Many companies fall into the mistake of hiring someone who has managed people before, and assuming that, since they're an experienced manager, they don't need any more help. Nothing could be less true. The fact is that managers are individuals too, and just as preparing meals at home for a few years doesn't leave someone fully qualified to be a good chef (although it might well be a good start), being a good manager consists of more than having experience managing some people for a while.
This is where management coaches come in. One of the most important tools human resources can provide is the form of management coaching that turns an average manager into the leader of an all-star team. There's a reason why top CEO's of Fortune 500 companies invest in a combined total of millions in one to one training with the world's most elite coaches. That reason is that even someone who is as successful as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs realizes that he doesn't know everything.
A comparison can be drawn with the field of music - George Gershwin took lessons in harmony from other composers, at the same time as he was the best known and well-paid living composer in the world! If the leaders of the world undergo personal coaching, isn't that a good indication that management coaching is an important part of bringing out the best in your management team?
The only question is where to draw the line. Does everyone who is someone's manager need management coaching? What if someone is only a project leader? Lead engineer? Simply "senior" engineer, managing no one but himself or herself? The answer is yes all around
Everyone who makes management decisions benefits from coaching, and the reason is that no one is perfect. We all had to learn things somewhere, but changes across the world (especially increases in business efficiency) require us to adapt and keep abreast of the curve. Like the kid's saying "you snooze, you lose", managers who receive no training "lose". They lose their edge, their team's advantage, and, if they are notably bad managers, they might even lose their workers.
Competent management coaching ensures that an angry lapse will never destroy a team, that a bad day doesn't mean a bad month, and that teams are led, and not just managed. Raising leaders doesn't happen without investing in them, and management coaches are the most proactive method of doing that -- for a Fortune 500 CEO, and for your own management team as well.
Human resources are most beneficial to companies when they supply management coaching to help turn average or poor managers into world-class leaders. Fortune 500 corporations expend millions of dollars to train their employees with the best management coaches the world has to offer. Anyone making management decisions requires coaching as no one is perfect. We all had to learn things somewhere, but changes in the world (especially improvements in business efficiency) require us to adapt and stay abreast of the curve. Without proper coaching, managers lose their edge, their team's advantage, and, if they are particularly bad managers, they might even lose their work force.