How training and education can prepare you for a management position

Management positions are highly sought after due to the high levels of pay and the satisfaction that comes with a job that carries a lot of responsibility. Gaining the skills and knowledge required in a management position takes time – there is no such thing as a born manager, and managers are on average older compared to the average age of employees in companies. Nonetheless, training and education can have a big influence on your prospective management career.

The typical management career path

There are several ways in which junior employees develop a career in management. The most direct way is to enroll in an undergraduate business course which focuses on management which could lead to a job on a management training scheme at a large company. After a period of in-job training even very young employees are assigned management duties and this is possibly the quickest way to step into a management role – though you could miss out on the more practical aspects of day to day employment.

It is also common for experienced employees to take formal management courses to gain management skills. Employers often sponsor their most valued and experienced employees, fully paying for management courses or even entire degrees in exchange for employees staying on in a promoted position after their studies.

Formal education is not the only route to a managerial role – some management teams have members who are there purely out of their extensive work experience and their in depth knowledge of the business and its customers. Getting into a management position in this manner can take a long time, but it can be an equally rewarding career.

What formal education can do for you

Though it is possible to become a manager without formal education, a management course or degree in management is an excellent way to give you a very rounded grounding in management skills and sciences. Managerial skills can be learned by watching and by practicing, but it is unusual for workers to build a comprehensive understanding of business and management by accident.

For this reason, formal management degrees are very popular as they teach students essential skills ranging from business numeracy through to the ability to communicate in a business setting. An understanding of creating and properly executing business strategy is often at the core of these programs, because successful management involves a large degree of structured planning and thinking. Gaining a management qualification also indicates to employers that you are serious about advancing your career, and that there are no large gaps in your understanding of the business world.

Studying while working

Unless you enrolled in a management degree straight after school you are likely going to need to either take a break from full time work to study management, or do the studying while you are working. For some individuals it is practical to stop working for a year or two and to enroll in a degree program focused on management training. Companies who have an interest in the development of their top staff sometimes allow staff to take fully paid leave to complete a management program such as a masters of business administration, even going as far as to pay for the course fees.

Not everyone is in the fortunate position to be able to take time off work for the purpose of gaining an education qualification. In this case you might want to think about completing one of the online bachelor degrees in management. An online degree contains the same content as a residential course and is something you can complete in the comfort of your own home, and usually at a very flexible pace. Online degree providers allow you to study part time, with student on online programs taking anything from the same amount of time as a residential student to complete their degrees to up to two or three times as long, depending on how much time they have available.

Getting mentorship from a manager

Certain skills in management are particularly difficult to learn, and are certainly not contained in textbook material. These so-called soft skills might come to you through experience alone, but they are most often learned by watching others lead and manage. This is why mentorship is an essential part of training to be a manager.

Chris Jansen, chief executive of Cognita, states that “leadership comes with a clear vision of what you want to achieve, of having the right team, of everyone being clear on what you’re trying to achieve, what the expectations are, and what success looks like”. Empowered leaders will keep students enthusiastic and motivated to get the job done, no matter how diverse their aspirations are.

Corporations around the world have official mentorship programs for their leadership teams. But even if you are not working for a large organization, seek out the advice and mentorship of a senior business person to help you in your management career. Good managers are always well rounded people – gaining skills through formal education, work experience and, importantly, through watching other managers do their jobs.