Assessing the value add of leadership development programmes, from the line manager’s perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine the value derived from leadership development programmes by line managers. This research was useful in that its findings would add value to organizations and learning institutions that offered leadership development programmes. A qualitative research methodology was used. Convenience sampling technique was used as data gathering was based on the researchers personal contacts and their referrals. This technique is known to be the least reliable. But this was taken into account in interpreting the results. Content analysis was used to analyze data. Themes were identified in the literature review upfront and analyzed in the findings as per the priori content analysis technique. Four main themes were identified from the data. The first theme looked at the maturity level of organizations. Feedback on organizations behaviour during a recession was on of the factors used to determine their maturity level. The second theme focused on factors identified as contributing to the failure of leadership development efforts. The third theme discussed factors that result in the success of leadership development programmes. The last theme looked at the value derived by managers from leadership development programmes. Also considering how managers measured this value. The outcomes of the research were largely aligned to the literature review, with few instances where findings did not reveal any evidence to support or dispute some points.