Frontline Leadership Development Program
Better Frontline Leaders, Better Results
Frontline leaders are your largest group of leaders. They directly manage about 80% of your workforce. So the quality of your frontline leadership—and your frontline leadership development—can make or break your company.
It’s urgent that you develop these leaders. But it’s challenging to do it well. You have to reach a lot of people, quickly and consistently. And you need each person to connect personally with their development journey.
Above all, your program needs to work. It can’t be a check-the-box exercise. You need people to learn new skills and change for the better. At DDI, this happens to be our specialty. We’ve developed more than 10 million better leaders who get better results.
BY THE NUMBERS
See the Results of Your Frontline Leadership Program
DDI Impact Evaluation data shows our clients see significant impact from their frontline leadership development programs.
91
INCREASED ENGAGEMENT
91% of frontline managers say their DDI development program increased their engagement in being a leader
+39
IMPROVED EFFECTIVENESS
Frontline leader effectiveness improves from an average of 46% before a DDI program to 85% after
92
APPLIED NEW SKILLS RIGHT AWAY
92% of frontline managers apply new skills back on the job after their development
Why Develop Your Frontline Leaders with DDI?
When you choose DDI, you get frontline leadership training built on our five proven learning design principles:
- Relevant: Frontline leaders use practical tools to apply what they’ve learned back on the job.
- Personalized: Frontline leaders get personal insights and recommendations that help them focus their efforts for the highest impact.
- Immersive: Frontline managers learn by doing. By engaging with a cohort that faces similar challenges, they fully immerse into development and connect with peers.
- Human: Leadership is a human endeavor. We help leaders understand themselves as a whole person, their impact on others, and how they can build strong connections.
- Trusted: There’s a lot of leadership advice out there. However, our frontline leadership programs are based on the science of behavior change and measurable performance.
What Skills Do My Frontline Leaders Need?
We recommend starting with core interaction skills that set your leaders up for success with every other skill. The DDI Key Principles and Interaction Guidelines show leaders how to meet both the personal and practical needs of others.
Next, your leaders can build other core leadership skills including communication, delegation, coaching, building trust, and resolving conflict.
In short, we’ve got turnkey frontline leadership development programs that help you get started. But some organizations may have specific needs such as creating an inclusive environment, driving change, or building influence. We have content and learning journeys for these skills, too, and will work with you to create the program that meets your business goals.
Sample Learning Journey
Imagine Your Frontline Leader Program
Get a sneak peek of what your frontline leadership development program could look like.
Explore this sample learning journey that uses our proven approach of blending our courses, microlearning, self-assessments, skill practice tools, and more.
[With DDI], we’re providing a really robust environment for frontline leaders to assess who they are, what they have to do in this new role, and how they need to grow.
Bill Ahern North American Head of Leadership Development SanofiRelated Client Story
Sanofi Delivers Global Frontline Success
5 min
Built for Connection, Flexibility, and Focus
Leaders learn best when they can connect with their peers and practice together. Our frontline programs are designed for cohort learning and practice.
We also know that sometimes it can be difficult or take too long to gather a cohort; your leaders may need development now. That’s why our programs also include online courses, practice simulations, support tools, planners, and more to help leaders develop quickly on their own.
Additionally, DDI offers My Pathway: Leadership Core, a personalized development experience just for frontline leaders. After a self-assessment of their styles, strengths, and gaps, leaders receive targeted learning recommendations that help them develop and practice essential leadership skills. Group data can also be used to guide live or online learning sessions.
How to Get Started
Our philosophy is that leadership development is a way of work. You need flexible programs that meet leaders’ needs in every moment of leadership.
Their challenges don’t pause while you manage vendor contracts, purchase courses, and assemble cohorts. So we make it easy and ensure there’s never a gap.
Our subscription gives you all the tools you need to create exceptional frontline leadership development that grows with your leaders.
Have a Question?
Frequently Asked Questions: Frontline Leadership Development
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What skills are most important for new managers?
New managers need key skills to successfully transition from being a strong individual contributor to an effective leader of others. The most critical skills include emotional intelligence for meaningful communication, coaching to help others improve, delegating to build team capacity, managing conflict effectively, and driving change. While these skills are especially important for new managers making the challenging leap to leadership, they remain valuable throughout a leader's entire career.
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What skills are covered in frontline leadership development programs?
DDI's frontline leadership programs cover essential skills like emotional intelligence, coaching, driving change, managing conflict, and communication through hundreds of courses and tools available in our Leadership Development Subscription. Your program can be tailored to focus on the specific skills that align with your business strategy and address your leaders' unique development needs. View our complete list of frontline leadership courses to explore all the skills you can develop in your leaders.
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How do you measure the success of frontline leadership development programs?
You can measure frontline leadership program success through multiple lenses—looking at leader growth (improved skills, higher confidence), team impact (increased productivity, better engagement), and business results (lower turnover, stronger performance). Our Impact Evaluation tools make it easy to collect this data and track results in dynamic dashboards, helping you show how stronger frontline leaders create better business outcomes.
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How can I get started with frontline leadership development programs?
Start developing frontline leaders with DDI's Leadership Development Subscription, which gives you all the tools and support you need in one place. You'll get access to our complete library of award-winning content—including assessments, courses, microlearning tools, and practice resources—plus support from a Strategic Learning Team who helps design and implement your program. Our flexible solution lets you start developing leaders right away while building a program that can grow with your needs.