And yet management training often isn’t given a great deal of thought by time-poor print bosses. What sort of training new starters should be given, and whether apprenticeships are the way forward, is an increasingly hot topic. But print is a rapidly evolving industry demanding an ever-evolving skillset, so nobody, no matter how senior, ever reaches a stage of having nothing left to learn. Printers would do well, then, to look at what industry thought-leaders are up to, and consider a new, slightly more vocational breed of management training now coming through.
Printers are in fact arguably more in need of management training than their counterparts in other industries. Certainly not because they are any less capable, but because of the size and nature of those companies they’ve typically worked in over the course of their careers.
"If you were in a different kind of company you’d have a board and your board would have a chair who could coach and mentor the CEO to a degree. Whereas in a smaller organisation, and particularly in family companies, you don’t necessarily have that," says Kathy Woodward, BPIF chief executive. "Flatter structures mean there’s far less opportunity for people to learn management skills as they progress up the organisation, so it’s really important to develop projects in your business to allow people to develop skills they can’t necessarily get in the hierarchy," she adds.
Otherwise managers are often hot on print-specific management skills, but may need to prioritise brushing up on more general competences. "A lot of us, myself included are technicians originally," says Robin Welch, chief executive of direct mail printer GI Solutions, "so you need to be looking at improving your ability to work on a process rather than in it."
Darren Coxon, managing director of periodical and magazine printer Pensord, agrees. "I think being able to deal with good and bad performance and doing it in the right way is key," he says. "Management has changed an awful lot over time. Gone are the days when you can treat people differently; you have to demonstrate consistency in your approach. And I think that’s a skill."
Woodward adds that keeping abreast of rapidly evolving technologies is critical. "One of the biggest challenges people have in the industry at the moment is in moving from their traditional technologies, and they’re needing a specific system or software and it’s completely outside of their traditional comfort zone," she reports.
And yet devising a tick-list of management skills all print leaders should have, isn’t perhaps quite the right approach. Rather printers should plug training gaps in their specific management structures. And where these gaps lie will of course vary from company to company.
That more and more print companies are coming around to this thinking is evidenced in the dwindling popularity of more one-size-fits-all external training experiences, reports Woodward. She points to the decreased number of print managing directors now coming from a background of doing an MBA, a one- to two-year programme of intensive, typically off-site, study. "An MBA is time-consuming and pretty academic- and it usually involves a significant amount of attendance that might not actually be directly applicable to your work situation," says Woodward.
She adds that the one- and two-day workshop model has also decreased in popularity. Increasingly, time-poor print managers are often reluctant to take significant chunks of time out from the office for courses of fairly general appeal and applicability, she reports.
Cut to fit
But something, of course, needs to fill this gap. This should perhaps be more vocational training, better tailored to the company in question.
"Coaching will be better than a training course at encouraging you to think about your own specific situation," says Woodward. "Often a training course, by its nature, will be far more generic."
Woodward explains that the nature of this coaching relationship will differ from company to company. Some will make contact as often as once a week, others much less frequently. "You could be talking about £800 to £1,000 for a day; others will have a relationship where somebody will do that almost as a free service," she says.
Also a worthwhile vocational option are the BPIF’s Level 5 and 7 NVQs, both suitable for managers. "You take 16 days off over the course for seminars, but your project work is part of your on-going job," explains Woodward of the Level 5 certificate.
Coxon, meanwhile, is a firm believer in bespoke training. He feels this ensures, to an even greater degree than an NVQ, that everything learned is relevant to the firm and what its managers need to brush up on. "You can go on generic courses, you can go on an NVQ course, but there’s always a percentage of that training that’s not relevant and doesn’t suit your needs," he says.
Coxon’s top tip in ensuring the success of this approach is to interrogate the quality of any programme and course leader thoroughly beforehand. This was certainly his approach to hiring local consultant Jackie Lewis, of Jackie Lewis (Training and Consultancy) Services, when the company put together its own bespoke programme around five years ago.
