The influence of perceived characteristics of management development programs on employee outcomes.

Employees’ perceptions of Management Development (MD) programs is the topic of this study. The purpose is to examine the influence of three important perceived characteristics of MD programs on relevant MD outcomes. The MD characteristics are: availability of role models, perceived control, and understanding the MD program. Outcomes are: participation in development activities, MD and job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, perceived benefits of development activities, average salary growth, innovative behavior, and critical opinion sharing. Data are collected from 453 MD participants of seven organizations in the Netherlands. Findings show that perceived control has a positive relationship with MD satisfaction and extrinsic and organizational benefits of development activities. Understanding the MD program positively influences MD satisfaction and extrinsic benefits. Availability of role models has a positive relationship with intrinsic and organizational benefits.