What is management development?
Management development is a systematic process of growth and development by which managers develop their abilities to manage. It is more future-oriented and concerned with education than employees’ job-specific training. It is a systematic process of improving managerial effectiveness by giving knowledge, increasing skills, and changing attitudes. It emphasizes improving the managers’ performance by giving them opportunities for growth and development. Management development is becoming important in changing the skills of managers because globalization and technological advances have greatly influenced the overall performance of managers.
According to Dale S. Besch, “Management development is a systematic process of training and growth by which an individual gains and applies knowledge, skills, insight and attitudes to manage the work of organization effectively.”
According to DeCenzo and Robbins, “Management development is future-oriented training, focusing on personal growth of the employees.”
Management development is given to managerial employees who supervise the activities of others. This also increases the productivity and effectiveness of managers. It develops managerial potential by increasing conceptual, interpersonal, and decision-making skills.
Methods of management development
There are mainly two types of methods by which managers can acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes and make themselves component managers. They can be explained as:
On-the-job methods
These are the most widely used techniques. They are stated as follows:
Coaching
Coaching is provided on the job where effective senior managers teach new managers. The coach gives guidance through direction, advice, criticism, suggestions, and correct errors. Coaches are the managers who help the new managers grow and improve their job competence on a day-to-day basis.
Job rotation
Job rotation involves moving trainee managers from one job to another on a systematic basis to expand their skills, knowledge, and abilities. It involves the movement of manager from one department to another department to broaden their understanding of all parts of the business. Job rotation increases interpersonal cooperation and reduces the monotony of work.
Understudy assignment
This method involves assigning a potential manager to work under an experienced manager with the title ‘assistant to’. The experienced manager teaches what his entire job involves. He also learns how to make decisions in a particular situation and solve operating problems.
Committee assignment
Under this method, trainee managers are appointed to a committee team. A committee can provide an opportunity for managerial employees to share in managerial decision-making, learn by watching others, and investigate specific organizational problems. Such managerial employees develop skills in working with others in a team environment.
Off-the-job methods
Some of the popular off-the-job methods are discussed below:
Lecture course
This is a popular method to bring all participants to a common level of knowledge. This is the best technique to present and explain a series of facts, concepts, and principles in a short time. Such courses offer an opportunity for managers or potential managers to acquire knowledge and develop their conceptual and analytical abilities.
Sensitively training
It is a technique of changing behavior through a group process. Participants communicate and discuss with one another themselves and try to understand the behavior. The main objective of sensitivity training is the “development of awareness of and sensitivity to behavioral patterns of oneself and others.” All participants interact in a free and open environment. Participants express their ideas, beliefs, and attitudes and share impressions.
Transactional analysis
The focus of transactional analysis is on viewing the interaction between individuals and groups as a transaction and thereby developing their managerial skills and abilities. Transactional analysis is based on the concept that each person has three-dimensional behavior based on three ego states such as parent, child, and adult. The parent ego states feel sympathy and kindness, and the child ego states feel and react directly while the adult ego state thinks logically before acting. In practice, the managers analyze their daily traction with employees and identify the ego state.
Simulation exercises
This technique is also quite helpful to learn in off-the-job situations, which are similar to actual job conditions. Trainees receive feedback about their actions. Simulation exercises include role-play, case studies, and decision games.