.

This is especially impactful in showing that not all paths to success are linear and that leadership journeys are not one-size-fits-all because growth and development look different for every person.

Leadership Learning Corner

To encourage the sharing of resources like books, podcasts, articles, and education, a special Google Spaces group was formed for management to engage with one another.

The Leadership Learning Corner is a place for leaders to come together and discuss their experiences, share resources, and ask questions. It helps to stimulate meaningful conversations around how team members can learn from each other’s journeys.

This space also serves as a reminder that learning and development never stop, even after becoming a leader.

How leadership development can improve employee retention

Effective leadership development has been proven to improve employee retention through improved company culture, increased diversity, opportunities for financial growth and career advancement.

Between 2021 and 2022, Mondo has seen a 5% improvement in retention. Since prioritizing leadership development, there have been undeniable benefits that helped lead to this increase.

1. Leadership development improves company culture

Leaders have a better understanding of how to motivate their teams and create an environment that is conducive to growth.

This has led to higher morale and more satisfied employees, which has resulted in improved retention rates.

2. Leadership development have increased diversity

Leadership development initiatives have increased the diversity of our leadership team and workforce overall, which has enabled us to innovate our practices and the way we work with our clients.

This has allowed more people to achieve career success with Mondo and has given them a greater sense of belonging and loyalty to our organization.

3. Leadership development has allowed for more career advancement

By focusing on leadership development, our team leaders are able to lead by example and become better mentors.

As a result, this has led to more growth within our teams, higher job satisfaction, and more career advancement opportunities for our employees.

4. Leadership development has led to financial growth opportunities

When leaders become more effective, they get better performances from teams. This translates to more business, bigger deals, and better compensation opportunities.

By focusing on the growth and development of our leadership team, we have seen an increase in revenue, bigger buy-in to our organization, and more financial growth opportunities for our employees.

Top leadership skills that are valued

Top leadership skills should be prioritized in any company: value alignment, burnout awareness, and resiliency. These allow the company to move forward in a consistent direction, and create an atmosphere that allows the team to succeed.

Value alignment for employee retention

By embodying and teaching Mondo’s core values and by focusing our hiring strategies around hiring for attitude and value alignment, Mondo has been able to create a culture of collaboration, trust, and respect.

This has led to higher employee retention rates and overall satisfaction with the work experience that our employees receive.

Burnout awareness for employee retention

By developing the skills in our leadership team to handle conflict resolution, identify and resolve frustrations, and create open communication within their teams, leadership can help to identify, prevent, and remediate burnout in the workplace.

This has led to less burnout, better work-life balance, and better retention overall.

Resiliency for employee retention

Resiliency and adaptability, especially since Covid-19, are critical traits that our leadership team has been able to develop and hone.

By developing a clear vision for the future of Mondo, as well as strategies to stay agile during periods of uncertainty, our leadership team is better equipped to lead their teams through change and transition.

This resiliency helps build the trust of our employees and helps them feel supported in their roles.

Continuing leadership development at Mondo

Mondo’s leadership development initiatives are critical to the success of our organization.

Not only do they help us hire and retain top talent, but they also ensure that everyone has access to the skills, knowledge, and resources needed to succeed in their roles.

Overall, Mondo’s commitment to developing strong leaders has been instrumental in creating an environment of trust and collaboration that has resulted in improved employee retention rates.

If leadership development hasn’t been a priority for you and your organization, there’s no better time than now to start investing in it.

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