CIPD - Management development

Learning, training and development

Revised September 2009

This factsheet gives introductory guidance. It:

places management development in the context of organisational needs
gives an overview of some ways of identifying the development needs managers and leaders
outlines some development methods
looks at the potential roles of HR professionals
includes the CIPD viewpoint.

Management development needs

Management development has to start right at the top with the organisation’s strategy and aims. In particular the organisation’s culture is a determinant of management style, and planned change, particularly in challenging times makes demands on the way in which leaders and managers are expected to act.

Management development needs arise partly from the day to day activities of managers, the need to ensure there is a group of effective managers able to translate the organisations’ aims into action, and also from the need to change and shape the organisation’s direction as the environment changes. Our factsheets on identifying learning needs and aligning learning gives more detail.

Often, the needs of existing and potential managers will be identified as part of the talent plan – see out talent management factsheet for more on this topic.

Go to our factsheet on talent management

They may also arise from organisation development when it is seen that leadership and management can drive organisational changes, for example to achieve new ways of working, look after customers, or deal with market changes.

Go to our factsheet on organisation development

What do we mean by management?

Whatever industry is concerned, there are a number of skills which are unique to all who manage others or resources, including the skills of leadership.

The term ‘leadership’ is often used almost interchangeably with ‘management’, but leadership is different: management tends to be thought about rational thinking, leadership includes more emotional aspects, and is more closely tied to individual personality and authenticity. However, leadership is an important component of management.

Go to our factsheet on leadership

Why is developing managers different?

Managers at all levels, and not just those at the top, have a common set of skills associated with their management and leadership role, and these need to be developed. Just assuming that well qualified or professional people will be able to assume the management role on promotion does not necessarily help them become effective. Moreover personality and individual style is important.

There is a need for more individual solutions as the leadership/management cadre is small even in large organisations. Some very senior people, such as CEOs, feel the loneliness of the job and the impossibility of others really understanding the pressures on them. In addition senior managers often need highly refined political skills to make their way and influence across their organisation.

Managers at board level or just below can be sensitive to their senior status, and may reject the idea that they need to learn but the neutrality of the term 'development' usually appeals.

Small firms are not simply smaller versions of big companies and have different priorities and needs, not least the need to be entrepreneurial.

Identifying individual management development needs

Once management learning needs have been identified in relation to the needs of the organisation as a whole, it is possible both the refine these requirements for management as a group and for individuals.

Management / leadership competences

Larger organisations have the capacity to identify the requirements for effective management and leadership in the form of specific competence frameworks, which will include many of the specialist areas such as:

the skills of managing others
knowledge of management techniques and the development of strategy
interpersonal skills such as influencing, negotiating.

Performance management and development reviews

Individual and regular review of performance allows managers to discuss issues and achievement and identify their personal learning plans. See our factsheets on performance management and appraisal for more on these topics.

360 degree feedback

360 degree feedback is an excellent means of identifying individual management and leadership development needs as it covers the impact of managers’ behaviour on others. The questionnaire used should be based on the organisation’s management competences. Interpreting the results may need a skilled external consultant/coach to assist the manager in making sense of the data and setting learning objectives, particularly if some aspects challenge the individual’s view of themselves.

For more information on this tool, see our factsheet on 360 feedback.

Go to our factsheet on 360 feedback

Psychometric profiling

Psychometrics are another way of giving feedback on how personal traits affect management and influencing style. As with 360 degree feedback, external support from a coach or consultant may be important in interpreting the results and planning appropriate development. For more information, see out factsheet on testing.

Go to our factsheet on psychological testing

Development centres

The purpose of development or assessment centres is to focus on opportunities for personal development, as well as to gauge potential and help make selections for promotion. Although they take place off the job, these centres include work-related activities and group work, as well as coaching and psychometric assessments. They offer a detailed picture of individual capabilities in relation to required competence.

Succession planning

In addition to the talent plan, some organisations draw up succession plans naming potential successors for key roles. Ensuring that these individuals gain the skills and experience required to take up vacant roles is done via individual development plans

At senior levels this type of individual work may be essential – partly because their development is tied up with the development of their areas of a business, and also because complex interactions between technical or professional capability and the ability to manage or influence others can have strong implications for a manager’s effectiveness.

