Manager development programme for Commercial Vehicle Dealers: from best fitter to workshop head
Most branch and workshop heads in a truck dealership were the best fitter or the best salesperson. Nobody then taught them to run a rota, give feedback or settle a quarrel.
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Share your requirementsWhy manager development programme matters in commercial vehicle dealers
The usual path to management is through results. The fitter who solved difficult faults becomes workshop manager, and the executive who closed the biggest fleet deals becomes branch head. They know the work but not necessarily how to lead people. They avoid hard conversations, favour friends without meaning to or keep too much work for themselves. Team members feel it first, and then attrition shows it.
A manager development programme is practical and short. It uses the manager's real situations, such as a clash between two fitters, a poor performer who is also a long-serving favourite, or a rota that is unfair to the night team. Sessions are spread over months, so skills are tried at work in between. The programme is about daily habits more than theory.
How to set it up
1. Pick the situations that cause the most trouble
Ask owners and team members which management moments go wrong: allocating overtime, giving criticism, handling a complaint, running a handover. Use these as the sessions.
2. Run short sessions on the job
One topic every two or three weeks, ninety minutes, with managers bringing a real case. Mix branch and workshop heads so they hear each other's problems.
3. Practise feedback and rota fairness
Role-play a difficult conversation and review a rota with the group. Leave each session with one thing to try before the next.
4. Pair each manager with a mentor
A senior leader or experienced manager meets each participant monthly. The mentor listens and asks questions; they do not take over the problem. The leadership and people management training can supply content.
5. Look at results after six months
Check attrition, absence and feedback in each participant's team, and ask the team how things have changed. Adjust the programme and select the next group.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask team members what their manager does that helps them most and least.
- List managers who have had any people-management training.
- Check which branch heads handle rotas alone and which share the task.
- Look at exits by manager for the last year.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach manager development programme in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Both. Start preparing likely candidates before they are promoted, and continue after. Learning is quicker when it is tied to real problems from the new role.
Understand why first. Some lack confidence and some see no reason to change. Give a clear expectation, coaching and time, and look again after a few months before drawing conclusions.
Several months, with short sessions, is better than a single block. Behaviour changes through repeated practice at work, and managers need time to try things and come back to discuss them.