Theory & Practice: Firms Step Up Training for Front-Line Managers; To Boost Crucial Skills, Dell and Home Depot Strengthen Programs
In January, Dell Inc. sent factory supervisor Julie Figlar for her first bout of specialized management training. For five days at a Nashville hotel, she and 17 other front-line supervisors practiced how to give feedback to workers, resolve conflicts and other skills.</br></br>It is more than many companies do for the managers who are at the front lines supervising workers. Traditionally, these supervisors learn how to manage on the job, mostly by trial and error, with little formal instruction in people skills. Big companies offer more training in information technology than in management skills, according to the American Society for Training and Development. As a result, many new managers struggle with asserting authority, communicating with workers and delegating responsibility.</br></br>Now, some companies, including Dell and Home Depot Inc., are stepping up formal manager training. The moves come as many firms seek to better motivate and engage workers in an increasingly global and fast-paced environment.</br></br>Pat Galagan, an executive at the training and development society, sees many companies gradually increasing training for front-line supervisors. She says those leadership skills are gaining importance as companies try to boost worker productivity. Front-line supervisors are "the ones who are in the best position to get more discretionary effort out of people," Ms. Galagan says. "That makes them much more critical than they've ever been."</br></br>Home Depot noticed earlier this decade that its traditional informal coaching and mentoring for first-line supervisors had become less effective as the company expanded and higher-level managers grew busier, says Leslie Joyce, chief learning officer at the retailer. "That works well when the numbers are small," she says. "As we got bigger, that methodology didn't work as well." Home Depot now has about 30,000 department supervisors, the first rung of management in its stores.