Released on: December 17, 2007, 7:48 am

Press Release Author: Developing People

Industry: Human Resources

Press Release Summary: How much money was spent this year on Management Training and
Development and what were the benefits?

Press Release Body: To be able to measure the benefits from any Management Training
and Development it is important to first be clear about what the objectives of the
programme are and what particular people issues need to be resolved by the
programme. For example, do managers need to:

. Have a greater impact on the performance of the business?
. Improve motivation and retention to reduce staff turnover?
. Be more proactive in developing their successors?
. Reduce the number of poor hires that they make?

Once the organisation is clear about what issues that need to be resolved, the
benefits can be more easily measured. Evaluating and measuring the effectiveness of
Management Training and Development programmes and interventions can be achieved in
a number of ways.

'Hard' measures

The impact Management Training has on the performance of the Business, Function or
Team can be readily measured using a range of 'hard' operational or financial
performance measures such as:

. EBIT
. Staff turnover costs
. Recruitment costs
. Opportunity costs
. Customer service
. Business growth

Benchmarks should be set at the start of the training so that improvements can be
easily tracked.

'Soft' measures

The impact that the interventions have had on behaviour and culture within the
organisation can be assessed through a range of 'soft' or more subjective measures.
For example:

. The impact the interventions have had on an individual manager's behaviour can be
assessed from observations and feedback from others (for example via a 360 degree
leadership questionnaire) as well as on their ability to achieve their personal
targets.

. The impact the training has had on teams, functions and the organisation's
culture, relationships, cohesiveness, morale etc can be assessed by using team
analysis tools, and cultural and staff surveys and customer questionnaires.

Whatever Management Training and Development your organisation undertakes it is
vital that the outcomes are clearly defined at the start and measures put in place
to ensure that your investment pays off.


Web Site: http://developingpeople.co.uk

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