The Value of Management and Leadership Qualifications

4.9.1 Quantitative feedbackTo meet best practice organisations should think about how they are going to evaluate thereturn on investment of the programme at its outset and identify quantifiable measureswhich establish a baseline. Measures might assess change at the individual level (e.g.career development tracking, or changes in scores on 360 degree feedback) or they maybe at the business level (e.g. cost savings, staff retention, or changes in staff survey results).Leeds Leadership Centre (NHS) asks participants to identify their own metrics to assessimpact and to calculate the financial gain. Neil Wood, the Centre’s Senior DevelopmentManager, explains:“If they can come up with good quality data that’s meaningful for them and helps connectthe learning and the impact then we’ll not come up with anything better than that. It’s aboutgiving them ownership of it.”From this data, the Centre has developed a Return on Investment Metric, accumulatingthe data from all programme participants to provide an overall assessment of RoI.4.9.2 Qualitative feedbackIn addition to quantitative measures, the case study organisations all gathered qualitativefeedback on the impact of their programme. A mix of formal and informal approaches wasemployed.One organisation interviewed in the research used a three stage assessment for theirdevelopment programme, including an initial written form, a telephone conversation aboutthe changes that had been implemented, and a third stage in which the benefits wereshared with the team more widely.Rob Reed from BGL Group explained how he reviews impact by informally asking whatchanges have been noticed by the line managers. BGL asks individuals to demonstrateand discuss their learning through individual presentations to their wider teams.4.10 Organisationalsupport fordevelopmentSenior level support for management and leadership development has been shown to bea major factor in its effectiveness (McBain et al 2012). It was a clear theme among theemployers studied in this research.Rob Reed from BGL Group spoke about the Group’s priority of: “developing our peoplecapability”. He described how the Executive Team are very supportive of the organisation’sMLQ programme, involved in identifying the need for the qualification, in developing thecontent, and also participating in certain elements (e.g. providing feedback on assessedpresentations).However in another organisation there was a perception that some senior managerslacked commitment to the qualifications and wider employee development. Participantsspoke of incongruence between what they were learning on the course, which was howto engage and communicate with others in a positive and empowering manner, and theleadership style of a few senior managers in the organisation, which was felt to be directiveand autocratic. This inconsistency caused resentment and clearly was clearly de-motivatingfor some learners.Senior commitment to learning and development at a general level can be clearlydemonstrated by the level of investment made in providing employees with an MLQopportunity. However, this should be backed up by adopting the workplace behavioursthat are taught as part of the funded qualifications.33