Line and middle managers function in a similar way to priests, representing their executive among the simple flock. But Matt Henkes argues that it’s the tools with which they deliver the executive bible that divides the humble messengers from the true leaders who can educate and motivate the masses.
Gone are the days when management development consisted of a pat on the back and a few token seminars. If you want the results achievable today, businesses need to start embracing a variety of blended learning techniques and strategies.
There is a wealth of options to choose from when it comes to finding a way to incorporate these practices into your company. The reason why some are still failing to embrace them could come down to the simple fact that size matters.
“It’s a crude statement but smaller companies tend to be more ad hoc about it than bigger ones, largely because they don’t necessarily have the resources to be able to put a coherent strategy in place,” explains David Pardey, a consultant at the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM).
David Pardey, consultant, Institute of Leadership & Management
But Jo Causen, a director at the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), argues that employers have a duty to ensure that their staff are equipped to perform well in their role. “Line and middle managers are the future leaders of an organisation,” she says. This is backed up by CMI research that suggests young managers want to be stretched and challenged into becoming better leaders.
The problem, she believes, is a lack of investment in the area of manager training in the UK. This is also borne out in a recent CMI salary survey, which showed that 81 per cent of companies reported problems finding qualified candidates. Yet, only half of the respondents had a staff development strategy.
Chalk and talk
A big barrier to staff development is the fear that people will leave, often taking expensive knowledge investment away with them. Staff retention is a huge problem facing businesses today, but a potent way to persuade people to stick with the company is a visible investment in their development and commitment to their future value.
“If you look at the cost of training people, then look at the cost of having to replace people who leave for better opportunities, training actually becomes quite a cheap option,” says Pardey. “Don’t worry about the people you train who then leave, worry about the people who you don’t train who then stay.”
Personality and behavioural profiling
Assessments and exercises that provide detailed reports and profiles on managers’ preferences to aid the development process. Managers receive feedback from an expert with explanations on the practical considerations of their findings.
Personal one-on-one life coaching
Aimed at creating balance in the manager’s life between work, rest and play, and to act as support for any personal or confidence-related issues.
Simulations
Groups of managers are presented with real life scenarios and it is up to them, as a team, to create a positive outcome. Obstacles are thrown in to test their planning, organisation, self control and teamwork.
Action learning sets
Sessions based on the relationship between reflection and action. A major advantage is that participants can look at the real problems that concern them, rather than considering hypothetical ones. They are responsible for the selection of the issues discussed.
Sean McPheat, MTD Training
He advocates that managers guide their team as if developing a small business. Putting the theory into practice can be tricky, though. Pardey compares it to learning cricket. You can spend hours teaching someone the nuances of batting and bowling techniques and the finer points of fielding patterns. That won’t automatically make them a good cricketer. Equally, you wouldn’t send someone who could swing a bat onto the field with no knowledge of the rules.
New managers need initial training before taking up the role to not only equip them with the basic skills, but also to assess any weaknesses in the finer attributes needed for leadership, so that they can be addressed through further training. Allowing them to assess their own shortcomings after time spent already doing the job will add value to the training because they will have a better idea what their learning goals should be.
Celebrity management coach Sean McPheat, founder of MTD Training, is an authority on management development and its many components. He agrees that as your manager’s experience increases, you should look to augment their growing range of abilities with various development methods. This includes one-to-one training and coaching sessions, simulations, stretching assignments, and personality and behaviour profiling.
“The use of accelerated learning, emotional intelligence and behaviour techniques are commonplace in today’s modern learning environments,” he adds. “Long gone are the days of chalk and talk in a seminar format.”
Why bother?
Ultimately though, it is proper support that will get them through. Managing people can be hard, especially for someone who is new to the role. Then there is the added pressure of learning on the job while your team of subordinates is watching you for slip ups just as closely as your hawk-like superiors.
“That’s the challenge many managers shy away from,” says Pardey. “They can do it if they’ve got HR and perhaps their line manager supporting them, letting them know that it’s okay to make mistakes and getting them through that pain barrier as quickly as possible.”
Leave them to flounder and bad practice begets bad practice, or even just adequate practice. Allowing an embedded manager to simply cruise along in a business world that thrives on rapid change and growth sets a low benchmark for future managers to aspire to, breeding complacency and eventually grinding your business down to a halt.
Pardey likens it to water running down a hill. “Once it’s found a path it cuts deeper and deeper into the hillside,” he says.
The obvious danger is that mistakes become the norm rather than treated as learning experiences. “A good manager will make mistakes,” he adds, “but a bad manager will make the same mistakes over again.”
Some might mention an old dog and his impossible new tricks, but Pardey warns against such sweeping generalisations. He believes that anyone can be developed if approached in the correct way. “You should never jump to conclusions,” he says. “Understand their psychology and their responses to different situations, and deal with them on that basis. Give them the support they need.”
