According to research on what’s new in HR for 2014, “business success depends on line managers” (Mercer). Corporate executives agree. A paper published in 2006 by The Economist Intelligence Unit reports: “Thirty-five percent of executives in companies with revenues of over $1 billion spend 30 – 30% of their time on people management and another 35% spend 20% of their time on people management. In his autobiography, Jack!, former General Electric CEO, Jack Welch, wrote that he spent half of his time developing his people.
In my experience, here is a short list of strategies that I have used to develop line managers:
- Identify training needs
- Create targeted training workshops that are interactive, include real-life case studies and role plays, and last just an hour or two
- Conclude training workshops by asking participants what they learned
- Start subsequent workshops by asking participants how they applied their learning
- Facilitate weekly or bi-monthly peer coaching sessions
- Create job rotations, apprenticeships, internships and mentoring programs
- Provide 360 degree assessment and feedback
- Offer executive coaching
- Develop job aids such as checklists, tip sheets, wallet cards and flow charts
- Provide a library of podcasts, books, educational videos and online training
- Give leaders down time to think, plan and be creative
- Encourage leaders to do volunteer work
I’m curious. What strategies do you use to develop line managers that are the most effective?
About the author: Judy Lindenberger is the President of The Lindenberger Group, an award-winning human resources consulting firm, located near Princeton, NJ. They are experts in career coaching, customized training workshops, online training programs, mentoring, 360-degree assessment and feedback, HR audits, employee handbooks, and more. Learn more about them at www.lindenbergergroup.com.
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