Training and Development Needs of Quality Managers

There is widespread agreement that adequate, appropriate training of quality managers is essential to the development and implementation of effective quality management systems. What form this training should take is problematic given the complexities of the quality managers' roles and the uncertainty surrounding the future of quality management: it is not yet clear whether it will survive as a discrete field, be absorbed by other systems of management or disappear entirely. This study reports on a survey of 235 Australian quality managers to determine their perceptions of their training and development needs, the extent to which these were being met, and their views on the future of their discipline. We found that the training and development received by the respondents was unsatisfactory in many respects: there was a general lack of systematisation, while most programs were short-term and delivered by a fragmented set of providers. Many managers had received no training at all in the past five years. While the respondents were generally satisfied with the training they had received, there was evidence that their insight into their own needs was imperfect. The respondents were divided between those who thought quality management would remain a discrete field and those who saw it being absorbed by other management systems. The challenges of developing an appropriate training and development regime in this environment are discussed.