Human resource management Management Essay Research

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Student’s Name
Course
Professor’s Name
Institution
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Human Resource Management
Introduction
Leadership development programmes are integral to improving the abilities and skills of organisational members to boost performance and compete effectively. In today’s business environment that is characterised by turbulences as a result of rapid technological advancement, leaders at different levels of an organisation must possess relevant abilities and skills that can help address modern challenges. One of the most significant challenges that have hampered and continue to hamper the different organisations in the current business environment is the COVID-19 pandemic. The outbreak of the pandemic in the last months of 2019 disarrayed the operations of many organisations, and the uncertainty it brought continues to be a challenge for leadership development programmes. At times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of leaders in ensuring organisational continuity cannot be underestimated. This paper examines why leadership development programmes fail to meet their intended effects and how the incorporation of psychological effects can improve them.
Why Leadership Programmes Fail
One of the key reasons for the failure of leadership development programmes is a mismatch with the needs of the environment. When there is a mismatch between the leadership development programme and the purpose it is supposed to serve, then it is bound to fail. According to Atef (2017), the classroom methods used by some leadership development programmes do not meet the needs of the organisations and the public. Therefore, if the curriculum of the development programme does not meet the needs of the organisation, it is no doubt that it will fail. As noted by Holt, Hall, and Gilley (2018), leadership development involves identifying the needs of the learners, their current and desired level of skills, and the behaviour change that can drive success. As can be seen, there is more focus on the individual as opposed to the needs of the organisation. The concentration on the individual may mean that other important organisational needs such as employees’ well-being and changes in the external environment are neglected. Holt, Hall, and Gilley (2018) further assert that a one-size-fits-all programme is not sufficient to develop leaders that can effectively address the challenges in the modern business environment. In the wake of disasters such as the COVID-19, leaders at different levels must possess the necessary leadership skills to guide the organisation and its employees forward. However, when development programmes focus more on the individual rather than organisational needs, the ability of leaders to successfully guide the organisations in times of crisis is limited. According to Turner et al. (2018), leaders in the modern complex environment need to possess the ability to operate in different types of environmental variation. The authors assert that linear development programmes can negatively affect human resource development efforts. Therefore, the mismatch of development programmes with the needs of the organisation is a key reason for their failure to achieve the...