Line Management Training

Description

The University of Southampton is a research-intensive university and a founding member of the Russell Group. In 2016 we launched our Simply Better strategy which outlines our aspirations for the future and describes our four core values; collegiality, sustainability, internationalisation and quality. Substantial work has taken place since then to create the foundations for our strategy and we are now in a position to increase the focus on the development of our line managers to ensure they are supported to be the best they can be and deliver our strategy. We have over 6000 staff members, of which 1350 have line management responsibility across the academic and professional service community. The Leadership and Management Development Team (LMDT) was formed in 2016 to provide training to all line managers, the team is made up of 8 staff members; the Head of Leadership and Management Development, 4 training facilitators and 3 administrative support staff. The Leadership and Management Development Framework (LMDF) was introduced to outline the skills required to develop high performing leaders and managers. A number of blended learning interventions from the framework have been developed, which have focused on building line manager competence in two key areas, performance management and change. Within the line manager population many have had no formal line management development and some do not even recognise the responsibilities they hold with this role, resulting in different levels of competence and confidence. To provide additional clarity regarding the specific responsibilities of line managers we have introduced five Line Manager Expectations; Managing People, Managing the Student and Customer Experience, Managing Financial Decisions, Managing Risk and Managing Compliance. We now plan to introduce, a comprehensive line-management development programme aligned to the LMDF and our strategic goals. The Leading for the Future Programme will develop line manager competence and confidence in delivering all five of the line manager expectations and will enable them to develop a consistent approach to line management.