71% of industry leaders surveyed confess they could do better at training first-time managers, or don’t train them at all. The UK spends only half the amount per capita on training its managers that Germany does. Yet Management Training is affordable and often completely free.
Most workers feel ill-equipped to take on extra responsibilities. Yet promotion for many continues because they are good at their current job or have skills appropriate to what they were doing. Becoming a manager means needing to use new skills; formal communication, conflict resolution, planning, forecasting and performance measurement to name a few. However, so many people are thrust into vital positions with absolutely no training in these key management skills. They find themselves Accidental Managers. The Peter Principle at over 40 years old is alive and kicking. This is the theory that organisations will continue to promote people who excel until they eventually fail.
Talented people in organisations up and down the country are coming to a realisation that promotion isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
According to the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), only one in five of the UK’s 4.6 million managers has a professional qualification. The UK spends only half the amount per capita on training its managers that Germany does. Government data shows that the UK labour market will need one million new managers by 2020. Yet 71% of the leaders surveyed by CMI confess they could do better at training first-time managers, or don’t train them at all.
Ending up as an accidental manager has an impact not only on the individual but on the company and the wider economy. The UK lags behind many competitors on key economic indicators. Productivity is 21% lower than that of the rest of the G7. Measures of management are similarly lower than those of many rivals. Time wasted by poor management could be costing the economy as much as 19bn a year.
150,000 employees a year could be taking on management roles without adequate preparation.
It doesn’t have to be this way, however. Training and qualifications from the CMI are available for managers at all levels. Right from the first-time team leader, to board room strategic leadership and management. What’s more, it is affordable and sometimes completely free.
Apprenticeship funding, for example, isn’t just for the bright eyed and bushy tailed youngster venturing into the world of work for the first time. This funding is for everyone. It can be used for existing staff who may have decades in the workplace. They can also benefit from apprenticeship funding to train them in high-level management skills. If that particular funding doesn’t suit there are also student loans available. These come in the form of the government’s Advanced Learner Loan scheme. The low repayment terms mean that the highest quality management training is now available to all. Many companies offer payment to their staff to cover the loan costs, viewing it as a tiny investment to make that delivers such a huge return on management skills and capability.
Promotion need not be a nightmare.
Management skills can be taught and the accidental manager can become a fulfilled, competent and motivated individual who is a critical asset to their organisation.
Contact us to see how you or your organisation could benefit from funded world-leading management training and qualifications.