More Information about the Programmes
Midlands Consortium is running a series of middle managers programmes. The programmes follow a model developed by Midlands Consortium of combining taught sessions with Action Learning (Developed by Revans (1980) a tightly structured and facilitated discussion in which managers help each other to work out answers to their management problems); this model has proved very successful in taking managers round the whole learning cycle thus linking theory to practice and reinforcing learning. (David Kolb (1984) model suggests a cyclic learning process moving through concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation is essential for complete learning.)
The programmes have now been accredited by the Chartered Managers Institute for a level 5 award in Performance Management. Previous participants are currently undertaking APL. Accreditation is achieved after successful completion of 3 assignments for an award or 6 assignments for the Certificate. Each assignment is about 1000 words. Learners are supplied with a comprehensive manual and as long as they attend and participate, the assignments are not excessively onerous.
The programmes are designed, written and facilitated by Sally Cherry, Learning and Development Manager, Midlands Consortium in conjunction with a small team of experienced associates.
Programme Design:
Although they have some common threads, and they are constrained by the requirement of the CMI, in-house programmes are always adapted for the needs of the organisation commissioning it. For instance during the design of a recent Certificate programme for Staffordshire and West Midlands Probation Trust the CMI Learning outcomes were mapped against the Job Description of newly appointed Senior Probation Officers and a programme was developed (with some in-house input) that covered all aspects of the Job Description.
Other Management/Organisation Development Activity:
At the commissioning and design stage we try to encourage organisations to see the management development programme as having a wider function than just skilling up individual managers, but as also contributing to development of the organisation. The outcome of this has been that in two areas the whole management team, up to and including the Chief, have participated in related development activities in parallel with the middle managers programme. All areas have also used the feedback and evaluation from the programme in their trust applications.
The Trainers and Delivery Methods:
All our courses and programmes are delivered by a small group of trainers who are all very experienced managers and trainers who contribute to the design. We are all committed to making training engaging and relevant. We use a mixture of methods including small group and paired work, plenary, case studies, quizzes and questionnaires. Learners have lots of opportunities to think about real issues that they are dealing with both in the training session and the action learning sets.
Action Learning Sets are facilitated by the trainers, they are conducted in groups of 4-6 and participants have an opportunity to work on real life issues with the help of their peers. This also gives them a chance to relate theory to practice and is an integral and valuable part of the course.
‘I was a bit dubious about the learning set but it really helped me to find a way forward with a problem that I had been stuck with for ages.’ (Senior Probation Officer)
Evaluation: We evaluate the effectiveness of these programmes in a variety of ways.
Qualification: The ultimate proof of success is that learners successfully achieve a management qualification.
Feedback forms: Participants are asked to fill in a short feedback form at the end of each module and then given a more broadly based form at the end of the programme. These forms are based on Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation:
- Reaction of participants – what they thought and felt about the training
- Learning – the resulting increase in knowledge or capability
- Behaviour – extent of behaviour and capability improvement and implementation/application
- Results – the effects on the business or environment resulting from the trainee’s performance.
A summary of these forms is sent to the commissioning organisation. Overall the scores are high and the majority of comments positive.
‘Very informative, enjoyable and a good use of my time.’ ( Launch)
‘useful for me to be exposed to various theoretical perspectives and to spend time thinking about how to apply them.’ (Supervision and Appraisal)
‘One of my aims for the whole course was to develop ways to further the development of staff who were already performing well. The coaching input gave me a lot of ideas around this subject that I hope to be able to implement.’ (Manager as Staff Developer)
‘Much better understanding of the evidence behind the need to take certain action.’ (Managing for Sustained Performance Improvement)
Evaluation Against Learning Outcomes:
During the contracting process at the beginning of this programme competence based learning outcomes for the programme are identified. At the launch participants are asked to rate themselves against each outcome under three headings; Knowledge (‘I know how to do it’); Skill (‘I can do it’); Behaviour(‘I do it with ease and confidence’), and on a simple scale 0 = no skills/ knowledge/ability,5 ‘I know pretty well all I need to know about this and I am doing it well and with confidence’
They are then asked to rate themselves again at the end of the programme (without having access to their earlier results). On all of our programmes our participants rated themselves as having improved and in some cases by up to 2 points on knowledge, skills and ability.
Where possible we encourage feedback and evaluation from senior managers and in one area the senior managers evaluated progress by their middle managers even more highly than the managers evaluated themselves.
Organisational Development Feedback:
Running a programme such as this, especially including learning sets, means that the facilitators get to understand a lot about the organisation from the perspective of the participants. Although we would never breach individual confidentiality we collated the issues that came up repeatedly. We then fed these back to the senior management team during the course of the programme and they were also used as the basis of much of the work on the final day.
Sally Cherry – Learning and Development Manager (Management Development) Midlands Consortium
M: 07976 901187 sally.cherry@swm.probation.gsi.gov.uk