Why Your Company Needs Management Development and How to Start

Key takeaways

Management development helps employees build the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to become effective managers.

• Employees who receive strong development support tend to stay with their organization longer, because management development programs often boost retention.

• Management development works best when you personalize it, sustain it over time, and align it with your organizational goals while blending knowledge, skills, and real‑world practice.

• You can encourage employee buy-in by highlighting their strengths, offering development pathways that foster a culture that values growth.

Discover the value of management development and how you can promote it in your workplace. If you’re ready to start providing employees with learning opportunities to help them gain in-demand skills to progress to the management level, Coursera for Business can provide valuable training materials in a wide range of areas, including Guided Projects and Professional Certificates. 

What is management development?

Management development is the process and training that creates successful and efficient managers. Management development programs may help employees gain or hone human and technical skills and gain knowledge and experience in areas that require greater expertise. The process is typically personalized to meet the needs of unique individuals, and you can implement it over time with continuous training. It also usually has a specific plan and goals, which, upon being met, are often reevaluated.

Management development can be a tool for developing entry-level employees into management material and for assisting current managers in becoming more effective. You can implement management development internally, formally, and informally, or have employees participate through third parties, such as colleges, universities, and private coaches and trainers.

Key elements of a management development program

To help employees prepare for leadership roles, effective management development programs typically incorporate several components, all of which should align with your overarching goals to ensure the program yields the results you want. Although every organization develops its own strategy, most programs combine education, skill development, and practical assistance.

Building organizational knowledge

Leaders inspire and motivate. They set the tone for their teams and contribute to the organization in various ways. To do so effectively, future leaders should have a solid understanding of how their company functions. Learning about the company's objectives, organizational structure, clientele, and workplace regulations is frequently part of this and helps future leaders understand why senior leadership makes decisions, understand how their work relates to the organization's larger priorities, and make well-informed decisions.

Strengthening core management skills

A combination of operational and interpersonal skills is necessary for management positions. Programs frequently address hiring procedures, performance management, scheduling, communication, team motivation, and conflict resolution. These abilities enable managers to confidently manage daily tasks and lead their teams.

Applying learning in workplace settings

Many organizations give employees opportunities to practice new skills through activities such as mentoring, job shadowing, or leading small projects. These experiences allow employees to apply what they’ve learned, receive feedback, and develop their leadership style in real-world settings.

Benefits of management development

The ultimate goal of management development is to create effective managers, but it can do so much more than that. When your company implements such programs, it benefits your organization and its employees in many ways. It provides employees with opportunities to expand and grow their careers, change career paths, earn higher salaries, seek new roles, and learn new skills. It can also help their overall sense of well-being because when an organization invests in its employees, they feel more positive about where they work.

This is also a benefit for the organization itself. Employees who feel good about where they work tend to stick around. So, programs like management training may lead to higher retention rates. Here are some other benefits of management development:

• Upskilling current employees

• Improving communication throughout your organization 

• Increasing employee engagement 

• Creating more competent, versatile, and confident managers

• Maintaining a pool of talent for when managers retire or leave their jobs

• Increasing productivity

• Developing a better understanding of the role of a manager 

• Improving decision-making across your company 

• Setting yourself apart from your competition when attracting new hires 

• Focusing on internal recruitment, mobility, and promotion

Benefits of internal recruitment and promotion

One of the most important benefits of management development is internal recruitment or promotion, which means that when you need a manager or leader in your organization, you can recruit or promote from your current talent pool. Some of the reasons for choosing internal recruitment rather than hiring from outside your company include:

• Saving money on recruitment expenses

• Boosting engagement among other employees who want to move up the career ladder

• Filling an opening immediately rather than reviewing external applicants

• Increasing retention rates

• Conducting easier onboarding

• Taking less risk when you hire someone you know, versus someone unfamiliar with the company

• Spending less time learning the company culture, something current employees already understand

Types of management development and training programs

You typically have two options for management development: internal programs or external training. For instance, you could, encourage employees to seek out management development offerings independently, and offer perks such as tuition assistance or reimbursement. Many colleges, universities, and private companies provide this type of training.

You can also implement a range of internal management training programs. Some ways to do this might include:

• Mentoring or shadowing: This allows employees to gain insights and knowledge from current managers and leaders.

• On-the-job training: This provides employees with a hands-on approach to management training.

• Cross-department training: With this method, employees can spend time observing and working in departments where they don't typically work to better understand all areas of your organization. This may also include a secondment, which is the assignment of an employee to a temporary role for training purposes.

• Coaching: This provides employees with one-on-one training and mentorship from a current manager or a professional coach.

• Learning and development programs: Companies with the resources to hire learning and development professionals can create formal in-house plans for management development.

Read more: Management vs. Leadership: What’s the Difference?

Management development concepts

From formal university programs to internal training programs in businesses, management development can encompass a range of concepts. Your management development plan can include anything you deem important to running your organization and achieving its goals. If you're not sure where to start, take a look at some common ideas:

• Leadership skills

• Motivation techniques

• Collaboration

• Decision-making and problem-solving

• Human resources

• Self-awareness

• Diversity and inclusion

• Process improvement

• Conflict resolution

• Delegation

• Time management

• General human skills

• Company-specific knowledge

• Policies, codes, and laws

• Communication, including active listening

How to encourage employees to participate in management development

It's ok if only some employees want to advance to a managerial position. For those who do, you'll discover ways to encourage your employees to participate.

Encourage all candidates, but especially those who are a natural fit. Employees who are good communicators, naturally inclined toward leadership, see the bigger picture, and can set goals and delegate tasks are typically effective managers.

Highlight their strengths and how this type of development can advance their career paths.

Additionally, bring the focus toward your company culture as a whole. When you instill a growth mindset in your employees, they become more likely to participate in programs such as management development.

It’s also a good idea to regularly gather feedback. Talk to your employees who participate in management development and ask what they like and what needs improvement. This can help you perfect your plans and attract more employees.

Personalizing management development, tracking, and proving results may also help excite your employees about training. You may also use positive reinforcement and enrichment of current job duties upon completion.

Finally, choose the training type that best suits your employees' needs. For example, some employees may respond better to asynchronous learning they can do on their own time, while others prefer to do training during work hours.

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