ERC’s Middle Management Training Series helps managers become better, more strategic leaders. Our management training addresses key issues that managers face and helps them learn the necessary skills for leading, thinking critically, coaching direct reports, and recognizing the signs that will help retain and engage talent.
Why Middle Management Training?
Organizations generally seek training for their middle managers and mid-level leaders for the following reasons:
Developing Effective Leaders to Guide and Motivate Teams
Developing strong leadership skills with middle managers can lead to better decision-making, improved employee satisfaction and engagement levels, and increased employee retention rates.
Improve Performance Management
Training middle-level managers with effective techniques for evaluating performance and providing feedback can lead to better employee development, goal setting, and performance improvements.
Bridge the Gap Between Senior Leaders and Management Staff
Mid-level leaders bridge the gap between senior leadership and management staff. This requires a full range of skills. These leaders must also manage up and down, think strategically, and solve problems.
Resolve Conflict and Manage Change
Conflict and change are inevitable in any organization. Middle managers often find themselves unprepared to deal with interpersonal conflict and change management, though training can equip them with the skills needed to address and resolve issues and navigate through transitions.
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Who Should Attend ERC’s Middle Management Training?
New Middle Managers who need to shift from a mindset of doing to a mindset of strategy and delegation.
Mid-Level Managers who need to develop specific management skills, including leadership, culture, communication, employee engagement, and conflict management.
Senior Leaders, Senior Managers, and Upper Management looking to delve deeper into leadership topics, their management style, and strategies to better enhance their skills.
ERC’s Middle Management Training is ideal for Middle Managers (sometimes referred to as Mid-Level Managers), individuals in Upper Management positions, Senior Managers, Frontline Managers, Regional Managers, Directors, and those tasked with leading others.
What Makes ERC’s Training Program for Mid-Level Managers Different?
Application-based training
ERC’s Middle Management Training Series is application-based and addresses customers’ individual needs and learning styles.
Driven by an organization’s needs
ERC conducts an assessment of each client’s situation and uses the results to drive the training solution.
Customized for each organization
ERC designs the training solution with the client that is focused on the specific audience. Together ERC and the client choose the appropriate tools and techniques that make the training applicable.
Middle Management Courses and Topics
Organizations create their own middle management training series by choosing training courses that are most beneficial for their employees. ERC’s management training programs support a range of essential skills from soft skills to interpersonal skills to more technical skills.
Strategic Leadership
This course helps participants understand how to gain an understanding of the Six Thinking Hats approach to decision-making and problem-solving, take a strategic perspective, explore different leadership styles, and more.
How We Manage Relationships
This course helps participants understand how the brain works to process emotions and partner with reason, why associates sometimes “lose it”, how to assess emotional intelligence, and more. These people management skills allow individuals to hold people accountable, use effective communication, and keep a pulse on the well-being of their employees.
Retaining & Engaging Talent
This course helps participants understand how to define talent in today’s workplace, discuss the war for talent, understand how generations affect today’s workplace, why employees stay, and more.
How We Manage Ourselves
This course helps participants understand how to define emotional intelligence, the relationship between EQ and IQ, organizational climate related to profitability, and more.
Developmental Coaching
This course helps participants understand performance coaching versus developmental coaching (when to apply each), appraising employees relative to will and skill, defining coaching skills, and more. Developmental coaching can help managers of all levels build high-performing teams and provide constructive feedback along the way.
Basics of Financial Acumen
This course helps participants understand the language of financial literacy, learn how to read and understand key financial statements, determine the financial health of an organization, and more.
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Delivery Methods
We work with organizations to create a customized training solution, and we deliver the courses nationwide in a variety of formats. ERC delivers our Middle Management Training Series training in webinar format, at your organization, and at our training center in Ohio. Check out the full details of our delivery methods below.
Prior to training, ERC performs an assessment of your organization’s needs to recommend the right structure and content. Modules can be customized based on the needs of your organization and training participants.
Traditional Classroom Format
Our traditional classroom format can be delivered at your organization, a facility of your choice, or at ERC’s Training Center. This format is best suited for small groups with no more than 25 people per class.
Virtual Format
Our virtual format is delivered live and can accommodate larger groups.
