Does Management Training Still Exist?

Management trainee programs can act as a beacon of light to guide and nurture the young trainees of today who will become the leaders of tomorrow. The companies today need to invest more in management training programs in order to encourage homegrown leaders.

Once upon a time, large corporations visited college campuses to recruit seniors for “management training” programs. For some seniors, the training program solved the problem of “I don’t know exactly what I want to do, but this will be a way to get me started in the real world.” Companies like IBM, Procter & Gamble, Accenture and many others were leaders in management training.

At the end of the program, the trainees had a good grasp of what it took to be successful and were in their respective ways. The management training programs took ambitious people, regardless of their majors.

In those same times, ads were plentiful in classified sections seeking management trainees. If you missed the on-campus recruiters you could look in the classifieds of the New York Times and declare how eager you were to learn and land a spot in the management trainee program at an advertising firm or PR agency.

Companies would not only hire accountants to be accountants; these companies would hire English majors and marketing majors as well as most other majors to learn their business from the ground up.

It was a place to jump in the water over your head to see what you can do and what you like. Those days are mostly over. But there are still companies who believe in “the best available athlete” mentality and management training. That is, some companies will take someone with the right attitude and a willingness to learn can develop into a leader and make the business better. There are just not as many.

The biggest entry-level employer for 2017 is Enterprise Rent-A-Car. This year alone, the company plans to hire 9,500 college graduates into its management training program. Any college president wants the graduates to grow professionally, find a rewarding career and be personally satisfied regardless of the employer. Most importantly, for graduates to have a smooth transition from college into the real world. Management training programs can do just that.

Here are a few things I know about the best management trainee programs:

1. They’re Not Elitist- Enthusiasm, performance and motivation are valued more than where you went to college. You don’t have to have an MBA or a computer science degree to excel. The best ones and the big ones hire students from all majors. (English majors of the world rejoice!
2. They Offer Te Chance To Go From Entry-Level To CEO- They give people a chance to prove themselves and grow their careers without leaving. If the CEO started out as a management trainee, that’s a good program.
3. They Allow Risk-Taking Accountability- The best ones give the trainees real responsibility from day one, and the freedom to show what they can do. This helps the trainees to brush up their decision making and leadership skills.
4. They Provide A Clear Path Forward- Every trainee is given a “roadmap” – a set of skills they’re expected to master within a certain time-frame. Not only does it help promote accountability, but it also helps trainees continue to meet new career goals.
5. They Show That Team Matters- When co-workers are invested in helping each other succeed, everyone succeeds. If a manager is measured on his or her ability to retain and develop employees, that’s a good training program.
6. They Measure Progress And Reward- Promotions should be based on performance, not tenure. The good training programs assure that any positive contribution is acknowledged and also rewarded.
7. They Enhance Employee Engagement- Engaged employees are happier and lead to a congenial and a productive workplace. Good training programs ensure that employee engagement ensures a great employee experience.
8. They Act As Te Stepping Stone- The young trainees of today will become the leaders of tomorrow. The good training programs invest in building good leaders rather than hiring from outside.
9. They Invest At All Levels- The good training programs invest heavily in training not only at the top level but also at the middle and bottom levels of hierarchy where the training may well be more needed.
10. They Help Retain- Talent The well-trained trainees boost morale which in turn boosts retention and thus help in reducing the turnover.

One of the most heavily searched words on all the career and job sites is “management trainee”. If you go that route, look at the actual program and path forward.