The Benefits of Bespoke Management Development

by Lucy Cadman @ Developing People Limited

A couple of years ago, I worked in the Finance Department of a very large travel organisation. Whilst I was there, I attended a standard “Team Development Course”, with the intention of … guess what … developing our team to work more closely together. It was a generic open training course, and none of us were particularly enthusiastic about attending. As it turned out, the only things that we really learned were the name of our Manager’s pet frog, and the fact that another colleague had once driven an articulated lorry. We also learned that eating fish and chips in the middle of the day lead to sleepiness rather than productivity in the afternoon. Vital information for building a team within a specific business environment … NOT!

Management training is a vital process in the development of a manager, as the skills need to lead, motivate and get the best out of staff are very different from the technical skills required to simply perform a job to a high standard. Many organisations chose to send their managers on generic open training programmes, or sometimes to colleges or business schools to develop their management skills. There is an ease to simply sending a manager out of the office to a structured course for a day or two, and particularly in the current economic climate, the lower budget required for this on-tap kind of training is appealing.

However, there are a number of important issues to be considered using this style of approach.

Firstly, the manager concerned must accept the course as given, and therefore accept the fact that it may or may not meet their specific learning needs at that point in their development.

Secondly, generic management training courses do not take into account the culture, climate and needs of the organisation as an individual company.

Finally, most people learn best when they use materials and approaches that are relevant to their work. For example, discussing how to manage the performance and get the best out of a team of bus drivers will be very different from a team of creative magazine editors.

The ultimate consequence of the above is that the manager does not make the most of their learning and therefore that the organisation doesn’t get the required return on their investment.

To avoid this, an organisation needs to use management training firms with the expertise to develop tailored solutions. They need trainers who can work alongside the organisation’s own internal experts to develop the programmes. This ensures that the materials are prepared in a style, format and language that is 100% appropriate to the business, and that case studies, role plays and exercises are made relevant to the organisation by using realistic workplace examples.

The most effective training programmes are therefore the ones that are developed in collaboration between the organisation and their training partner. Indeed, it is often beneficial that programmes are delivered in partnership too, with the organisation itself delivering certain aspects of the programme. By ‘creating your own’ management training and development programme, organisations can ensure that their managers receive the development that is really needed and the organisation benefits fully from their investment.

Developing People Limited provides bespoke Management Development and Training. We work closely with your organisation at all stages of the process to ensure that the training delivered is right for your people and your business, and that you maximise both your staff and your investment through our training. If you would like more information on our Management Development and Training, or on any of our other bespoke services, please visit our webpage. You can also telephone us on 0845 409 2346, or email us at enquiries@developingpeople.co.uk .