The ability for your company to attract and retain top talent many times lies with your ability to develop strong and effective managers in your organization.  Having managers who know how to develop others to be better allows your company to attract and retain the best talent.  The wrong managers will drive the most talented people in your organization away.  Having a good corporate leadership training program can help your leadership team develop the skills that will make your company a sought after place to work.

It is not enough to send all of your managers to a workshop or seminar that will teach them leadership skills or the latest management fad.  You want to develop a culture and an environment of continuous improvement in your organization.  This starts from the top.  The executives and key decision makers must first be committed to developing managers who look to improve themselves.  You cannot expect the managers in your organization to embrace corporate leadership training if the executives are not embracing leadership development training.  If the executives feel it is a waste of time, middle management will feel that way as well.   

Once senior management embraces continuous improvement, then you can expect middle management to follow suit.  While senior management sets the direction and culture of the organization, middle management often has the biggest impact on the overall morale of the company.  They have the most amount of employees report to them directly.  They are often involved with the day to day operations of the company.  The ability to develop strong middle management will often determine the ability of the company to grow and advance.

There are several ways you can encourage middle management to develop themselves.  One way is of course to have a corporate leadership training program.  However, you don't want to just dictate what the managers will learn.  If you develop a corporate leadership training program where your managers have the ability to select what they will learn, you will have a greater level of participation.

However, it is proven that training without a system of follow-up and accountability is significantly less effective than the same training in which there is a follow-up and accountability system.  You need to expect and require your managers to use the skills and knowledge they are learning in the training.  Otherwise, you are wasting the resources of the company.

Once your managers embrace the idea of developing their own skills, this will make them better managers.  As a result, they will be able to develop their people and your organization will have a reputation as a learning organization.  This will make your organization attractive to top talent seeking employment and increase employee retention.  An investment into management is a good investment.  Not only does it impact management, you also leverage the ability to impact the direct reports of management.

Employees want to work for a company that they can develop and expand their competencies and skill sets.  There is nothing more frustrating to a talented and ambitious employee than being stuck in an environment where there is no room to grow and develop.  To avoid your organization being such an environment, make sure you use a corporate leadership training program as a tool to encourage your managers to develop themselves.