The management development needs of front‐line managers: voices from the field

In the global marketplace of the twenty‐first century, we know that managers are being called upon to lead their organization forward in new and creative ways and that improving their performance is no longer optional, but rather an imperative. Unfortunately, most management development activity has continued to emphasize a traditional organization‐oriented approach that is inconsistent with the emerging employer‐employee psychological contract. We propose that management development decisions should include the voice of practicing managers. To that end, 524 front‐line managers from the USA were surveyed to identify what they considered to be the most important factors/practices for improving their performance in the context of rapidly changing organizations. A discussion of the practical implications are offered for organizations and individual managers seeking to improve performance through management development.