An area which always seems to attract many questions in management training courses is that of recruitment. The process and the extent to which Human Resources should be involved is usually understood, although it varies from organisation to organisation. However, there seems to be relatively little understanding of the types of testing available for new recruits and the usefulness of them. This seems to be regarded by many managers as the province of the specialist.

Psychological tests can uncover all sorts of things and whilst they are not foolproof, many companies will take their findings as gospel. This is an area where a specialist in this type of work is required but a manager needs to understand the limitations of this type of testing and what they want from it.

Team exercises can be useful. These can involve current staff and give an excellent opportunity to see how candidates are likely to fit into the existing team dynamics.

Work sample tasks should be carried out far more frequently than they are. Whatever the position to be filled, it should not be difficult to give them some work to do to see how they cope. If you know that they are going to need training to carry out their tasks them test them on things they have put on their CV.

At the core of all management training is the need to build successful teams. Here is a look at some of the things which go towards building a cohesive team.

Each member of the team should understand their responsibilities and duties along with those of their colleagues. This helps ensure tasks don’t “slip between the cracks”. They also need to know what is expected of them in terms of how they carry out their duties and the standards by which they are expected to complete their allotted tasks.

Good communication between the manager and their team and between the various members of the team: everyone should be clear what the objectives of the team are.

All members of the team need to have “bought in” to what is required. Anyone who is not fully committed will be the weak link in the team and bring everyone down to their level.

Ensure that all staff can see how what they are doing fits into their own personal development. Equally, they should be given the tasks that they are best suited for and actually enjoy doing.

Ensure that people value and trust all their colleagues including you, their manager. This will help foster an atmosphere of mutual support and respect.

One of the key subjects in any management training course should be motivation, or more specifically, how to motivate your team. It seems strange that it is often overlooked and that many managers seem to be almost embarrassed to talk about motivating their staff, never mind actually doing it.

One of the keys to motivating your staff is understanding them. This means ensuring all communication channels with them are kept open at all times. You need to know what they want out of their job so that you can motivate them accordingly.

Some staff are most interested in their personal development. These people need to see that if they do what your team needs they will benefit. Obviously, they are especially interested in what opportunities there are for them to be promoted, but they can also be motivated by giving them the opportunity to try new skills or hone existing ones.

Some staff are not interested in personal development. They just want to do their job, earn their wages, and go home. It may be possible to motivate them with productivity bonuses. Alternatively, it may be that these staff just want to be assured that their job is safe.
You have to be careful not to be tempted to use a negative approach by telling them that if they don’t perform as required, they will lose their job.

Shakespeare said, “Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” With a slight alteration, this is very true of management. Be not afraid of management: some are born managers, some achieve management, and some have management thrust upon them. However you achieve the exalted position of manager, your ongoing management training needs to include self reflection. One useful way of considering your performance as a manager is to think in terms of management or leadership styles.

Some managers are task oriented. This means they focus on delivering a product or service to agreed schedules and budgets, regardless of anything else.

The opposite of this in many ways is people oriented managers. As you might expect, these managers are most interested in ensuring their staff are contented. They therefore focus their energies on avoiding conflict or difficulties of any kind. This means they may sacrifice targets in pursuit of happy staff.

Needless to say, management is all about finding a balance between these two approaches.

There also needs to be a balance between delegating and directing. Whereas some managers allow responsibility for solving problems and making decisions to lie with their team, others will give detailed direction and check up on their team at every turn.

What type of leadership truly inspires? Books are written on the subject. New management training courses are devised and offered. There are certain words which crop up regularly when ‘inspirational’ is mentioned. These include ‘forward thinking’, ‘courageous’ and ‘charismatic’. Many people have these qualities naturally. However, whilst there is a limit to how far the proverbial pig’s ear can be turned into a silk purse, it is still possible to learn how to be a great manager.

Leadership is a complex skill. It is actually an amalgam of many qualities. As such, it needs to be broken down and the component parts considered.

There are a number of things that a successful manager does, whether by instinct or training. They achieve the goals and objectives of their organisation by various means but often exhibit the following qualities.

They are strongly committed to the company’s people and objectives.
They appreciate that objectives are important and should be treated as such.

They are courageous, but do not take unnecessary chances. They have the ability to assess risks and act upon that assessment.

They have the confidence and the nurturing skills to delegate successfully. This is part of their team building skills.

They know how to effectively manage change.