Building a Management

Development Program:
8 Best Practices
If your company is building, revising or overhauling a management or
leadership development program, here are eight best practices to consider
on your way to success.

Dizzying economic conditions, changing demographics, an

impending “brain drain,” and a need to enhance employee retention
levels are just some of the issues driving organizations of all sizes
to explore ways of ensuring the readiness and stability of their
“There are workforce. If your company hasn’t yet embarked on a leadership or
management development initiative, it’s likely that you will in the
several near future.

These programs are usually significant undertakings and therefore

characteristics highly visible within a company. They may target existing, middle or
new managers, emerging leaders, high-potentials or executives.
common among Regardless of the intended audience, there are several
characteristics common among successful management
successful development programs. While every situation is unique and you’ll
need to find a solution that works best for your organization’s
culture and goals, there are several best practices that can be
management employed on your way to success.

development 1. Identify who is going to participate in your program.

Instead of spending on come-one, come-all programs, many
programs.” organizations are taking a more prescriptive approach that seeks to
match high-potential employees with development initiatives that
tackle very specific strategic business issues. This means
programs are targeted to select employees with the highest
likelihood of being able to impact business initiatives.

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 2. Base your program on a competency model.
Before any training or development activities can take place, it is
critical to identify the skills and competencies that will be developed
as a result of the effort. Core leadership competencies like
communication, critical thinking, negotiation, decision making and
business ethics should provide the foundation of your training and
development efforts.

Whether your organization has an established competency model

that has been institutionalized or not, it is critical to spend some
“Content is time defining the management and leadership skills that program
participants are expected to develop.
king. Blended
3. Involve senior management.
Without the full support and involvement from executive leadership,
learning should your program will fail—or at least it won’t be as successful as it
otherwise could be. Top management must be involved in the
rule the day.” development of the curriculum, the selection of attendees, and in
the presentation of the program. Executive support is critical for the
success and long-term relevance of any management or leadership
development program.

4. Content is king. Blended learning should rule the day.

To be effective, the curriculum that makes up your management
development program must be as audience-specific as possible.
This means providing learning content that is not only relevant to
the workplace and engaging, but also appropriate for the
knowledge and experience levels of the participants. For example,
it would be unwise to use the same learning content for new
managers as with experienced executives.

In terms of modality, blended learning is the answer. With the right

blended learning program, you can integrate e-learning content with
interactive group exercises, work samples, expert feedback and
performance support—in short, the activities provided by high-
quality experiential courses and the most efficient way to drive
learning results. Well-architected blended learning programs are
engaging, efficient and effective. They result in high levels of
learner satisfaction and true mastery of business-critical skills.

5. Don’t underestimate the importance of financial acumen.

It is stunning how many managers and leaders don’t have a solid
understanding of how their organizations make and spend money.
All too often individuals are promoted to positions with little

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(866) 326-7635  (607) 330-3200
www.ecornell.com  ecornell@ecornell.com
 knowledge of basic financial terminology or, more importantly, what
it means for their work. Having a firm grasp of the economic and
business models and financial metrics used within the organization
is critical to long-term success because it directly impacts just about
every high-level decision. Financial acumen should be a core
competency your training program works to develop.

5. Integrate feedback, development planning and coaching.

360-degree survey tools provide feedback enabling leaders to
“The first realize strengths and areas for development based on their own
and other’s perceptions. Gathering feedback from participants’
version of any direct supervisors, direct reports and peers can easily be facilitated
online with comprehensive feedback reports.
comprehensive
Feedback should be delivered in tandem with opportunities for one-
on-one coaching and mentoring. In addition, participants should be
management expected to develop individual development plans that address
needed competencies. The individual development plan then
training becomes the blueprint for the participant’s ongoing management
development efforts.
program is
6. Leverage “action learning” as part of the process.
Action learning is an approach whereby participants learn by
unlikely to be addressing real-life issues that are impacting their company. The
format is built around groups of colleagues working on a project or
perfect.” problem together with the goal of accomplishing a work-related
initiative.

As a result, the participants are able to practice new skills, work as

a team, and receive and provide feedback. Perhaps most
importantly, they do so while exercising their new knowledge and
skills to solve a current workplace issue.

7. Adjust, adapt and improve over time.

The first version of any comprehensive leadership or management
training program is unlikely to be perfect. It is important to
continually modify the program based on the feedback received—
not only from the participants, but from their managers as well. By
continually improving the program, it will meet the needs of the
organization, even as the organization changes.

8. Measure and track outcomes.

While each organization determines the level and extent to which
the results of a leadership development program are measured, a

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 variety of tools can be used to determine the impact of the program:
• Skill improvements as measured by pre- and post-
assessments.
“Leadership and • Changes in perceived skills as measured by feedback
tools over time.
management • The number of participants retained and promoted
over time.
development
However you decide to evaluate the outcomes of your development
efforts, the measurements should be established prior to the start of
programs
the program. Such measures will allow you to make appropriate
adjustments to future programs and assist in demonstrating the
literally feed impact of the effort on strategic objectives.

and energize the Applying Best Practices to Your Situation

Leadership and management development programs literally feed
and energize the people-power of organizations. They can require
people-power of substantial levels of effort, time and investment to build and
maintain over time. They also involve people employed at the
organizations.” highest levels. They are very visible within an organization and
therefore highly scrutinized. As such, it would be beneficial for
anyone charged with developing and managing an enterprise
program to understand best practices and how they can be
employed to guarantee success.

About eCornell
eCornell, a subsidiary of Cornell University, provides many of the world’s leading
organizations with online professional and executive development in the areas of
leadership and management development, human resources, financial
management and hospitality management. eCornell’s proven course development
model and asynchronous instructor-led course delivery provide for engaging,
rigorous and interactive learning. The company has delivered over 120,00 courses
to more than 35,000 students in almost 200 countries. For more information visit
http://www.ecornell.com.

Let’s Get Started

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Leadership & Development Management Training
High-Potentials & Executive Development Financial Acumen of Managers
HR Management & Development Project Management

Answer 3 short questions at www.ecornell.com/ent-contact-us to let us know more

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950 Danby Road, Suite 150  Ithaca, NY 24850

(866) 326-7635  (607) 330-3200
www.ecornell.com  ecornell@ecornell.com