How to create an effective management development programme
How to create an effective management development programme
In this video, I wanted to share my tips and techniques on how you might create a management development programme, some of the pitfalls that you might want to think about, and when you might want to do it.
Hi, welcome to the Let's Talk Talent channel where we discuss the world of HR and talent management. We're here to help you unlock the potential in your people.
Managers have a really tough job. They not only have to do their job, and they have to be high performing in their job, but they have to activate, they
have to motivate, they need to engage their people. And some of
the times we're not very good as organisations in really understanding those skills and those attributes that make a great manager. Because let's
face it, you've probably left an organisation because of a manager, rather than because you've hated the job or the environment. So managers play a
massive part in how you get, keep and grow brilliant people.
But training them is not as simple as just placing them on a management development programme. So when we work with clients, we like to think about it in a number of ways. First of all, we like to think "future back". So why are you doing it now? What's the burning platform? Do you have a lot of people leaving, so you've got churn in your business? So retention's an issue. Is your employee engagement scores lower than you want, and they're coming back and saying, "it's managers not taking time to listen, or give one-to-ones". So think future back before you start designing anything.
Then I think you need to think about the level or the persona of the management community that you want to develop for. What are their needs, what are their wants, because they'll be different at different stages. So if you're an aspiring manager, you might want to think about what things I need to do to apply for a job and be successful. But a senior leader might be wanting to think about how they engender more trust in
their people. So think about the audience.
And then finally, I want you to think about how you want to develop those people. So think about it as resources, not courses. So this isn't about
just, like Field of Dreams, "if you build it they will come", and you create this massive portfolio of stuff. They're busy people. Think about it in that Donald Taylor model. The contextual analysis, and also the audience need. Because what you might want to think about is you might be able to buy in some of that activity from some of the brilliant tools that exist and that are free, but you might want to invest money in developing something that's bespoke. And that's going to take time and effort.
So how are you going to create that energy? How are you going to create that time for managers to have the patience, but also deliver the results that you want? So management development can come in multiple forms. It can come through mentoring, it can come through coaching, it can come
through formal programmes, but it also comes from role models.
So who are the role models within your organisation that you can have on the programme. Use the people within your organisation to inspire and activate the capabilities and the skills that you want. So don't just jump in, don't go to courses, think about the overall in terms of resources. Think
back to the timing, in terms of the people that you want to train, but also think future back. By thinking future back you will create the right intervention at the right time, and be able to create a brilliant business case of why it's important to invest now, and how they'll get return on
investment.
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