Management courses can help to address business challenges

What business challenges are solved with Management Training?

When all is considered, outstanding management and leadership is the core of a good business or organisation. The strategic decisions, the implementation of that strategy and the ability to invest, review, hire and keep staff motivated and engaged; all are the product of good leadership and management.

Conversely, when those skills aren't in place a business or organisation can foul fall of all of the reverse of those things - poor strategy and execution, ineffective culture, poor productivity and could face tribunal action from staff or even closure.

Most organisations investing in management courses are sharpening a department, a layer of management or culture, or they have ongoing training arrangements that keep that sharpness permanent.

Here are the business and organisational challenges that Impellus can address through leadership and management training at all levels:

Organisational structure

The organisational structure is how the people are set up to work and how they go about making decisions about what to do to achieve the objectives of their roles. Do they work as a collection of individuals or a team? Are there silos (them and us) or do they all see the bigger picture? How does management continually reinforce this?

• Senior managers must understand the organisational vision and be able to communicate it clearly and continuously
• Line managers need to be able to understand it and ensure their team(s) are capable of working in line with the organisational values to achieve the vision
• If this vision is not clear - managers are unable to make good decisions and this means employees make poor or inconsistent decisions on a day-to-day level
• Whatever happens day-to-day becomes ‘culturally normal’ which sets behaviours, expectations and can even have effects on the legal interpretation of employment contracts.

Improved productivity

Productivity is the amount of output generated by a team. It can be measured in many ways and often financially

• When people work together better and with more understanding they are able to generate better results more quickly and with fewer problems. This has a huge financial consideration and can also improve quality and service for clients
• Teams that understand how they work best together and are aware of the ‘bigger picture’ are more productive
• Productivity is influenced by management and leadership capability, and the tools and technology used by the organisation.

Agility

Agility is the capability of an organisation to make good decisions and enact them quickly.

• Companies don’t actually decide upon, or do anything – it’s the management and their teams that do that
• Good senior management is able to make much better decisions and take all factors and stakeholders into account
• They’re able to enact decisions and trust line managers to deliver them
• Good agility is a huge competitive advantage. Organisations that are not agile may ultimately even risk their existence (Blockbuster, Kodak)
• Managers encourage and are capable of managing openness, proactivity and innovation.

Organisational changes and growth

All organisations are going to grow, contract or go through leadership changes at some point. These events can cause disruption and problems.

• When organisations are growing there are challenges around new teams, roles, ‘silos’ forming and dilution of the organisational vision
• New people and teams need a lot of management guidance to become productive and successful
• If managers don’t understand how to build or develop teams then people issues over some seemingly trivial things may take years to dissipate
• A poor manager will not be able to create the culture the organisation is after
• ‘Mergers’ and acquisitions bring about myriad unseen challenges at a corporate and day-to-day level. Managers need to be skilled to deal with these
• These organisational changes can even lead to issues around branding and customer confusion costing new and repeat business
• During times of change and uncertainty people fear losing their jobs even if they are safe. Poor managers are unable to consider how staff may be perceiving this
• Adjusting to change avoids large-scale unseen costs for years into the future
• Succession planning when senior managers move on brings significant risks which all managers need to be 'onboard' with to handle.

Staff morale

Staff morale includes their happiness, well-being and engagement with the role and the organisation. When it is generally high, organisations have a better chance of being more productive, resilient, innovative and financially successful. Good managers understand how to create a culture where there is purpose and high morale.

• When morale is high organisations not only win the benefits above but will reduce the likelihood of people problems and staff attrition
• High morale needs to be managed and maintained for it to be ‘culturally normal’
• High morale delivers engagement, inspiration and commitment
• A culture of training helps to attract and  keep people who are keen to improve skills or develop
• Good morale means organisations are less likely to face ‘active disengagement’ – where people become so disengaged they deliberately start acting against the best interests of the company.

Staff attrition

Losing employees has a significant cost to organisations. The more skilled, qualified or specialist the people are, the greater the impact of losing them.

• Staff can lose motivation very quickly when they don’t feel they are helped, appreciated, or lack purpose – all traits of poor management
• Organisations spend a lot of money on employment fees, the time spent recruiting people and on the training of new staff. The quicker the staff rotate, the more this cost rises
• Often “staff leave managers, not jobs” because many people go to another similar role where they believe conditions will suit them better
• When people leave, others having increased stress and pressure at work which can lead to further problems around illness, well-being, further attrition and people problems.

People problems

When there are problems between employers and employees there can be big ramifications and problems can manifest themselves in many ways. Good management and leadership plays a critical role in reducing these issues (or avoiding them all together).

• When problems occur it takes a significant amount of time to resolve them. If they can’t be resolved internally it may be that the employee takes the company to an employment tribunal which has a time and resources cost for the business even if they win the case
• If an employer loses their case the fines at a tribunal can be significant. If the case is brought against a manager then it’s going to be seen as a more serious case
• Going to a tribunal, and especially losing a case can be anywhere been bad and disastrous for reputation / PR. It can be reported in the media, spread across social media and is kept on record
• Tribunal cases may be disclosed in tenders for business so may hamper business growth on top of the cost of the case
• Dealing with individual manager’s poor performance or communication skills can have an immediate impact
• Ensuring managers understand how to effectively communicate, engage, and motivate their people at a deep level has a significant impact.

Ensuring the organisation has the right skills to function - skills gap

Organisations need to review their managers and staff to ensure they have the skills to function and meet their future objectives and vision.

• A ‘skills gap’ is the difference between what the organisation needs and the human resources it currently has in place
• An organisation that is serious about investing in skills and development is much more likely to attract and keep the most talented and motivated staff
• This forms a key part of succession planning for senior management
• Poor managers misplace loyalty in staff and defend old skills rather than developing people to do things in a better way which leads to problems around productivity, culture and productivity.

Other motivations for leadership training

Other motivations are usually driven where organisations have a fundamental understanding of these issues and challenges and their structure then pushes them to make decisions.

• When tendering for work some client organisations will ask how the organisation goes about ensuring the quality of its management and training (and proof of training) and qualification forms a large part of that
• Management training can ensure that organisations keep to quality standards and IIP (Investors in People) standards
• When organisations have been given a training budget and need to invest it in the best possible manner
• They have funds in the Apprenticeship Levy pot which they are looking to invest in the best way possible
• Where professionals need to be able to show that they have completed a certain amount of CPD (Continuous Professional Development).

Impellus, one of the UK's largest ILM-Approved Training Centres, has compiled this information from client feedback. By following up on course attendance and keeping in touch with clients, our Account Management team is able to record the impact that leadership training has had on the organisation and how the management courses have helped to address challenges.