At this point, we’ve looked at the three major reasons why managers don’t manage: they are uncomfortable with their role and responsibilities; they lack confidence in their decisions; or they simply don’t know what to do. It is also problematic when they are isolated from the knowledge, experience and support of other managers.
According to Laurence Karsh, the President of SHL Americas, an organization’s human capital is its most important asset. The positive impact made by a single motivated manager can reverberate positively within businesses of any size. Conversely, the burden of people performing below par — the hours spent correcting mistakes, the money wasted on unproductive performance, and the costs of having to recruit and train replacement staff — take a powerfully negative toll on the bottom line.
As professionals who are interested in or responsible for ensuring that your managers have the training and resources necessary to meet the needs of employees, the challenge is to find accessible and effective management training that will build their comfort, confidence and capabilities.
In a survey conducted by the Center for Learning and Performance Technologies in 2017, over 5,000 managers were asked to rate the usefulness of 12 work-related learning methods. The least-valued ways of learning? Classroom training (essentially lecture and death by PowerPoint) and e-learning. The top two most valued ways of learning? Self-organized and self-managed forms of learning.
This is supported by research that resulted in the 70:20:10 Model, which found that approximately:
- 70% of learning comes from experience, experimentation and reflection;
- 20% of learning derives from working with others; and
- 10% of learning comes from planned learning solutions and reading.
The classic leadership development program, conducted in physical isolation from the organization and outside of its operational context, needs to be replaced by experiences that build in real work, risk and accountability, intentional networking, exposure, collaboration, just-in-time-learning, and on-the-job problem-solving. The most effective learning comes from experience, experimentation and reflection.
That is why The Peer Learning Group Model© is so attractive. Managers share their experience and build their knowledge and skills as they bond with their peers. The Peer Learning Group Model© builds on formal learning that contributes 10% as it moves towards the powerful 70% outcome of retained and shared knowledge. This becomes the basis for better individual performance and a knowledge asset for the organization, as the tacit knowledge of individuals gets shared and used.
In Reflection,
Deb Laurel
