Human Resource Skills for Line Managers: Developing Effective Managers from Specialists.

How do people get into management and how can HRD specialists ensure that the development managers receive is as effective as possible? This lecture seeks to examine the background of managers and the way in which organisations and HRD specialists need to take this into account when planning management development. In this task, I will be taking a systems approach. HRD professionals cannot work in a vacuum but need to mesh with organisational policies and practices. It is also necessary to put some effort into ensuring that management development, takes place in an appropriate environment. In this session, I aim to identify the main areas that organisations will need to consider in order to develop managers effectively.Specialist vs Managerial HierarchiesMost organisations employ as managers people who have specialist expertise related to the activity of the organisation. People start out in organisations not as managers but as specialists with a technical skill related to the objectives of the organisation. In study by Rees and Porter (2005) they found that of 50 people in managerial positions 48 had started out as specialists.