Is Management Development risky?

Developing your management team, from the front line through to the CEO is supposed to be essential for success. And indeed it is. I would find it hard to name a successful company employing more than 10 people where the leaders haven't had some kind of management training. And yet, such training can often go wrong. So .......

Reduce the risk of management development

Here are some of your key risks, all of which we have seen in the last 12 months in more than one organisation. Plus a few hints on how to mitigate the risk.

1. People receive management development but are not offered a management role

What happens - such people become de-motivated and possibly leave.

If people seek management roles and there aren't going to be any in the foreseeable future it is best to be honest. Management development is not an alternative to promotion, it is preparation for it. If someone seems unsuited for management, only the most sophisticated in depth programmes are likely to change that. If management is the only way to advance in your organisation, you may be losing your best people to roles they are ill suited for. This is a well known phenomenon in Sales, but actually happens in many functions.

TIP: Review development options, and aim to offer professional development where managerial options are not appropriate.

2. The management development programme is based on a completely different management style to the one currently operating in the organisation

What happens – the programme becomes discredited, and/or the trainees become discouraged and de- motivated when they cannot apply their new learning in practice.

If for example, your organisation runs on highly structured reporting lines, with closely defined areas of activity, a management programme that seeks to introduce cross functional working and networked structures will fail. To make such changes in management style is a major undertaking, where development programmes are just one piece of a much bigger programme.

TIP: Ensure that your management development programmes are aligned in style and structure to your organisational culture. It's not just the content. Ensure individuals delivering the programme take the time to really understand the context of the organisation.

3. Delegates attempts to introduce new ideas (for example SMART objectives) are interpreted by the workforce as a change to terms and conditions

What happens – in the worst case there has been industrial action.

All development happens in context. If the programme fails to acknowledge the culture and conditions of the workforce, there is a high risk that new learning could trigger problems. Flexible organisations aren't risk free either, there are always individuals who will resist the attempt of managers to introduce new ideas they perceive as less favourable .