What Does a Management Development Specialist Do?

A management development specialist is responsible for designing and conducting training with employees. He or she also might keep a budget for training and write training booklets and guidelines. In some cases, this kind of professional might work full time for a specific organization. It is also common to find a management development specialist who is employed by a consultant firm and contracted by outside organizations to train employees.

People who become management development specialists normally have excellent communication and leadership skills. They tend to have degrees in fields such as management and human resources. In most cases, a management development specialist has worked in a particular industry for a number of years. Knowledge of an industry can help a specialist develop accurate training strategies, and can allow him or her to prioritize skills and information that employees need to learn.

The job of a management development specialist begins when he or she meets with a manager to learn why and how employees need to be trained. A specialist might discuss different goals, budgetary concerns, and preferred training methods. The amount of input a management development specialist has in this process depends largely on the preferences of managers or executives. For example, some organizational leaders might have company training guides they expect specialists to follow, while others might expect specialists to write original training guides based on company values and policies.

Regardless of his or her responsibilities, a management development specialist is normally in charge of making sure that training is effective and on schedule. He or she might give regular assessments to learn which employees are comfortable with new concepts and which are struggling to adapt. It is common for a specialist to revise a training strategy if he or she finds that goals are not being met.

In some cases, a management development specialist might not conduct actual training sessions. This is common in large corporations. Due to the large numbers of employees, training might be conducted by department leads and other managerial professionals. In this context, a specialist oversees the development of training materials and speaks with individual trainers to learn about issues that pertain to their training sessions.

Organizational values often include ongoing improvement. For this reason, a management development specialist might periodically review all members of an organization. He or she analyzes relevant data and speaks to employees about what they are doing well and where they can improve their performances.