Management Development
Introduces management development, focusing on how to identify development needs and the
techniques involved in developing managers
13 Dec 2018
Skilled managers are critical to employee engagement, organisational success and
even national economic well-being. So management development is essential for
enhancing the skills, competencies and knowledge of managers.
What is management development: Management development is the structured
process by which managers enhance their skills, competencies and/or knowledge,
via formal or informal learning methods, to the benefit of both individual and
organisational performance.
The effective management of both private and public sector organisations is widely
perceived to be of critical importance to organisational success and, more broadly,
to national economic well-being. The development of managers to help sustain
their performance at the highest levels possible is a particularly crucial element of
wider organisational learning strategies.
Managing involves the planning, organisation, co-ordination and implementation
of strategies, programs, tactics and policies in respect of people, resources,
information, operations and finance. Increasingly the role also takes on a people
development function too, particularly via coaching.
Management development interventions may therefore cover any or all of these
areas, depending on the level and nature of the management role as well as other
factors such as the stage of the individual’s career.
Why is developing managers different?
The vastly divergent nature and characteristics of ‘management’ means the task of
identifying and providing effective learning opportunities for managers presents a
significant challenge for HR and L&D professionals. The term ‘manager’ covers a
huge range of roles, encompassing senior management teams as well as middle and
specialist managers and a diverse array of line managers, together with individuals
who occasionally take on project management roles, all with differing development
needs.
For senior managers, there’s often a need for individually tailored solutions, as the
senior management group is small even in large organisations. Some very senior
people, such as managers at board level, may have the perception that others in the
organisation fail to understand the pressures they face. However, they can also be
sensitive to their senior status, and may reject the idea that they need to learn,
although the neutrality of the term 'development' often appeals.
Managers at all levels need a certain set of skills associated with their people
management role, and these need to be developed in line with the organisation’s
priorities. Further, it shouldn’t be assumed that well-qualified professionals who
are promoted to posts involving line management responsibilities will
automatically be able assimilate the people management role. This is particularly
critical in the case of technical experts promoted into people management posts.
This switch can require a lot of support from L&D and HR.
Management development techniques: Given the widely divergent nature of the
management base, it’s important to consider a variety of approaches that may be
appropriate for differing management groups or individual managers and to tailor
solutions accordingly.
A wide array of formal and informal learning methods, may be relevant depending
on the nature of the role and seniority or career stage of the individual. They may
include in-house and external courses, workshops and seminars to coaching and
mentoring, project working, networking, online learning, blended learning and
action learning.
Formal learning:
Many formal management development training courses and qualifications are
available, with options including: undergraduate, postgraduate (most notably the
MBA) or other higher education qualifications in business/management. These
tend to cover the main disciplines associated with management in general, such as
finance and accounting, marketing, HRM and operations management, and may
also encompass specialist options (for instance the management of innovation, risk
or compliance) or occupationally-specific modules (such as retail or healthcare
management).
Vocational qualifications such as national or Scottish vocational qualifications
(NVQs/SVQs) in the area of management/business studies.
courses and qualifications from management membership organisations
including the ‘chartered manager’ programme provided by the Chartered
Management Institute.
specialist courses, including those delivered by professional bodies as part of
continuing professional development (CPD) programmes. Find out about CIPD's
courses.
management apprenticeships in a wide range of areas such as purchasing and
supply management.
Formal educational provisions may represent highly stimulating and useful ways
of acquiring knowledge or learning about the techniques of management, though
the costs of such provisions may be substantial.
Work-based methods
Coaching and mentoring: Coaching and mentoring are one-to-one methods that
offer personally-tailored reflection and discussion in confidence between a
manager and another individual about that manager’s development. They are also
skills that managers need to master themselves in order to manage others
effectively.
Shadowing: This involves the pairing up of two managers who each spend a day
(or other set period of time) shadowing the other, followed up with a de-brief
where the shadower can feed back observations to their colleague.
Secondments: Taking another role via a secondment can help managers with
broadening skills, knowledge and experience. Secondment is the temporary
movement or ‘loan’ of an employee to another part of the organisation, or another
organisation. It’s widely recognised as valuable for both employee and
organisation development. As flatter management structures become more
common, traditional opportunities for promotion through a series of line
management roles are limited. Secondments offer career development
opportunities and are increasingly used as part of talent management programmes.
They also provide organisations with the chance to develop their skills base and
share knowledge within the business.
Sharing knowledge: Increasingly popular ways to expand manager’s learning is to
have them teach others. Facilitated by the L&D team, perhaps as part of a ‘Lunch
& Learn’ series, having an open question and answer session with a senior
manager can encourage learning both ways.
Communities of practice: The concept of a community of practice as a means of
development dates back to the early 1990s. Members with common interests can
meet to share practice, experience, information and ideas. Whilst this can be in a
physical setting, the growth of online social platforms, media and technology also
provides the opportunity for managers to engage in development conversations
both within their organisations and externally with peers.