Most organisations set their new managers up to fail.

They don’t do it deliberately, of course, but they do keep doing it. We’ve all been there. We get promoted to our first management role not because we have shown proficiency in managing people but because we are good at achieving targets, KPIs, goals, etc. We are technically proficient. And why do organisations promote the technically proficient? Because organisations are not great at succession planning and because they look for the wrong skills set when appointing new managers.

Lack of succession planning means that appointments are made on a reactive basis, without time to prepare people for the appointment. So, managers are appointed because of their technical proficiency, not because of any sign of management skills or a passion for leading a team. Remember, too, that most people’s reason for leaving a job has nothing to do with the money – it’s usually because they have little or no respect for their manager.

So, are you going to keep letting your new managers – and the people they manage – down? Or are you going to do something about it? Here’s an opportunity for you.

After years of running bespoke management development programmes on an in-house basis for a wide range of organisations – public sector, private sector, voluntary sector, large and small – we distilled the most common issues that managers struggle with and have designed a unique, modular, open programme to address just those issues. The programme takes a structured approach over ten months, dealing with all the key topics in ‘bite-sized’ fashion, roughly one day a month. It’s a very experiential, stimulating, challenging programme that requires the participants to do ‘bite-sized’ assignments (‘pre-work’) in preparation for each module. This pre-work will be a mix of e-learning modules completed on the Aptimore platform as well as some activities or questionnaires. The programme starts with a psychometric profile (Facet5) and gives lots of opportunity for skills practice and feedback in a supportive environment. You will be supported throughout the programme by having the use of a personal coach – our very own Scott Rumsey. You will be having three personal 1:1 coaching sessions to discuss your role as a manager and any relevant challenges and successes you may be having. The agenda will be entirely yours. Furthermore, to ensure that the learning isn’t left in the classroom, you will be using an App called Mindmarker which is a learning reinforcement tool. By signing up you will receive learning nudges and prompts as well as exercises and resources to maximise your development as a manager.