Chronicle Editor
Fredrick Qaphelani Mabhikwa
THE growth and success of organisations depend mainly on the efficiency and effectiveness of management. For management to perform well, there is a need for continuous academic and professional development. Accordingly, management development does not only refer to improvement in job performance but also to enhancement in knowledge, personality, attitude, behaviour, and soft skills of an executive. It focuses more on the executive’s personal growth.
Flippo has observed that “executive/management development includes the process by which managers and executives acquire not only skills and competency in their present jobs but also capabilities for future managerial tasks of increasing difficulty and scope”.
The process of management development has a strong element of succession planning as it seeks to identify individuals within the organisation with the required potential and prepare them for higher positions in the future. Succession planning ensures the availability of a sufficient number of qualified staff who can take over in case of contingencies as and when the need arises. Unfortunately, some executives think that succession planning exposes them to being replaced by highly qualified young minds. With proper management development, stagnation is prevented by exposing the executive to the latest concepts and techniques in their respective areas of specialisation. Old thought processes are replaced by new analytical skills. Management development provides opportunities for staff to fulfil their career aspirations, comprehend the challenges of human relations, and improve their abilities in handling organisational politics.
There are various methods of staff development. These methods cannot be applied uniformly because organisations differ, and a method that works well in one organisation may not necessarily work in another. On-the-job training methods are by far the most commonly used in training for all levels of personnel. On-the-job training seeks to bring employees to a minimum acceptable standard of performance in the shortest possible time. With on-the-job training, workers learn to master the operations involved in the actual job situation under a supervisor who conducts this training. On-the-job training involves coaching, where a mentor guides their subordinate on various methods and skills required to do the job, and in the process, the subordinate acquires the requisite skills and diversified knowledge to grow.
The understudy method is a very critical staff development method. With this method, a person is specifically designated as the heir apparent. The understudy method makes the trainee an assistant to the current job holder so that they learn by experience, observation, and imitation. The benefit of this method is that training is conducted in a practical and realistic situation. If not well handled, the method may perpetuate mistakes and deficiencies of existing managerial practices, and in certain cases, the understudies are frequently neglected by their mentors. Position rotation broadens the background of the trainee in the organisation. Rotation of the trainee periodically from one position to another allows them to acquire a full background of the organisation as the training takes place in the actual situation. If not well handled, rotations can become less useful as specialisation proceeds, when there are few people who have the breadth of technical knowledge and skills to effectively move from one functional area to another.
Attendance at conferences and seminars is crucial for management development. In this method, managers expand their knowledge bases and attain improved methods of dealing with the challenges that are common subjects of discussion at these meetings. It is therefore critical for organisations to facilitate the attendance of conferences and seminars by managers.
Learning visits are a good exposure for learning in management development. It is important for executives to see and learn how sister organisations are conducting their business, especially best practices. Organisations should budget for these learning visits locally and across borders.
Professional and academic growth is important for management development. Organisations should provide executives with favourable conditions and incentives to further their academic studies and belong to their professional bodies. Executives should also belong to their professional bodies for their professional growth and networking. For example, finance professionals in Zimbabwe might belong to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ), the Chartered Institute of Secretaries (CIS), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), just to name a few.
Management development, being a predominantly educational process, is a continuous and lifelong process. It is not a one-off training programme but an ongoing continuous programme throughout the career of an executive or manager.
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