For more information, see our succession planning factsheet.

Go to our factsheet on succession planning

Management development techniques

The techniques used for management development are wide and include both work-based methods and formal training and education

Work-based methods

Coaching and mentoring

These are one-to-one methods which offer personally-tailored reflection and discussion in confidence between a manager and another individual about that manager’s development. The terms are often used almost interchangeably, but there are differences. See our factsheets on coaching and mentoring for more information.

Coaching and mentoring are also skills that managers need to master themselves in order to manage others effectively – and they will also learn from their coachees/mentees. CIPD members can use our practical tool for assessing and enhancing the role and contribution of line managers in learning, training and development.

Go our practical tool Learning and the line

Action learning

Most people learn best by doing, and if that process can be structured, so much the better. Action learning sets help to achieve this by making their members focus on solving live issues in their normal working environments by trying out different approaches, with discussion and support from colleagues to help them reflect on.

Go to factsheet on action learning

Project working

Increasingly, managers work in cross-functional teams, exposing them to different functions and enabling them to learn about different aspects of the organisation and ways of doing things. Putting people on such teams is one way of broadening their experience and effectiveness.

Secondments and planned career moves

Taking another role via a secondment or planning career moves are ways of broadening experience. For more information, see our factsheet on secondments.

Go to our secondment factsheet

Shadowing

A highly cost effective mode of learning is to pair up two managers. One spends the day following round the other and then there is a de-brief where the shadower can feedback to their colleague what they have observed. The roles are reversed for a subsequent day.

Formal learning interventions

Business schools and management training providers offer a wide range of education and training courses for managers. These may be highly stimulating ways of acquiring knowledge or learning about the techniques of management, though cost may be an issue.

Where the acquisition of skills is concerned, it is important to understand how much time is given to practice and feedback, and to check the relevance of learning. Work-based methods appear to be most effective here: a CIPD survey UK Global Comparisons forecast, 2005-2006: best practices for tomorrow’s leaders found that formal training interventions are rarely good at producing improvements in interpersonal behaviour.

View our UK global comparisons forecast

Managers also can undertake e-learning, or learn by reading or going to conferences.

The role of HR professionals

Often in-house HR professionals are not seen as credible in assisting the development of managers, particularly at senior levels. This gives rise to two potential roles for HR professionals:

a brokerage role - advising on development opportunities, and fixing it so that managers can avail themselves of such opportunities. This can include the identification of individual needs as well as delivery.
a direct delivery role.

The need for external input

Developing competency frameworks, psychometrics and development centres are specialised tasks that HRD professionals may not be qualified to undertake. Consultancy companies who have a wide experience of these matters can provide a cost-effective means of delivery, and may also have a higher level of credibility.

Some managers often feel the need to get inspiration from outside their own organisation or to talk to people at the same level but from different organisations. Hence many senior managers prefer to go outside the organisation altogether for formal programmes and glean new ideas and new perspectives from external interaction.

Evaluation

HR professionals can evaluate development options prior to recommending them. Reports from managers on their past learning and development may help in the choice of appropriate methods for the future.

Many management development options, particularly in the external market, can have a high cost. In order to understand whether they offer value, these costs need to be compared to the value of expected outcomes. If the latter are around specific task accomplishment then they may be quantifiable, but developing the capacity to manage is less tangible. Questionnaires can be designed for managers to report on their learning and achievements, future appraisal reviews can identify the application of new skills and knowledge, and in some cases changes in the scores of 360 degree feedback can be used to establish the value gained.

For more on our work into the value of learning see our factsheet on the evaluation of training and learning.

Go to our Evaluating learning and development factsheet

CIPD viewpoint

CIPD is committed to improving the people skills of line managers, as joint work with Acas and others has shown. Managers are a diverse population: some are highly qualified with MBAs, huge industry experience and proven leadership ability, while others have a need for fairly basic development. According to research by the London School of Economics and McKinsey 41 % of UK managers have a level of education at or below that of an average 16 year old school leaver, yet whatever the level of managers, development is a constant need. Properly planned and structured management development built around the needs of the organisation can make a critical difference. It builds the capability of the individual and contributes to sustained organisation performance.

Management development