Management Development Techniques- On-the-job techniques, off-the-job techniques, coaching job under multiple, the case method rotation study management, incident method and grid training
On-the-Job Techniques: These are the most widely used techniques. No other technique may interest the trainee so much as these do since the location of the learner is not an artificial one as the class-room. The success of these techniques depends on the immediate supervisor and how good a teacher he is. On-the-job techniques are especially useful for certain groups like scientific and technical personnel. Though the costs of training initially appear to be low they may turn out to be high when wastages of all kinds are considered under this type of training.
Coaching: In coaching the trainee is placed under a particular supervisor who acts as an instructor and teaches job knowledge and skills to the trainee. He tells him what he want him to do, how it can be don and follows up while it is being done and correct errors.
“Coaching should be distinguished from counseling. Counseling… involves a discussion between the boss and his subordinates of areas concerned with the man’s hopes, fears, emotions, and aspirations. It reaches into very personal and delicate matters. To be done correctly, counseling demands considerable background and ability on the part of the counselor. If carried out poorly, it may do considerable damage. “7
The act of coaching can be done in several ways. The executive apart from asking them to do the routine work, may ask them to tackle some complex problem by giving them chance to participate in decision-making. One of the important limitations of this technique is that the individual cannot develop much beyond the limits of his own boss’s abilities.
Job Rotation: The transferring of executives from job to job and from department to department in a systematic manner is called Job Rotation. When a manager is posted to a new job as part of such a programme, it is not merely an orientation assignment. He has to assume the full responsibility and perform all kinds of duties.
The idea behind this is to give him the required diversified skills and a broader outlook, which are very important at the senior management levels. It is up to the management to provide a variety of job experiences for those who have the potential for higher ranks before they are promoted.
Job rotation increases the interdepartmental co-operation and reduces the monotony of work. It makes the executives in general management and does not allow them to confine themselves to their specialized field only.
Under Study: An understudy is a person who is in training to assume at a future time, the full responsibility of the position currently held by his superior. This method supplies the organization a person with as much competence as the superior to fill his post which may fall vacant because of promotion, retirement or transfer.
As under study may be chosen by the department or its head He will then teach what all his job involves and gives him a feel of what his job is. This under study also learns the decision- making as his superior involves him in the discussion of daily operating problems as well as long-term problems. The leadership skills can also be taught 9Y assigning him the task of supervising two or three people of the department.
Multiple Management
It is a system in which permanent advisory committees of managers study problems of the company and makes recommendations to higher management. It is also called Junior-board of executives system. These committees discuss the actual problems and different alternative solutions after which the decisions are taken.
The technique of multiple management, has certain advantages over other techniques. They are:
- Members have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge of various aspects of business.
- It helps to identify the members who have the skills and capabilities of an effective manager.
Off-the-Job Techniques Because of the fact that on-the-job techniques have their own limitations, these off-the-job techniques are considered important to fill those gaps. The following are some of the important off-the-job techniques:
The Case Study are prepared on the basis of actual business situations that happened in various organizations. The trainees are given cases for discussing and deciding upon the case. Then they are asked to identify the- apparent and hidden problems for which they have to suggest solutions. . The situation is generally described in a comprehensive manner and the trainee has to distinguish the significant facts from the insignificant, analyze the facts, identify the different alternative solutions, select and suggest the best. This whole exercise improves the participant’s decision-making skills by sharpening their analytical and judging abilities.
Incident Method’: This method was developed by Paul Pigors. It aims to develop the trainee in the areas of intellectual ability, practical judgment and social awareness.1O under this method each employee developed in a group process. Incidents are prepared on the basis of actual situations which happened in different organizations. Each employee in the training group is asked to study the incident and to make short-term decisions in the role of a person who has to cope with the incident in the actual situation. Later, the group studies and discusses the incident and takes decisions relating to incident, based on the group interaction and decisions taken by each member. Thus, this method is similar to a combination of case method and in basket method.
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