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If you have a lot of middle managers in your company but you haven't yet identified people who can step up to more senior roles, then it pays to give your managers leadership training. You can do this yourself in-house or hire a training company. Or you can send your people off on external courses.

While some companies cherry-pick a few managers for this kind of training, some send all their senior staff to a course. What is the benefit of inviting all your managers on to the leadership development program?

Find Out Who Has Viable Leadership Skills

While you may have an idea of which of your managers is most likely to flourish in more senior roles, you don't know this for a fact just yet. Some people look set for promotion at a later date, but they won't actually make the cut.

For example, you may think that one of your employees is a shoe-in for a future promotion. They are great at their job, committed to the company and seem to have the right personality.

However, these people may have reached their natural limit. They may not be able to take the step up to be an effective strategic manager with more corporate responsibilities. They may flounder when you move them out of their current role.

If you give everyone senior management training, you'll identify your real leaders. These people may have natural abilities or may be able to learn and adapt. This helps you promote the right people for these jobs in the future.

Give Every Manager Useful Extra Skills

Even if you know that only a small percentage of your managers will move into a more senior role, there are benefits to training all of them at the same time. Chances are, everyone will learn something useful and expand their skills.

Your managers will feel valued and empowered. They'll also gain an idea of their own strengths and weaknesses, so their expectations become more realistic.

Mitigate Against Future Losses

If you train multiple managers, then you create a pool of candidates with additional management training. This is safer than simply training one or two key staff.

The people you identify as future leaders won't necessarily stay with your company. They may look for a new opportunity or be headhunted. This could leave you with gaps. If you've trained all your managers, you could have fall-back options you can slot into place.

To find out more about setting up a leadership development program, contact management training companies.