How Do I Know If My Company Needs Leadership Development? A Durham Region Employer's Checklist
You want to know whether the problems in your business are really about leadership before you spend money finding out.
That is the right order. In 35 years of leading operations teams, I have learned that some problems are leadership problems and some are not.
Direct answer: Your company likely needs leadership development if good people keep leaving one particular supervisor, decisions that belong two levels down keep landing on your desk, your supervisors were promoted for technical skill without being taught to lead, or the same problem returns after you fix it. Three or more of those in the last year points to a leadership gap rather than a pay, staffing or systems problem. The fix is to develop the specific supervisors involved, not to buy a company-wide program, and to measure turnover, overtime and escalations first so you can prove the result.
What Are the Signs My Company Needs Leadership Development?
The clearest signs are patterns you can already see in your own numbers. Leadership problems rarely arrive with a label. They show up as turnover, missed deadlines and an owner who cannot take a week off.
Gallup found that managers account for at least 70 per cent of the variance in employee engagement across business units, which is why the same pay and the same building can produce one crew that stays and one that does not.
| What you are seeing | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| One crew loses far more people than the rest | The difference is who leads it, not what you pay |
| Decisions that belong two levels down reach your desk | Supervisors have the title but not the skills or authority |
| Your best technicians became your weakest managers | They were promoted and left to work out the people side alone |
| The same problem returns after you fix it | Incidents get fixed; causes do not |
| Months of overtime with flat output | A planning and delegation gap at the supervisor level |
The pressure is higher here. Much of Durham Region sits within commuting distance of the Greater Toronto Area, and Invest Durham reports more than 10,000 highly skilled energy workers in the region, so technical staff who are tired of their supervisor have options close to home. Employers in Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Pickering and Clarington, from manufacturing to healthcare, feel a leadership gap sooner than they would in a smaller market.
How Do I Score the Durham Region Employer's Checklist?
Answer each question yes or no about the last 12 months, and count one point for every yes. Be honest, because the score only helps if the answers are true.
- Has more than one good employee left a specific supervisor rather than the company?
- Do decisions reach you that a supervisor should have made?
- Were most of your supervisors promoted for technical skill, with no training in leading people?
- Would your managers avoid a difficult conversation with a long-serving employee?
- Has overtime run for more than three months without more output?
- Do two departments keep blaming each other for the same problem?
- Would something important stall if you were away for two weeks?
- Are your people unsure what the next role above them looks like?
- Does the same operational problem keep coming back after you fix it?
- Would you struggle to name who could step up if a key manager resigned tomorrow?
What Does My Checklist Score Mean?
A score of three or more usually means leadership, not strategy or pay, is holding the business back.
| Score | What it says | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 2 | Leadership is probably not your constraint | Check the alternatives in the next section first |
| 3 to 5 | A real gap, still limited to one or two people | Develop those supervisors now, while the cost is small |
| 6 to 10 | The gap is already costing you in turnover and overtime | Record your numbers this month, then start with the crews losing the most people |
Questions 1 and 9 carry the most weight. If you answered yes to both, treat your result as at least mid-range, because they describe money already leaving the business.
When Is the Problem Not Leadership?
A low score usually points somewhere else, and leadership development will not fix any of these:
- Pay well below market. Good management cannot close a large pay gap. Benchmark the role first.
- Not enough people. A team two people short has a hiring problem.
- Broken systems. Better supervisors will still fight a quoting or scheduling process that loses information.
- A product or market problem. Developing managers will not change demand.
- One difficult individual. That is performance management for one person, not a program for the team.
If a score of 0 to 2 matches one of these, you have your answer, and it cost you nothing.
Why Do Owners Wait So Long, and What Does Waiting Cost?
Most owners wait because a leadership gap never arrives as its own invoice. It shows up as recruiting, overtime and the owner's own evenings, so it is easy to treat each symptom separately.
The cost is real. SHRM notes that replacing an employee can cost from 50% to 200% of their annual salary, depending on their level, so two departures from one crew can outweigh the cost of developing the supervisor who leads it.
A Durham Region example: The Shandex Group started with its executive team in 2025, then graduated 16 managers from the Effective Leadership Development program in 2026, facilitated alongside CEO Jennifer Shannon. In my public post on the engagement, I described it as leadership training that pays for itself 10x over. That return is client-reported for one engagement, not a guarantee for yours.
How Is a Leadership Management International Program Different From the Big Training Brands?
The biggest difference is where the training happens and who is in the room. National training organizations do valuable work on this problem.
FranklinCovey reports that 58% of new managers receive no formal leadership training before starting to lead a team, and Korn Ferry found that the right leadership characteristics and team environment can lift engagement scores by up to 42 percentile points. Their leadership programs are often public courses or virtual cohorts that mix people from many companies. For Durham Region and Greater Toronto Area employers who want measurable change on their own floor, I offer a better fit: a proven program from Leadership Management International, customized to your organization, which I deliver in person with your own supervisors and measure against the numbers you already track.
You can read more about my background and the operations work behind it.
What Should I Do Once I Know?
Write down four numbers first, then develop the few people who carry most of the problem. When I start with an owner, these numbers come before anything else.
- Record four numbers: turnover per supervisor's crew, weekly overtime hours, your rework or error rate, and decisions that reach you in two normal weeks.
- Pick two or three supervisors whose crews carry the most turnover or escalations.
- Ask whether they want to lead people. Developing someone who never wanted the role costs you a good technician.
- Choose spaced, in-person sessions with practice between them over several months, not a single day.
- Re-measure at months three, six and twelve against your four numbers.
You can see how the programs are structured on the LMI Canada page, and read why Durham Region employers choose Gurley Leadership Solutions.
Not Sure What Your Score Means?
A 15-minute call with Malcolm Gurley is enough to tell whether leadership development is your answer, or whether something else is.
416.669.7644 · Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM · Ask about government funding options when you book your call.
Book a 15-Minute CallWhat Do Durham Region Owners Ask About Leadership Development?
How do I know if my company needs leadership development?
Look for patterns over the last year: good people leaving one supervisor, decisions escalating to the owner, supervisors promoted without training, and problems that keep returning. Three or more of these usually means a leadership gap rather than a pay or staffing problem.
Is my company too small for leadership development?
Usually not. In a twelve-person business, one supervisor who loses people and escalates every decision affects a large share of your team and most of the owner's week, so fixing it has a concentrated effect.
How do I tell a leadership problem from a staffing problem?
Ask whether the work would get done if you added one person. If yes, it is a staffing problem. If the work would still stall because nobody sets priorities or makes decisions, it is a leadership problem.
How long does leadership development take to show results?
Expect visible behaviour change at four to six months and a measurable operational difference between months six and twelve. Record turnover, overtime and escalations before you start so you can see the change.
What does leadership development cost in Durham Region?
It depends on how many people take part and how long the program runs, so it is quoted for each organization. Gurley Leadership Solutions confirms the scope on a short call before quoting.
Malcolm Gurley brings 35+ years of senior executive experience with Honeywell, Johnson Controls and Armstrong Fluid Technology. He is LMI Canada licensed, Lean Certified and a Six Sigma Black Belt, and delivers Leadership Management International programs in person for organizations across Durham Region and the Greater Toronto Area from Ajax, Ontario. Frequently asked questions
