Three leadership tips you need to know

Regardless of where you are on the career ladder, it’s never too early or too late to begin or continue to hone your leadership skills.

Leadership refers to a set of skills that can be developed and trained. Some of the skills that good leaders must possess are assertiveness, intelligence, adaptability, and conscientiousness. Good leaders must also be empowering and inspiring. But aside from these, there are several other skills that the leaders of today must know. 

If you’re looking to capitalise on your talent and advance your career, here are three leadership tips to help you progress in times of change.

1) Promoting diversity and inclusion 

Leaders must encourage diversity within the workplace. While many companies have already been putting diversity and inclusion into greater focus, there is still room for improvement. Remember that having diverse teams can foster better engagement among employees and encourage productivity. A diverse workplace will also create a positive impact on the company when it comes to talent retention.

So, how can leaders make everyone feel included in the organisation regardless of their colour, age, gender, and race? Leaders must illustrate both the professional and personal advantages of having a diverse workplace.

They should create a roadmap for building a supportive workplace using readily available resources. For instance, the company policies must be created in a way that they are diversity friendly. Another way is to provide opportunities for employees to connect outside of their work and provide regular Gild Collective training sessions.

Leaders must also encourage open communications within the team while supporting strong work values, such as humility, discipline, and courage. Aside from being a role model for these values, leaders must also uphold and enforce these values throughout the company’s culture, policies, and communications.

While upholding diversity and inclusion can be challenging during a pandemic, leaders must recognise that they have an important role to play in terms of maintaining resiliency in the workplace. Implementing effective strategies for diversity and inclusion can better support employees, build culture, and create a thriving work environment.

As a result, employees will be more engaged and motivated to show up to work every day, either in person or online. They will feel connected, safe, and heard, which is necessary during these challenging times.

2) Safeguarding in leadership

The safeguarding policy is not only about child protection. This policy also ensures that all staff, customers, clients, and visitors, are safe from any form of abuse, bullying, or harassment in the workplace. This policy caters to anyone regardless of ethnicity, gender, and religion. Aside from children, the other group of individuals covered by the safeguarding policy are vulnerable adults. 

Leaders should properly implement safeguarding training strategies to keep their employees protected in all aspects, including their mental health. If possible, leaders should conduct training to teach employees how to work with vulnerable individuals. Vulnerable individuals refer to any person who requires any care considered vulnerable and, therefore, requires some safeguarding. These include elderly employees and those suffering from physical disabilities and mental health.

If your business is running a care home or you operate in a healthcare setting, or perhaps, you provide education, you should be aware of the safeguarding policies. Safeguarding policies are covered by various laws and legal frameworks, and as a leader, you must be familiar with these policies even if they will not directly affect your role and responsibilities. 

Safeguarding policies do not have any centralised set of laws that will be applicable for all scenarios. For the vulnerable adults in England, they are covered by the Care Act 2014. This legislation took several of the guidelines that were previously used in various government initiatives. Meanwhile, the Children Act 2004 is the legislation that details the safeguarding roles of local authorities. But other legislation may also apply, depending on the role you play and the type of business you run. 

Implementing effective safeguarding policies can be complex sometimes, which is why employees need to have the proper training to understand any legal requirements that pertain to their daily tasks. In fact, there are situations where Safeguarding Training is mandated, especially for organisations that work with vulnerable individuals, both adults and kids. For instance, in nurseries, it’s required by law to have a qualified and designated safeguarding employee.

3) Leading in recruitment 

Value-based recruitment is an approach to hiring the right talents. It’s been a popular concept used in the recruitment industry for many years. Setting strong company values and recruiting by values will bring plenty of advantages for the companies looking for the perfect candidates.

So, what exactly is value-based recruitment?  Value-based recruitment is a recruitment approach used to attract new employees. This type of recruitment approach helps companies in finding employees with the right skills and values. It is a strategy that prioritises specific values and behaviours in attracting skilled individuals and promoting them.

When it comes to value-based hiring, leaders should conduct value-based interviews, which is different from the traditional interview process. Leaders must put focus on hiring employees whose personal values and behaviour align with the company values. If the culture of the new employee aligns with the company’s work environment, the employee will not only feel happy about the new role but will also be motivated to give his best.

Hiring new employees based on the company’s values might sound easy. But, according to leading travel recruitment agencies, this is one of the major challenges that companies, across all sectors, face when hiring new talents post pandemic.

Assessing how an employee can fit into the organisation requires having a comprehensive plan. The value-based recruitment strategy is one of the ways to incorporate organisational fit into the company’s overall hiring process and maintain high candidate retention rates, saving the company money long term. 

In a nutshell, value-based recruitment is a great strategy to help companies look for potential candidates with values that align with the company’s values. But for this process to have successful outcomes, leaders must create a value-based recruitment plan. Creating a successful value-based recruitment plan will depend on how familiar you are with your organisation.

As a leader, you should be able to define the values that drive company-wide behaviours and decisions. By having a clear understanding of your company values, you’d be able to easily hire employees that are perfect for your company.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema