The rapid influx of millennials into the modern workplace has created strain on many businesses, leading to significant crises of identity and culture. However, companies can often offset these issues by creating, delivering and regularly adjusting leadership development programs, as ground-level managers will be best positioned to bridge gaps between diverse employees.

Through communications skills training, adequate involvement in evaluations and long-term support structures, business leaders will be far more prepared to handle the novel challenges that can be found in most modern offices. Organizations are beginning to take more diverse approaches to these strategies, including the incorporation of corporate mentoring and coaching programs.

Taking the lead

‍CLO Media recently suggested that traditional mentoring has become antiquated in the past several years, as more individuals in leadership positions are younger than in previous decades. This translates to the common occurrence of managers who are younger than the employees they are responsible for, which can hinder engagement and morale if the necessary support frameworks are not in place.

What’s more, each generation has different perspectives on what leadership and management mean, while companies need to keep a unified, guiding approach to maintain continuity. Training represents an opportunity to ensure that there is no major disconnect between corporate objectives and the goals or strategies of each level of management.

The news provider noted that today, the most central aspect of mentoring is still similar to what it was years ago, and that the success of mentoring programs will be contingent upon each party learning from the other. When mentoring programs are overly one-sided, they will rarely yield the performance improvements and enhanced engagement leaders will expect.

However, companies can combat this issue by teaching managers how to go through the mentoring and coaching processes with a specific focus on the listening strengths that are necessary to successfully communicate with participants.

Early and often

‍The most successful leadership development programs are those that are swiftly launched early on in an employee’s tenure, and that continue to expand as managers mature. When a new manager steps into a leadership position without the necessary training, he or she is likely to form bad habits that will be difficult to correct.

On the other hand, managers who are only offered training in the beginning will be less likely to continue to improve over time. Businesses can sustain and improve corporate cultures by delivering leadership development opportunities to employees early and throughout their tenures.