Developing top managers: the impact of interpersonal skills training

Some organizations invest a great deal of time and effort in elaborate training programmes designed to improve the so‐called “soft” skills of managing. Yet assessing the effectiveness of such initiatives has been rare. Indeed, some trainers have argued that such assessments are misleading. Recent developments in the use of survey feedback have provided a technique for pre‐ and post‐training assessments. A study, at a leading business school, was designed to assess the impact of interpersonal skills training on top managers. The evaluation of the training was based on subordinate feedback of 252 executives from 48 organizations, conducted before, and six months after, the training programme took place. The results indicate significant impact on some, but not all, of the competencies and skills under study.