Managerial Development Program
Benefits of Participation
The MDP is targeted at mid-level supervisors and managers. The program is grounded in a continual improvement model, meaning that even managers who are experienced and proficient can improve. Therefore, individuals at any skill level stand to benefit by participating. Program staff will assist in identifying their developmental needs and work with them in setting goals that will lead to improvement in these areas.
A major benefit to participating in the MDP is that the program occurs in a risk-free environment. That is, the purpose of the program is 100% professional development, and no information collected over the course of the program will be used for personnel decisions of any kind. The program therefore encourages experimentation and active learning, and the experiential nature of the simulations makes the experience both challenging and exciting.
Other benefits lie in the rigor of our methodology, which is grounded in the most cutting edge assessment and development research to date. The assessment center method is a tried and true method for understanding a manager's strengths and developmental needs, and our developmental model is designed to maximize transfer of training and continual improvement. The set of competencies on which the MDP is based, as well as the simulation exercises used have consistently shown high levels of reliability and validity. In addition, our assessment and development tools incorporate the most technologically sophisticated methods to date.
Another strength of the MDP is its staff. The MDP is directed and overseen by over 7 PhD-level researchers and practitioners who are considered the world's leading experts in managerial competence, assessment, and development. Our 20+ program administrators and development facilitators all have graduate training in Human Resource Management and/or Industrial/Organizational Psychology, and have received rigorous on-the-job training in their MDP roles.
A final significant benefit is that the MDP is currently being offered free of charge to participating organizations. As both practitioners and researchers affiliated with a university, we are interested in pushing our knowledge of managerial career-span progress forward. To do this, we have great interest in helping organizations strengthen their management teams and tracking their progress long-term, thus sustaining growth and personal development. Outsourcing consultants to provide these same services would cost an organization several thousand dollars per participant.