Should companies invest in Leadership Development programs?

Leadership program's are a long term investment for the success of the organisation and should only be carried out if its within the company's budget and time constraint. If there are employees which are recognised as potential leaders they should be given a chance to excel and earn such position within a program. When considering such investment always look at the bigger picture and identify what outcome you hop to achieve and whether it will benefit the organisation as a whole or certain aspects of it. Question is how do you guarantee the trained leaders to remain in the organisation? 

I would say, yes.. There should be leadership development programs in every organisation to ensure  sustained performance. Employees who can take initiative will be the first and foremost important result gained by these programs. Also, programme helps the management for formulating succession plan in each team by properly identifying right personnel. This helps and improve employee morale as it is proven to be competitive way of showcasing their talent within the organisation.

for continuity , many companies that don't , will not have2nd line managers able to take over , or will not be able to manage bigger projects and challenges

Investment includes Time, Money and Effort

Are Leadership Development Programs actually worth it? 

You bet!

Relevance: Medium size ( five hundred employees+)  and Large Organizations (one thousand+ employees)

Justification:

Note that Leaders possess niche competencies which are not common among majority of employees. Some may have acquired it through their upbringing. But, most employees who occupy leadership positions today are not born -leaders. They are made Leaders.

In today's world, we talk a lot about decentralization of powers/authority, flat organizations. This literally means , not one person/leader shall make all decisions pertaining to the organization. The power has been distributed. There are times when the organization grows at a fast pace that you would need someone immediately to take care of a particular portfolio almost autonomously.

Leadership development programs have the following benefits:

1) Organizations who believe in Hire-to-Develop philosophy are those who are most ready in filling up leadership positions using internal talent pool.

2) When a vacancy arises for a leadership position, more than the competence, organizations today look for right cultural fit.  This problem does not arise when you build internal Leadership pool through development programs.

3) Your top performers do not leave the organization if they know their leadership aspirations are taken care of. Implies, minimal high-performer/ hi-potential attrition.

Hope this helps.

Its a Part & Parcel Of Employee Development - The More We Invest On Employees Development - The Better Outcome & Team Work Abilities Will Come from the Same Team In The Organization .

Today in the VUCA world,  organization would like to reach to the No.1 or No.2 position really very fast  in their business space. Therefore, they hire those professionals to lead their Business / Organization who have proven track record of success. According to me, leadership is a in born quality, which can be nurtured and developed by the individual alone and no one else. Therefore, organization should focus on its core business and should pick-up the right professionals who would fit into the ideology of the organization. 

Yes I think companies should Invest In Leadership Development. It will be benefit for any company investing in your own best employees by training & education can be a lot less expensive than hiring someone from the outside.