Another level (management development)

Citation

(2008), "Another level (management development)", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 22 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2008.08122fad.008

Another level (management development)

Article Type: Abstracts From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 22, Issue 6

Martindale N.Personnel Today, 1 April 2008, Start page: 26, No of pages: 2

Purpose – discusses one organization’s innovative approach to management development, PC World’s (the UK’s largest specialist chain of computer superstores) initiative of training its managers to become coaches. Design/methodology/approach – provides a very short profile of the organization, describing how it gave 30 store managers the role of providing support to four or five additional stores but in the process realised the managers lacked the coaching skills required and therefore approached HR consultancy firm Penna to develop a coaching programme for them. States that the programme involved an initial two-day “leader as coach” workshop, then a four-day set of “practise and build” sessions to allow participants to share their experiences of the workshop and identify areas of weakness. Findings – states that PC World performed well in the year ending April 2007 and ascribes that success in part to the coaching programme, although remarks that PC World needed to overcome some initial cynicism from the participants. Adds that the coaching led to a further organizational restructuring, with 15 of the 30 store group managers taking responsibility for more stores but no longer managing their own store. Notes that six months later all 15 managers are still with the company. Gives a brief personal view of the coaching programme from one of the participants, and provides a short list of recommended steps when carrying out leadership coaching. Originality/value – offers a useful snapshot of a company that has chosen to invest in high-level coaching. ISSN: 0959-5848 Reference: 37AM280

Keywords: Coaching, Human resource management, Management development, Organizational change, Workplace learning