Management development program (part 1)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

MANAGING FOR SOCIETY, THE MANILA TIMES By Evelio G. Echavez

Management development program

I have been conducting training programs for many years. While working with a group of companies, I was a faculty member in a general yet comprehensive management course for executives, and in the training of middle management people. Our College, Baliuag University, has partnered with the Bulacan Chapter of the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP). Our partnership with this organization has excited me no end because of my work background, related training experience, academic preparation, and my teaching Strategic Human Resource Management. Moreover, I had attended an executive program abroad that had sparked my interest in human resource management. Jeffrey Pfeffer, the author of the book, Competitive Advantage through People, and one of our professors in the Stanford Executive Program, said that the companies that had the five best performing stocks during a 20-year period relied on how they manage their workforce and not on technology, patents, or strategic position, which used to be major sources of competitive advantage. Jim Collins, in his book, Good to Great, labeled as Level 5 Leaders CEOs who took over companies that had suffered from declining profits for 15 years and yet had made a remarkable turnaround, with their stocks growing at least three times the growth of the stock market. Without exception, the Level 5 CEOs were able to develop and select CEOs to replace them after they left the scene. The new CEOs were able to sustain the success started by their former bosses. From the foregoing, it is clear that in today’s competitive world, effective management leadership and a competent and highly motivated workforce have become necessary for companies to survive, grow and become profitable. This is why progressive companies are spending a lot of money in developing their manpower resources. One of the areas that they pay attention to is their manpower development program, where people who have been identified to have potential go through a combination of the following processes: coaching, job rotation, posting in a staff position for training and development, and assignment to committees and task forces. If the immediate supervisor is willing to spend time with his or her people, coaching is a very effective manpower development technique. Job rotation helps a manager learn and do the work of a manager who handles another function. It helps them understand the peculiarities of other jobs and appreciate other managers more. A third process is to create a position, such as a staff assistant of a manager or vice president, to give the trainee access to the different sections and activities of the unit but following a planned training schedule. The manager can also be assigned to a task force or committee where he or she can participate actively and expand his or her knowledge about work and the company. (Continued next week)