Led by Experienced Trainers
While some middle management training programs are led by trainers who have never been in a management role, ERC’s trainers bring decades of on-the-job management and leadership experience.
Our trainers pride themselves on being able to connect with today’s managers and leaders on the challenges and opportunities of the job.
Tom Ault
Chris Powers
Nada Djordevich
Damon Lindor
Additional Training for Managers and Leaders
Emerging Leaders
Regardless of their tenure with your organization, you’ve spent considerable time and money on the recruitment and development of your employees. Now let ERC’s professional trainers have the difficult conversations to help them succeed and maximize your investment. This series will identify professional etiquette in and out of the workplace, tactics for dealing with various generations and personalities, how to communicate professionally, and more.
Emerging Leaders TrainingSenior Leadership Team Training Program
This senior leadership team training series uses Wiley’s The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team™, which helps participants discover what it takes to achieve the ultimate competitive advantage of teamwork. ERC is an authorized partner of this Wiley training program.
Management Training SeriesSupervisory Training
From first-time supervisors learning essential skills and responsibilities to experienced managers developing leadership skills to oversee productive and cohesive teams, ERC’s supervisor training program has helped thousands of individuals thrive in their roles.
Supervisory Training Programs for OrganizationsEmerging Leaders
Regardless of their tenure with your organization, you’ve spent considerable time and money on the recruitment and development of your employees. Now let ERC’s professional trainers have the difficult conversations to help them succeed and maximize your investment. This series will identify professional etiquette in and out of the workplace, tactics for dealing with various generations and personalities, how to communicate professionally, and more.
Emerging Leaders TrainingSenior Leadership Team Training Program
This senior leadership team training series uses Wiley’s The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team™, which helps participants discover what it takes to achieve the ultimate competitive advantage of teamwork. ERC is an authorized partner of this Wiley training program.
Management Training SeriesSupervisory Training
From first-time supervisors learning essential skills and responsibilities to experienced managers developing leadership skills to oversee productive and cohesive teams, ERC’s supervisor training program has helped thousands of individuals thrive in their roles.
Supervisory Training Programs for OrganizationsFrequently Asked Questions
While every organization may focus on different skills depending on their organizational goals, essential management skills typically include:
- Communication skills — the ability to communicate effectively and clearly
- Delegation — the ability to delegate tasks to other team members effectively
- Time management — the ability to manage time effectively and help others manage time effectively
- Decision making — the ability to critically think through decisions given the available information
- Problem-solving — the ability to identify and resolve problems as they arise
- Strategic thinking — The ability to think and plan strategically, addressing potential challenges and business opportunities
- Adaptability — the ability to be agile and adapt to change in the workplace
- Emotional intelligence – the ability to understand one’s own emotions as well as the emotions of others
- Financial management – the ability to understand budgets, expenses, and organizational financial statements
For organizations, developing effective managers through training brings with it a range of benefits:
- Improved performance — Management training allows individuals to tap into their individual strengths, allowing them to perform their roles more effectively, lead their teams, make better decisions, and solve organizational problems.
- Increased productivity — Managers who have been trained are more likely to manage their time and resources better, delegate tasks more effectively, and motivate their teams to reach higher productivity as well.
- Higher employee engagement — When managers receive training, they are able to better communicate with their teams, set clear and realistic expectations, and provide constructive and/or positive feedback.
- Improved retention — Employees are more likely to stay with an organization when they have a strong relationship with their manager. Training allows managers to develop employee performance programs that provide opportunities for growth and development, which can improve employee retention.
Management training and leadership training have similarities, but they are typically focused on different skills and outcomes. Management training is focused on how to effectively manage people, processes, and resources in a way that aligns with key business objectives. Often management training is used to equip individuals to manage a team or department.
Leadership training is focused on teaching individuals to inspire and motivate others, also aligned with key business goals. Skill-building is focused more on goal setting, strategy, and change management. Organizations looking to develop individuals in leadership roles can learn more about ERC’s leadership training programs.
Both types of training are important drivers of business success, and many training programs cover both management and leadership skills.
Not sure where to start? Check out our guide — Middle Management Training: The Ultimate Guide.
