Management Development Programme

Management development is defined as

• A conscious and systematic process to control the development of managerial resources in
the organisation for the achievement of goals and strategies. (Molander, 1986)

• An attempt to improve managerial effectiveness through a planned and deliberate learning
process. (Mumford, 1987)

That function which from deep understanding of business goals and organisational requirements, undertake

(a) to forecast need, skill mixes and profiles for many positions and levels

(b) to design and recommend the professional, career and personal development programmes necessary to   ensure competence

(c) to move from the concept of ‘management’ to the concept of ‘managing’.(Beckhard,1989)

STEPS IN  MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT

The Essentials steps in executive development programme are as follow:

1. Analysis of Development Needs:    First of all, the present and future development needs of the organization are ascertained. It is necessary to determine how many and what type of executives are required to meet the present and future needs of the enterprise. A critical analysis of the Organization structure in the light of future plans will reveal what the organization needs in terms of departments, functions and key executive positions. Then job descriptions and specifications are prepared for all executive positions to know the type of knowledge, skills, training and experience required for each position.

2. Appraisal of Present Managerial Talent: A qualitative assessment of the  existing executives is made to determine the type of executives’ talent available within the Organization. The performance of every executive is compared with the standard expected of him. His personal traits are also analyzed to estimate his potential for development.

3. Inventory of Executive Manpower. This inventory is prepared to obtain complete information about each executive. Data on the age, education, experience, health, test results and performance appraisal results are collected. This information is
maintained on cards or replacement tables for each executive. An analysis of this information will show the strengths as well as deficiencies of executives in certain functions related to the future needs of the Organization.

4. Establishing Training and Development programmes. The human resource department prepares comprehensive and well conceived programmes. The department identifies development needs and may launch specific courses in the
areas of leadership, decision-making, human relations, etc. It also recommends specific executive development programmes organized by well known Institutes. On the basis of recommendations, the top management nominates the executives to
participate in these programmes at the cost of the Company.

5. Evaluating Development Programmes: Considerable money, time and efforts are spent on executive development programmes. It is therefore; natural to find out to what extent the programmes objectives have been achieved. Programme evaluation will reveal the relevance of the development programmes and the changes that should be made to make these more useful to the Organization. Observation of the trainee’s behaviour, rating of the training elements, opinion surveys, interviews, and changes in productivity, quality, cost, etc. can be used to evaluate development programmes.

METHODS OF  MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT

Several methods are used to enhance the skill and competencies of the employees.
The most popular among them are:

In-Basket Technique

It provides trainees with a log of written text or information and requests, such as memos, messages, and reports, which would be handled by manger, engineer, reporting officer, or administrator.

Procedure of the In basket Technique
In this technique, trainee is given some information about the role to be played such as, description, responsibilities, general context about the role.

The trainee is then given the log of materials that make up the in-basket and asked to respond to materials within a particular time period.
After all the trainees complete in-basket, a discussion with the trainer takes place.In this discussion the trainee describes the justification for the decisions.
The trainer then provides feedback, reinforcing decisions made suitably or encouraging the trainee to increase alternatives for those made unsuitably.

Case Study:

It is a written description of an actual situation in the past in same organisation or somewhere else and trainees are supposed to analyze and give their conclusions in writing. This is another excellent method to ensure full and whole hearted participation of employees and generates good interest among them. Case is later discussed by instructor with all the pros and cons of each option. It is an ideal method to promote decision-making abilities within the constraints of limited data.

Role play:

Role playing is a device that forces trainees to assume different identities.

During a role play, the trainees assume roles and act out situations connected to the learning concepts. It is good for customer service and training. This method is also called ‘role-reversal’, ‘socio-drama’ or ‘psycho-drama’. Here trainees act out a given role as they would in a stage play. Two or more trainees are assigned roles in a given situation, which is explained to the group. There are no written lines to be said and, naturally, no rehearsals. The role players have to quickly respond to the situation that is ever changing and to react to it as they would in the real one. It is a method of human interaction which involves realistic behaviour in an imaginary or hypothetical situation. Role playing primarily involves employee-employer relationships, hiring, firing, discussing a grievance problem, conducting a post appraisal interview, disciplining a subordinate, or a salesman making presentation to a customer.

Sensitivity  training 

Sensitivity Training: This method is used basically to change the behaviour of the trainees through group process. The objective is to create increased understanding of the trainees about their own behaviour. This training develops the ability of individuals
to sense what others feel and think from their own point of view. Sensitivity training follows three steps.

● Unfreezing old values: In this stage, the trainee will be in a position to organize the inadequacy of old values and beliefs. Required support and guidance will be provided at this stage.
● Development of new values: The training environment, interactions with fellow trainees and participation in formal and informal discussions, trainers’ guidance and advices help the trainee to develop new values. The trainees are encouraged to experiment a range of new values and behaviours. The feedback is collected and discussed to modify the behavior of the trainee.
● Refreezing the new values: It involves allowing the trainee to practice their new behaviour and values at their work place. The success of this stage depends upon the opportunity one gets at the work place to practice the changed behaviour.

Beahviour modeling:

Behavior modeling is referred to as “matching” or “copying” or as “observational learning” or “imitation”, all of these terms implies that behavior is learned or modified through the observation of some other individual.

Coaching and mentoring

Coaching:

• “a process that enables learning and development to occur and thus performance to improve. To be a successful a Coach requires a knowledge and understanding of process as well as the variety of styles, skills and techniques that are appropriate to the context in which the coaching takes place”
• Coaching is based on formal reaction as per organizational training and learning requirement
• Last often when purpose of teaching is over and for short period

• When a company is seeking to develop its employees in specific competencies using performance management tools and involving the immediate manager

Mentoring:

• “off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking”
• Based on informal relation as per individual learning requirement
• Last for longer period of time

• When a company is seeking to develop its leaders or talent pool as part of succession planning

Job  rotation

To cross-train employees in a variety of jobs, some trainers move a trainee from job to job.

Simulation:

the simulation Method of training is most famous and core among all of the job training methods. in the simulation training method, trainee will be trained on the especially designed equipment or machine seems to be really used in the field or job. But, those equipment or machines are specifically designed for training a trainees were making them ready to handle them in the real field or job.  This method of planning is mostly used  where very expensive machinery or equipment used for performing Job or to handle  that job.

Example:- The simulation method has been using widely  for the purpose of training aeroplane pilots on aeroplane simulator to make them ready to handle an fly  aeroplane. Especially in Air force fighter pilots are getting trained on the jet fighters simulator. because the cost of aeroplane or jet fighter will be very expensive, hence employer may not allow directly to get trained on real equipment to avoid damage to equipment or machine or in sometimes may cause loss of  trainee life. To avoid all such risks by the employer giving training on simulator is safe.  (normally simulators for the purpose of training would be provided by the  manufacturer of original equipment).

Business games

Business games are the type of simulators that try to present the way an industry, company, organization, consultancy, or subunit of a company functions. Basically, they are based on the set of rules, procedures, plans, relationships, principles derived from the research. In the business games, trainees are given some information that describes a particular situation and are then asked to make decisions that will best suit in the favor of the company. And then the system provides the feedback about the impact of their decisions.

Business games simulate whole organization and provide much better perspective than any other training methods. They allow trainees to see how their decisions and actions impact on the related areas