Developing your Managers
If you have a business plan, the aims and objectives of your organisation should be clearly stated. Once objectives have been established, it is high quality management that will ensure that they are achieved.
Specific performance targets help to establish the underlying purpose of your management development activities. These need to be clearly defined from the start so that you can judge the return on your investment at a later stage.
Let's say, for example, your objective for the next year, is to increase sales by 20%.
To achieve this goal there will obviously need to be an increased sales effort. But you must define what is you want all your managers to do to deliver on this essential goal of our business strategy, in terms of skills, attitudes and abilities.
So what will a human resources manager and production manager, for example, contribute to achieve the goal of a 20% increase in turnover?
The human resource manager might need to design better job evaluations to assess sales staff performance. The production manager might need to increase stock levels to reflect expected increase in sales. So overall, everybody is working towards the common goal of increasing turnover.
A characteristic of successful companies is where staff and organisational objectives are closely aligned and integrated.
Taking the time out to plan WILL save you money in the long run. And having plans in place enables the management development process to be consistent with the business needs.
So, if you want to increase profitability by 20%, you need to decide what we need in terms of managerial knowledge, skills and attitudes, to get there.
Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has revealed the most effective management development addresses the twin goals of sustaining current business performance whilst developing future activities. Don't take your eye off the ball by being too focused on the future.