"I’m always a little bit cautious about training because I think the difference between a good and bad training day is the quality of the trainer," he says. "You can have the best content in the world but if it’s not delivered properly it’s no good. I’m put off by the idea of travelling an hour and the first time you see the trainer being as you walk through the door to the session. So, when organising sales training back in January for instance, I interviewed three companies and their sales trainers before I selected one."
GI’s Welch agrees with this thorough approach. "A lot of people buy training piecemeal, which is fine, but if you want to reinforce where you’re trying to go, you need to have trainers who understand a bit about the business," he says, adding: "My recommendation is: do your research very carefully to find a training organisation, then stick with them."
Broader horizons
Printers shouldn’t completely discount the idea of offsite, non-bespoke training sessions, however. In fact these can be the ideal forums for printers to be inspired by their peers and, crucially, by those in other sectors too. For Woodward short, sharp networking events and breakfast briefings perfectly complement more structured, in-house training.
"One of the most important things is your supply chain; if you can tap into what events your supply chain go to – to the conferences marketers are going to for example – then you can tap into understanding what your customers’ needs are," she says, recommending educational conferences held by the Marketing Association and the Direct Mail Association as good places to start for people in this field.
GI’s Welch adds that even if fellow management training course attendees are from totally unrelated sectors, training with them is still highly valuable. "I think getting out and training with other people from other industries is good because you get a different perspective on things," he says. "You go to other industries and see the way they do customer service via the web and that sort of thing. You never come away without a couple of different ways of doing something."
It seems today’s manager, from team leader to managing director, would do well, then, to opt for a range of training experiences. Top priority for many managers now, seems to be company-specific advice, either in the form of an NVQ, coach or mentor, or a bespoke training programme. And certainly the benefits of these more targeted programmes do seem more tangible than those of the two-day offsite training courses, or more academic programmes of old.
But printers shouldn’t totally dismiss the value of rubbing shoulders with peers from their own and other industries. The best managers realise that being a good leader is about always being open to learning more. And just as important, is being open to a multitude of ways of doing this.
Management training - where to find it
BPIF The BPIF’s Level 5 and Level 7 NVQs are both aimed at those in management positions. Level 5 is aimed at operational management and entails eight mandatory workshops and eight optional, and a meet-up with a tutor every eight weeks, over the course of two years. Level 7, due to be launched in the last quarter of this year, is a one-year strategic management qualification, entailing four weekend workshops. Both are assessed using evidence from the workplace, such as observations, professional discussions, interviews and business plans.
EEF Upcoming management and leadership courses from this manufacturers’ organisation, include ‘Coaching skills for managers’, ‘Leading change and managing transitions’ and ‘Managing people for results’. www.eeftraining.org.uk
Franklin Covey Founded by the writer of The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, Franklin Covey specialises in leadership training. Programmes include ‘The seven habits for managers’, ‘Leadership: great leaders, great teams, great results’ and ‘Leading at the speed of trust.’ www.franklincoveyeurope.com/events/consultants
Presenting Success An organisation specialising in training individuals to improve their presentation skills. Upcoming are one-day ‘Presenting success’ and two-day ‘Powerful and persuasive presentations’ workshops, both held in a range of locations across the country. The former costs £256, the latter £575.
www.presentingsuccess.co.uk/presentationstraining
KPMG Professional services company KPMG is a good shout for managers wanting to brush up on their accounting and reporting skills. The organisation offers individual and group training tailored to specific companies’ needs, or more general group sessions which can be classroom- or online-based.
www.kpmg.com/uk
Eversheds In the pipeline from this law firm, is a free three hour session entitled ‘Employment law breakfast briefing - work station or play station?’, and a £479 one-day course entitled ‘Advanced employee investigation skills.’ www.eversheds.com
Capital Law Capital Law offers both already written ‘Capital courses’ and ones tailored to individual companies. Capitals’s range includes a half-day ‘Ending the employment relationship’ course, and an hour-and-a-half ‘Boardroom training’ session, aimed at briefing directors about key developments in employment law. www.capitallaw.co.uk
