Sometimes, it’s hard to tell whether a statistic should astound you or not. And unfortunately, that’s the case with the dismal state of management training in the U.S. As of 2024, around 30% of companies offered no sort of instruction for employees promoted into leadership positions. Furthermore, roughly 50% of managers boasting over a decade of experience claim to have had nine or fewer hours of management training during that time. But no matter which side you fall on, understanding better management training tips can help prevent future issues.
That’s exactly why we’ve put together this short list of key focus areas for management training. So, if you’re looking to promote an employee anytime in the near future, make sure you at least understand how to employ these seven principles. That way, you not only see the best results but also set that person up for a successful career in leadership.
Key Management Training Tips for New Leaders
1. Plan and Set Objectives
SMART goals have become such a common theme in business that you might feel the concept is overplayed. But that’s only because they’re such an important aspect of execution and successful ventures. Without these helpful guidelines directing the path of a project, there’s little to no way to determine at the end whether it’s been successful. If you haven’t heard the acronym, SMART, before now, make sure you memorize the key principles.
- S – Specific
- M – Measurable
- A – Achievable
- R – Relevant
- T – Time-bound
If you set out at the beginning of your management training planning with these points in mind, your results will almost inevitably be better than if you hadn’t. However, if you fail to implement SMART goals into the process, you might easily find yourself at the end without any firm metric that lets you know whether the training worked.
So, among other management training tips, this first one might be most important. Because if you don’t plan and set objectives from the very beginning, the entire process could end up accidentally successful at best or disastrous at worst.
2. Establish Clear Expectations
If SMART goals operate more on the employer side of the fence, establishing clear expectations works directly for the benefit of the management trainee. After all, they should know exactly what they’re signing up for before jumping head-first into leadership at your company. That’s one reason why it’s nothing short of staggering that 30% of companies fail to train their managers at all. Throwing a new leader into the deep end and telling them to swim begs for poor outcomes.
However, if employees you’ve chosen to promote into higher positions know exactly what that entails, and what you expect them to be able to accomplish, they themselves have guidelines for performance. That way, if they lack certain skills or need instruction in key areas, they recognize it beforehand. And as such, they can develop those capabilities in advance, working to become a great manager before ever advancing to the actual position.
As a part of the entire process, this management training tip helps the trainee understand whether this shift is right for them. And then, moving forward, it acts as a sort of constant guide, helping them understand what areas require development.
3. Measure Results
Those in charge of the aspects of management training program must ensure they measure progress and advancements throughout the process. Already, ensuring goals remain measurable acts as a central aspect of setting objectives. However, ensuring this measurement actually occurs is central to achieving great results with the training itself.
In simpler words, if you set goals that are measurable but fail to track progress, you won’t have a way to determine if the efforts were successful. Furthermore, you won’t have meaningful way to discuss the outcomes of the training with the new manager.
Unfortunately, the fact that individuals with over a decade of management experience have less than nine hours of training speaks poorly of this aspect. Admittedly, the following is nothing short of assumption. However, it seems that management training often amounts to throwing several videos or lessons at a potential leader and never following up. That is, assuming they got the gist of the training and automatically promoting them into positions they have no business holding. (I know this from personal experiences with former companies).
So, all that said, make sure you track progress and measure results of management training. Otherwise, you’re only setting the trainee and your organization up for failure.
4. Provide Constructive Feedback
Throughout the duration of the management training period, you should offer constructive feedback to help direct the individual. Naturally, this follows successful measurement of growth or lack thereof. So, if you fail to track results then providing accurate or helpful feedback won’t be easy. So, you should recognize by now that each these management training tips flows into the next. Setting goals naturally leads to clear expectations and measuring results, which then move toward feedback.
If you truly want to help the employee succeed in their new position, it isn’t enough simply to train them once and step away. You need to make sure the instruction has given them the ability to handle tasks and issues that might arise. And of course, you can’t prepare for every potential. But you can teach them how to think critically in crisis situations, so that they have the ability to find solutions when necessary.
Providing critical feedback helps streamline the rest of the training, that way they don’t end up wasting time on aspects they’ve already mastered. Helping them focus in on key areas still needing development is the best way to make the experience positive, meaningful, and effective.
5. Use a Mix of Training and Coaching
When promoting new managers, your organization should employ both training and coaching. In this context, you should understand the nuances of each.
- Training usually consists of pre-developed courses, programs or material that offers the same instruction to each individual.
- Coaching refers to much more personalized instruction, usually on a one-on-one basis. It might consist of mentoring, specific task development, or other forms of instructor-led activities.
In simpler words, training is for everyone and coaching is for a specific individual. If you hope to achieve the best results for your trainees, you should develop an appropriate mix of both methods. That way, your new leaders have the opportunity to learn under someone who can help them grow in ways specific to their job and capabilities.
6. Include Extensive Instruction On Policies
Managers and other company leaders need to become intimately familiar with organizational policies. After all, they’re in the position of directing others, and as such, become responsible for enforcing those guidelines. Creating a positive work environment for all employees should be at the forefront of every leaders’ mind. So, if they allow those in their charge to shirk policies, they basically assent to problematic or even dangerous situations.
At the heart of this issue is the trust that the organization places in its leaders. Those few individuals hold the responsibility to ensure a safe working environment that treats all employees with dignity. So, managers in training absolutely need to be brought up-to-date on company policies and procedures. That way, if they’re faced with difficult situations, they know how they should proceed.
7. Train Core Management Skills
Some people think managers are those who know how to properly conduct processes in a company. But a far better answer is that they’re those who know how to conduct people. Yes, company leaders need to understand the different processes – to an extent. However, their primary job is helping organize, motivate, and oversee the individuals making those processes happen effectively.
As such, an indispensable part of any management training program needs to focus on core skills related to leading others. That includes aspects like:
- Motivation
- Conflict Resolution
- Planning and Execution
- Communication
- Delegation
Of course, these only represent a handful of the necessary traits leaders exhibit. And some skills can only be build through experience rather than indirect training. However, implementing an awareness of these capabilities throughout the instruction process and providing opportunity for practice remains vital.
While each of the proposed management training tips has a role to play in the process, you must not forget to implement this one. After all, someone who knows how to lead processes is a great worker. But those who know how to lead people make great managers.
Get Started with Your Management Training
Of course, we’ve already mentioned that management training requires coaching – personalized instruction. But we also believe that different resources like online management training courses can help individuals advance the skills and knowledge they need to lead well.
VTR Learning offers multiple courses covering different aspects of leadership and management. In fact, our courses cast the learner as an intern at a fictional company called Central Products. That way, they get to see principles play out in a lifelike setting, the same way they might in the real world.
So, if you’re searching for a great resource to help advance your own skills or those of your management trainees, check out our shop today!
Last Updated:
![How Machine Learning Works for Cybersecurity [4 Ways]](/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Importance-of-Machine-Learning-in-Cybersecurity.png)
