As a business owner or manager, it's important to continually think several steps ahead. This applies to leading your team as much as it applies to meeting customer demand, which is why you should have a system in place for molding hourly employees into good leaders. Here are a few ideas to help you turn your employees into future leaders.

Outline a Clear Path

Everyone in the organization should understand how the path of leadership flows. This starts with creating a hierarchy that's transparent to ensure the lines of communication flow efficiently. It also includes outlining what it takes to follow that path to leadership for those interested in climbing the corporate ladder. Every employee should know what you expect in their pursuit of leadership roles. In addition to meeting qualifications, they should know what's involved in applying to fill open leadership positions.

Create Individual Development Plans

An individual development plan or IDP is a method for evaluating employees and determining their strengths and weaknesses. It helps them understand where they need to concentrate more of their effort to achieve their goals. Enacting IDP evaluations will help you reduce company turnaround rates, improve employee morale, and help your organization reach its goals more efficiently.

Involve Team Members

You should also make an effort to get your employees involved in every aspect of the business. This will require creating more transparency within the organization to ensure everyone understands how accountability affects each person on the team. You can also involve your team in company-wide assessment practices to help them gain a better understanding of the various departments within the organization. As your employees gain a better understanding of how the company operates on a daily basis, they will become more qualified to step into leadership positions. Getting everyone involved in the company to the same degree will also help you avoid some common mistakes, drama, and drains on productivity.

By promoting from within your organization, you'll boost the company culture, and you'll make it easier to fill vacant positions. However, you will want to make sure the candidates you choose to become leaders will embrace your organization's philosophy and values. Taking the time to train your employees to be good leaders will benefit everyone and the organization as a whole.