Bespoke training for senior suits

Management training programmes have become much more tailor-made and collaborative in order to meet the specific requirements of individual companies, writes Martin Ryan

UCD SMURFIT School of Business and A L Goodbody Solicitors have agreed a customised education programme that taps into the trend of tailored management training.

The three-day programme which is delivered at the UCD campus in Blackrock is specifically designed to provide the next layer of the company's management with leadership skills.

Dr Philip Matthews is director of the executive education programmes at the business school and he says programmes such as this are significant because they specifically address needs which have been highlighted by the individual companies.

"It is a process which requires us to have dialogue with the companies and to discuss the type of business dilemmas they have so that we can deal with those needs by providing the necessary skills and competencies," he says.

He says that the AL Goodbody programme concentrates on three key areas: marketing and business development skills for professional firms, people management within the company, and managing transactions with clients from the client's perspective.

"Within the context of those general aims the programmes are tailored to meet the specific needs of the company in a marketing and professional services environment. In the case of A L Goodbody in particular we would look at legal management transactions and how that can be improved," he says.

Dr Matthews says that since he joined the school more than a year ago it has been relatively active in the area of providing such programmes, with more companies identifying customised training as something that needs to be addressed in their management development.

"In the case of a legal organisation, for example, you have people at the level of the partners who are essentially the senior managers of the company. Our programme would be aimed at the next level, the associates in this case, who are seen as the future leaders of the organisation and have to develop the skills set to take on that role," he says.

The process of convincing a company that such a programme is beneficial and genuinely productive is not a simple one and it takes much time and effort to agree the details of a programme framework and budget. Mr Matthews says: "Obviously you have to build trust with a company and that comes with custom-designing the programme to the greatest extent possible with plenty of input from the client so that it is entirely relevant to their needs as well as adjusting the content or delivery if required and responding positively to feedback.

"We have an education facility specially designed for such programmes with breakout spaces and audio-visual equipment and anything that is necessary. It is important that it is done on campus as apart from having all the equipment and facilities available, it gets people away from the work environment and the inevitable interruptions," he says.

From the perspective of the company involved in the programme it represents a significant investment in its people. This raises the question of its ultimate value to those on the programme and how a company measures this.

Isobel Tynan, A L Goodbody training manager, says that in its case the company was very clear about what was required and how it should be delivered.

"We sent 15 very high-calibre people on the programme who would have very strong legal skills. We wanted to round out their management skills so that they can effectively perform a future managerial role when they are leading teams and project managing," she says.

She says that the company already has a very robust development programme so it had well-defined ideas about how the company would engage with UCD to provide an effective programme. "We played a strong role in co-designing the programme for our specific requirements while taking guidance from UCD in relation to what is known to work from their experience," she says.

She says that the programme involved simulation of business situations as well as case studies from other companies that had done similar development programmes.

"We also had some of our clients come in to speak to us about their experiences dealing with the company so it was quite an interactive programme. For those who attended, it also provided the chance to meet people who they might not normally engage with from different parts of the organisation," she says.

Ms Tynan says that follow-up at different stages is important in ensuring that the programme has a measureable result. "We did an immediate feedback session to see how people felt they would do things differently as a result of skills developed on the programme. We have further forums following on from this where it is discussed. It is important to have a good follow-up system by which this can be measured," she says.