Importance, Programmes and Limitations of Management Development

Table of Content:

Importance of Management Development

The importance of management development is as follows:

1) It enhances the leadership qualities and problem-solving abilities of managers.

2) It facilitates the development of those trainees who have a good grasp of the fundamental principles of management, possess the capability of working in a team, leading a team as well as coordinating the worker’s activities with time, resources and machinery to become an effective supervisor.

3) It enhances the efficiency of supervisors in training and developing their workers, both old and new. This is done to make them competent to perform their present and future tasks to adapt according to the changing strategies and goals of the organization.

4) It promotes and maintains good relations between managers and labour by fostering a better understanding of organisational rules and policies, including correctly interpreting and implementing the collective bargaining agreements.

5) It promotes and helps to maintain excellent employee relations by providing training about interpersonal relationships; inspiring them to achieve better performance by understanding their strengths and weaknesses, as well as personal characteristics; and by encouraging them to maintain proper attitude towards their work.

Management Development Programmes

Organisations invest a huge amount in various development programmes for the betterment of the employees as well as the company. This investment is done in the form of money, resources and time. It is the right of the organisation to know whether these programmes are beneficial to them or not. So, the company should set specific standards to evaluate the proper functioning of these development processes and make sure that the output received from these programmes should be more than the input.

Thus, there are certain methods by which the management can assess these improvement agendas. Some of them are as follows:

  1. The investment is made to achieve organisational targets such as an increase in production quality and proper utilisation of resources (both human as well as physical).
  2. The contribution made by the development programme is to improve the performance of the employees.
  3. Returns on the investment made on various development programmes.

Limitations of Management Development

Though a company receives many benefits from these development processes there are several drawbacks to the administration development procedure.

Some of its limitations are as under:

1) Lack of Top Management Support

Every function taking place in an organisation needs the guidance and supervision of the higher authority. Without the cooperation and coordination of higher authority, the accomplishment of goals becomes a bit difficult. In simple words, it can be said that the support of top management is essential for any development programme to become successful. There are two simple ways in which top management can help in making any development process successful.

These are as follows:

i) Taking the initiative to participate vigorously in any development plan of the establishment.

ii) Creating a suitable atmosphere for the trainees during the management development programme.

2) Refusal to Change

Change is the necessity of time. Thus, to attain the organisational objectives, the changes have to be accepted by all the employees. However, things do not move so easily. There are very few competent employees who can simply adapt themselves according to the changes in the organisation. On the other hand, there may exist certain individuals who resist modifying themselves. But, for proper implementation of any growth programme and to improve the working style of the authority, these employees need to adjust to the changing situations.

3) Miscommunication

The organisation’s vision for development must be clear to all employees. For this, constant communication is needed among the employees throughout the organisation. Any kind of miscommunication about the changes taking place in the company may adversely affect the positive outcome of management development.

4) Lack of an Action Plan

Action plans are very essential for incorporating any kind of business change. Without action plans, the organisation can’t move forward in the business process. Action plans give the right direction to the organisation on which they can successfully achieve their predefined objectives and meet the deadlines. Any flaws in the action plan can cost heavily to the organisation as well as the growth of its staff. Thus, frequent meetings can be conducted to oversee the progress of the action plan and opportunities should be given to the employees to express their ideas about the new developmental strategies.

5) Absence of Job Security

When an organisation is unable to provide work security and steadiness to its employees it lowers the morale of employees and hampers their smooth functioning, which in turn negatively affects the development of the management staff.

6) Frozen Supervisors

Sometimes, limited growth opportunities are available in the company which keeps the managers frozen. It adversely affects the management’s development as their chances of getting a promotion are very less. They feel as if they are fenced in within their job responsibility and are unable to get any enrichment in their working experience.

7) Social Inhibition

The absence of job security and fewer chances of promotion forces make the employee stressed to think about other aspects of his life such as family, friends, career, future, etc., which in turn hinders his development.

8) Stressed Industrial Relations

Cordial industrial relations between the higher authorities and the employees are very crucial for the overall development of managers. Though, because of their busy schedule, superiors do not get enough time to motivate their subordinates which may create a relation of fear in the employees, and hence their chances of growth naturally diminish. But, if the relationship between the two is smooth and adjusting, it eventually creates a suitable environment for their mutual development. Therefore, if managers can build cordial relations and give a congenial environment to their subordinates, they can easily retain good and quality workers for a longer period.

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By Arya