The Development of Management and Leadership Capability and its ...

Much of the evidence base for the connection between HR practices and performance is
statistical and the how and the why of what makes for successful outcomes are not well
understood (Mabey 2002). There is a need for further research which will look at the
intervening steps and see what mediates between the two variables strategy and performance.
Process-based research of this kind would enable the development of learning tools which
would help practitioners to make better decisions about personnel and development
investment.
High-level HR capabilities needed to realise organisational performance.
Mabey's working paper for this review (2003) also draws attention to some particular
capabilities which may have an especially crucial role in the link between individual
capability and organisational performance. These capabilities need to be present in the HR
function and the leadership team. They are:
• Effectively linking people development to business strategies
• Effectively influencing senior managers to take HR seriously
• Building learning into everyday work
• Developing managers who can manage strategically
• Effective management of people and resources
While the last two are very evident in competence frameworks and in management and
leadership development (as explored in Chapter 3), the first three may not be adequately
addressed in management and leadership development or in the HR function.
5.5.2 Relating management development to performance
Some of the difficulties in establishing a link between management development and
organisational performance have already been discussed in Chapter 4. It is widely
recognised that there has been for some time an overall weakness in the management
literature in the area of being able to relate management development to organisation
performance (Marshall et al 1993). A report from the DfEE in a study of 127 firms (DfEE
1998) looked at the business benefits arising from management development activity. It
found an almost universal inability to measure benefits that were directly attributable to
management development. A similar lack of evidence of the business benefits arising from
Business School activities was found in a report carried out on behalf of the Association of
Business Schools (Hirsh et al 2002).
This lack of a clear link may be one of the reasons why some firms are reluctant to invest in
management training. This is an area which needs further research. Nevertheless, although
there are few well-evidenced studies looking specifically at the link between management
development and performance there has been a small amount of research which has
succeeded in showing a relationship.
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