Management Development Makes Managers Better

In today’s fast-paced work environment, many managers are thrust into leadership roles without formal training.  Their success, or lack of it, has a tremendous impact on profitability. A recent Gallup survey of more than 1 million employees found that the most prevalent cause for people leaving their jobs is their immediate supervisor and that poorly managed workgroups are an average 50 per cent less productive and 44 per cent less profitable than well-managed groups.

Management development can be used to improve poor management practices and leadership development at any point in the employee lifecycle.  By keeping a record of your employees’ talents, skills and preferences, you will be able to help your managers become better managers.  Management development will also help you effectively manage, motivate and retain your talent.

With objective, quantifiable data about individual employees, you can make the best possible employee development and training decisions. By identifying employees who need improvement, the areas in which they need further development and the progress they have made toward improving the necessary skills, you can set your organization up for future success.  Management development works in three parts:

First, is an extensive evaluation that is used to provide managers with multi-rater feedback from those who observe their performance: their bosses, subordinates, and peers. This is an important process because increased awareness motivates managers to change the way they do their jobs.

The second part is an analysis that alerts top management to potential managerial problems that can develop when managers’ goals are not in alignment with the goals of the organization. Having this information encourages leadership development on an individual level as well as across the enterprise. This information will also strengthens communication and builds stronger organizations.

The third is an organized management development program that addresses specific leadership skills identified in the survey as requiring improvement, enabling managers to pursue self-improvement in the areas most essential to improving their job performance. Consisting of 18 modules, managers create and complete a customized management development plan using modules. Unlike many courses and seminars, management training activities are integrated into a manager’s daily tasks.

Management development is mainly used for professional training and evaluation of a manager's job performance, but will also help your organization solve the following challenges:

-  Ineffective management practices
-  Poor management performance,
-  Poor communication
-  Inadequate leadership
-  Distrust of management
-  Inability to delegate
-  Low motivation
-  Lack of commitment
-  Stagnation of ideas and status quo
-  Low performance standards
-  Workplace conflicts

Management development measures the following competencies:
-  Communication
-  Leadership
-  Adaptability
-  Relationships
-  Task management
-  Production
-  Development of others
-  Personal development
-  Listening to others
-  Processing information
-  Communicating effectively
-  Instilling trust
-  Building personal relationships
-  Delegating responsibility
-  Adjusting to circumstances
-  Thinking creatively
-  Providing direction
-  Facilitating team success
-  Working efficiently
-  Working competently
-  Taking action
-  Achieving results
-  Cultivating individual talents
-  Motivating successfully
-  Displaying commitment
-  Seeking improvement