The role of training of management

The role of training of management may be observed from two viewpoints; that is supervisor training and higher management training or mid-level management and upper management.

Employed at a large registered training organisation (RTO); I lecture in the engineering trades at apprentice and post-trade level. I also see the world from a Western Australian mining based viewpoint; as such, while I read about a two tier economy, I have yet to experience a major slow-down since the early 90s. Whilst I have also developed post-trade training, this is very much shunned by the average tradesperson due to a lack of commitment by employers.

As a young tradesman in the late 80s & early 90s, it was very difficult to be accepted into post-trade night school courses – you had to arrive early at the college and be prepared for a long line. These days, we are unable to receive enough applications to run viable classes. I do not feel the quality of tradesperson has improved, indeed the opposite.

The current engineering workforce does not need qualifications to be promoted, furthermore, liaising with senior management, they lament the people they are forced to place in positions of responsibility – they tend to use what they can find in a loose employment market.

As an RTO, we do consulting work for clients (companies) who require further qualifications to move from a tradesperson to supervisor level. Generally we conduct post-trade training in the workplace for already promoted personnel. However, this is at individual company level and not industry level; since the career path currently does not require further training in management skills.

The Karpin report of the mid 1990s identified many technically orientated workers were promoted without any formal management training. These workers then tended to mimic former supervisors but tended to lack both communication and conceptual skills.

The frontline management initiative, while not solving all of these problems has improved outcomes based more on my personal observations that scientific research. I deal with numerous examples of successful mining contractors, equipment manufacturers and miners who have diploma-level managers who turn loss making divisions into successful enterprises.   

Higher management training tends to funded by the individual and not by the company, although it doesn’t always guarantee success. After observing our end of year budget at my employer; I was astonished to find our strategic portfolio spent $0.00 on training the previous calendar year. A training organisation that does not invest in the maintenance and up-skilling their personnel is now the domain of budget conscious managers.

The only training & development that took place the calendar year is one staff member’s self-funded enrollment at university - mine. Ironically, for academic staff to be promoted to a mid-level leadership position, the candidate has to meet educational requirements such as a higher education degree, a minimum of five years in the organisation and provide extensive material proof to be accepted for consideration for the pool of candidates. 

Then a formal application is lodged, a panel rates the written applications, the line manager has input and then a series of formal presentations are made to the panel. The presentation is timed with an electronic stop watch placed on the conference table, then the panel questioning begins - the failure rate is pretty high.

Variations for the next academic level include a case study where the candidate is locked in a room, given thirty minutes to prepare before being marched before a panel to present findings. It could be argued that university level examinations require similar strategies, I personally enjoy the challenge, many people wilt under the pressure and fail.

Ironically, when employed by the government, management requires no formal education, experience or demonstrated proof of success. What is interesting though, the technical personnel employed in government departments must be fully qualified, the members on the panel are generally not qualified to the level of the applicant (apart from a four hour panel member course) and may require technical representatives in attendance - go figure.