Before you start rolling your eyes and start thinking to yourself “Seriously, another article about this!”. Stop to consider your relationship with either a current or past manager.
Has it always been smooth sailing? Was there room for improvement to be as effective as he could as manager and (hopefully) leader?
If the answer to the last question is yes, then there is a pretty good chance that they struggled to create a culture of learning for themselves. They weren’t aware that they had missed the mark somewhere along the line.
Here are 3 tips to consider when training or ‘grooming’ a future manager:
1. Training – make it a practice
Training takes time! This is a marathon-not a sprint!. It’s more than it just being job-specific. Help your future managers by using enduring training techniques to help groom and prepare them for their new managerial role.
Gamified training is one of the many popular techniques being used where companies are able to obtain insights on their managers-to-be by placing them in a playful context. Participants are more relaxed to show themselves as they really are which will help gain a better understanding of your manager’s thought processes.
2. Test their decision making abilities
Decision making is a core skill that every manager will need to use at some stage in their career and usually consist of the following steps:
Identifying the problem, opportunity or challenge.
Developing potential responses & solutions
Evaluating the benefits and associated costs with the implementation of solutions
Selecting the most suitable solution or response to address the issue
The implementation stage & finally - Reviewing the impact of each decision and amending the course of action as required
Why not test their decision making skills by thinking outside the box..? Reinforcing the learning from failures and building resilience?
Create training activities that simulate real-life decisions and that are based on various scenarios. This will serve as the basis for productive discussions about how to handle various situations and help them prepare to make informed decisions.
Furthermore, understanding your manager better will also help best develop their skills which will only serve to benefit the employees that make part of their team.
3. Lastly (and my personal favorite): Provide Mentors
Here are just a few benefits of having a mentoring programme:
For one thing, it helps create a learning culture which if done correctly can reduce the cost of learning.
It can serve to promote professional and personal development which can increase productivity and engagement, decrease stress and anxiety, increase job satisfaction and therefore foster a culture of overall wellbeing for your managers and employees.
Creating a mentoring programme will help your future leaders benefit from the pearls of wisdom only senior leaders can offer.
Start by scheduling regular meetings to discuss different topics. This will allow more senior leaders to be actively part in shaping the future of the company.
Mentoring programmes should make part of a business strategy with specific focus on the most important aspect of an organization's asset - PEOPLE.
Mentors do not only provide support for new hires but help in creating an open, inviting culture that encourages all workers to contribute with their ideas and unleash the potential of your organization.
Productivity & Wellbeing Director
You might also like this video on reinventing corporate learning