The fear of investing in an employee’s training and seeing them leave the company is still part of the reality of many entrepreneurs. However, according to Gustavo Braz, CEO of Grupo PMD, an importer of diamond tools in Brazil, the real risk may be precisely in the opposite direction: keeping unprepared people in leadership positions.

“Businesspeople need to stop seeing training as a possible loss and start seeing it as protection for the business. If a trained professional leaves, there is an impact. But keeping someone unprepared making important decisions can generate much greater losses”, he states.

According to the executive, the lack of leadership development often appears in day-to-day situations at the company. Decisions are concentrated on the founder, managers avoid assuming responsibilities, teams depend on authorization for simple tasks, conflicts recur and qualified professionals end up leaving the organization due to lack of direction. “Many companies believe they are facing sales or productivity problems, when, in fact, the origin lies in the lack of preparation of those leading the teams”, he explains.

How to start developing the team

For Gustavo Braz, the process does not need to start with complex programs. The first step is to identify which areas require greater decision-making capacitywho already has influence over colleagues and which difficulties frequently appear in the company’s routine. Based on this diagnosis, it is possible to structure ongoing training with topics such as communication, people management, goal tracking, decision making, conflict resolution and team development.

“Leadership is not built in a lecture. It requires method, practice and constant monitoring. The content needs to make sense for the company’s reality and the challenges faced by professionals”, he highlights.

According to him, companies in the growth phase can adopt quarterly development cycles, monthly meetings between leaders and fortnightly meetings to monitor results, discuss difficulties and align decisions.

In the expert’s opinion, the best results usually arise when the company combines internal knowledge with support from external professionals. “Consultants and experts help to bring methodology, new perspectives and organization of the process. The company’s culture needs to be transmitted by those who live the business routine. These two fronts complement each other”, he states.

Main warning signs

Some signs may indicate that the company needs to invest more in team training and development. Among them are the high turnover in leadership positions, the drop in performance after promotions, the excess of problems that reach the board, the difficulty in maintaining standards between different teams and the lack of professionals prepared to take on new responsibilities.

According to Gustavo Braz, when these symptoms appear, the challenge is no longer just related to people management and becomes compromise growth of the business. “Prepared leaders make decisions faster, reduce dependence on the founder, strengthen organizational culture and increase execution capacity. When leadership matures, the entrepreneur is able to dedicate more time to the company’s strategy and future, instead of solving operational problems every day”, he concludes.

By Carolina Lara