Supervisory Training Programmes in Major US Corporations

Abstract

The structure of the American corporation is currently changing from one with many middle managers providing the link between upper management and first‐line supervisors to one with few middle managers. A study of the content of supervisory training programmes in light of the changing role and expectations from first‐line management in Fortune 500 companies identifies whether or not corporate training programmes reinforce the technical skills used in performing the traditional supervisory reponsibilities or go beyond these functions, developing interpersonal/interactive and conceptual skills as well. Data were gathered through a questionnaire survey of the highest ranking corporate training officers of the Fortune 500 companies, with 155 responses. The most common training topic is performance evaluation (92 per cent), followed by the principles of effective delegation (90 per cent), developing listening skills (83 per cent), improving leadership effectiveness (80 per cent), and how to encourage and obtain subordinate participation in decision making (74 per cent). Almost 70 per cent of companies identified the following as most representative: how to make the work environment conducive to self‐motivation, how to improve quality of the product, how to ensure that established goals are perceived as realistic and relevant by the employees, how to assign specific duties to employees and assisting employees to understand their role in relation to overall company objectives. Most organisations are using their basic supervisory programmes to build employee commitment to the company, to modify employee behaviour and to obtain greater employee involvement. These all indicate company support of collaborative management style. However, in‐depth analysis of the specific contents of the training progammes reveals at least two‐thirds of the companies attempt to reach their goals by providing training in more specific technical skills rather than interpersonal and conceptual skills.

Citation

Alpander, G.G. (1986), "Supervisory Training Programmes in Major US Corporations", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 5 No. 5, pp. 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb051626