Formal & Informal approaches to Management Development

Introduction

Management development is concerned with improving the performance of managers in their present roles, preparing them to take on greater responsibilities in the future and also developing their leadership skills. The organization can produce, mainly from within, a supply of managers better equipped for their jobs at all levels are the objective of management development. It was defined by Baldwin and Patgett (1994), quoted by Peters (2010:28), as ‘A complex process by which individuals learn to perform effectively in a management role’. There are two policies involved in management development named Formal & Informal approaches.

Formal Approaches to Management Development

Consist of process and events that are planned and provided by the organization are the Formal approaches to management development.  The identification of development needs should be based on this approach. This can be done systematically at development centers for producing personal development plans and learning contracts. The development needs identifying by the program of exercises, tests, and interviews, competency frameworks.  

Inputs in Formal Approaches	Outcomes in Formal Approaches
Planned experience, which includes job rotation, job enlargements, taking part in project teams or task groups and secondment outside the organization	The managers learn to manage mainly by managing
Coaching - A personal and usually one-to-one approach	Develop their skill and levels of competence
Mentoring – The process of using specially selected and individuals to provide guidance, pragmatic advice and continuing support	The person or persons allocated to them to learn and develop.
Action learning – managers develop their talent by exposing them to real problems	The managers analyze them, formulate recommendation and they take action.
Outdoor learning – getting teams of participants to carry out physical activities	Managers can act under pressure as team leaders or team members
Structured self-development	Following a self-directed learning programme set out in a personal development plan and agreed as a learning contract with the manager or a management development advice

Table 1 – Inputs & Outcomes of Formal Approaches

Informal approaches to Management Development

Informal approached to management development make use of the learning experiences managers encounter during the course of their everyday work. The managers are learning every time with an unusual problem, an unfamiliar task, move to a different job, and evolve new ways of dealing with the situation, success & failure events. Those learning named as experimental and reflective learning. Both learning ways will be to create effective successfully managers in the future.

Inputs in Informal Approaches	Outcomes in Informal Approaches
Performance management	Emphasizing self-assessment and the identification of development needs by getting managers to assess their own performance against agreed objectives and analyze the factors that contributed to effective or less effective performance
Self – Directed learning programs	Getting managers to produce their own personal development plans
Encouraging managers to discuss their problems and opportunities with their problems and opportunities with their managers, colleagues or mentors	Establish for themselves what they need to learn or be able to do

Table 2 - Inputs & Outcomes of Informal Approaches

Reference/Bibliography

Armstrong, M. (2012) Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 12th edition.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_development

Baldwin, T T and Patgett, M Y (1994) Management development: a review and a commentary, in (eds) C L Cooper and J T Roberston, Key Reviews in Management Development, New York, Wiley