Understanding leadership development outcomes and the implications for programme evaluation : a phenomenographic study

• Main Author: Joseph-Richard, Paul Benedict
• Published: Queen's University Belfast 2015
• Subjects: 353.6
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.695380

As there is a recognised dearth of evaluation studies that examine a wider range of outcomes resulting from Leadership Development Programmes (LOPs), our knowledge about what these outcomes are and how these are experienced by learners remains limited. To redress this gap, this study takes learners' lived experiences of LDPs as a point of departure and explores all potential outcomes of LOPs. It also explores temporal dimensions of outcomes and participants' descriptions of the possible connections between the outcomes and the programmes. By using phenomenography and Goal-Free Evaluation technique, this study examined participants' lived experience of LDPs in a largest NHS organisation. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, from 43 Middle-Managers who took part in one of 2 similarly-oriented LDPs, which were explicitly designed to create a community of leaders (i.e. social capital) in the chosen organisation. Participants were purposively sampled from 22 different cohorts, 3 to 24 months after completing the LDPs. Phenomenographic data analysis revealed that there were significant variations in the ways participants experienced LDP outcomes, which were more dynamic, fluid and plural than current outcome conceptualisations. Contrary to what most evaluators might expect, the participants did not report reactions, skill acquisition, behaviour modification and ROI as outcomes of the LDPs. This study identified and named three emergent outcome-categories such as symbolic, rejuvenation and engagement outcomes. By revealing the temporal dimensions of the outcomes, this study showed that time does not have a uniform effect on them. In addition, this study also discovered a fresh set of connections that link the reported outcomes with the LDPs in question. Implications for LDP evaluation theory, practice and policy are specified. LDP facilitators, programme managers, evaluators ahd evaluation commissioners may find these findings of value.