The potential advantages of line manager involvement in learning and development has long been recognised.

The line manager is in a unique position to reinforce learning from management training or other forms of development, by integrating them into an employees working life and promoting a positive approach to these types of activities.

So how should a line manager be involved in their staff's management training and development?

1. The first area of involvement is for the line manager to set clear expectations with their staff, both in terms of what they need to deliver (job responsibilities, targets etc) and how they are expected to deliver these things (approach, behaviour at work, etc).

2. The next area of involvement is conducting performance appraisals and agreeing personal development plans, i.e. measuring the "gap" between what an individual delivers (and how they do it) and what is needed.

3. In agreeing personal development plans line managers should not just ask "What are this persons weaknesses?" but should also ask "Where will learning and development add the greatest value to their performance?"

4. Line managers should understand the breadth of learning and development interventions that are available to them. For example, too many turn to the ubiquitous "Management Training Course", or "Presentation Skills Course", when in reality there are hundreds of development actions that an individual can take from reading a book to learning to play chess.

5. Line managers should also take on more of a coaching role with their staff. Significant relationships exist between the effective provision of coaching and guidance by the line manager and levels of employee satisfaction, commitment and motivation.

6. Finally, to be truly effective line managers need to understand their role as a "sponsor" of an individual's or team's learning and development. For example, it sends completely the wrong message to someone if a manager asks them to attend a management training course but then prevents them from attending some or all of it.

As a sponsor, the line manager should:

· Invest time, energy and enthusiasm in their employees development.· Demonstrate public commitment to management training and development by "walking the talk".· Sanction any hindrance or blocking behaviour from employees reference their learning and development.· Be clear with their teams the importance of management training and development in raising standards and performance.· Recognise successes.

Too often education and development is the province of HR or the training department but by becoming more involved in their managers training and development, line management will have a greater impact on their teams performance and capability, which will ultimately impact the performance of their organisation.

1. Gibb S (2003) Line Manager Involvement in Learning and Development: small beer or big deal? Employee Relations, Vol 25, No.3, pp 281-293.

2. Latest Trends in Learning Development and Training. CIPD Survey 2007

Define Training & Management DevelopmentSuccessful managers positively affect employee morale.

The role of a manager encompasses many jobs. Managers are often responsible for sales goals, productivity, customer satisfaction, employee retention, implementation of change and, of course, the leadership of their team members. Successful managers lead their teams to excel in these areas, which leads to increased profitability. Many organizations offer management development training to ensure the success of their managers.

Types:Effective management development training options include classroom training, E-Learning or a combination of these two methods, as recommended by Achieve Global---an international organization that implements training that helps companies around the world generate measurable results. Classroom training enables participants to share experiences and practice concepts through role play under the direction of an instructor. E-Learning provides refresher training or a means to answer questions the manager may have when dealing with everyday issues in the workplace.

Topics:Because the role of a manager includes many different responsibilities, management development training should cover a variety of topics. Optimum Results Ltd., one of Ireland's top providers of Business Training since 1995, offers topics such as Team Leadership, Conflict Management, Employee Appraisal and Time Management. Additional topics offered by Achieve Global include Providing Constructive Feedback, Developing Others and Giving Recognition.

Time Frame:Management development training offered over time provides an ongoing learning process. Participants learn about a specific topic in each class and then apply the material learned in their everyday interactions with their team. At the start of the subsequent session, participants share their experiences, successes and issues before moving on to the next topic.

Benefits:Management development training will enable managers to demonstrate the skills needed to lead a successful team. Management consultant Roger Tunks of Lake Oswego, Oregon, describes a strong leader as one who can "create an environment wherein others can be successful." Successful employees will have a positive impact on their company's financial bottom line.

Pitfalls:Companies that do not invest in developmental training of their managers will suffer financial consequences. A survey conducted by the "California Job Journal" found that 73 percent of HR executives cited poor leadership as the top cause for low employee morale. According to Chicago consultant John Anderson, "Bad management creates a negative ripple effect ... First, top talent leaves. Next, groups of employees disengage and ... a significant gap between financial projections and results occurs."

Manager effectiveness has an enormous impact on a firm's success. Therefore, companies must provide instruction for managers and high-potential management candidates in order to help them perform current and future jobs with the utmost proficiency. Management development has long been an important component of corporate strategic planning. In fact, many companies consider the identification and development of next-generation managers to be their top human resource challenge.

Management development is important for new managers because these individuals really need instruction on how to perform their new supervisory jobs. Even so, companies often allow employees to make the transition to management with little or no training, leaving them with feelings of frustration, inadequacy, and dismay. More experienced managers also benefit from management development. A majority of first-line managers have their sights set on higher-level management jobs. Given these ambitions, companies need to provide lower-level and mid-level managers with formal development programs in order to help them climb the corporate ladder.

Management instruction programs should bridge gaps between what individuals already know and what they need to know for their new positions. Managers need different skills at each managerial level. The instructional programs needed to produce these skills are shown in Table 1.