CMI reacts to UKCES report on skills

The CMI today responded to the publication of a report by the UK Commission for Employment & Skills, titled ‘Ambition 2020 – world class skills and jobs for the UK’.

Patrick Woodman, CMI policy and research manager, said:

“UKCES is right to raise concerns about the management skills gaps currently faced by many UK employers. In simple terms, sub-standard management and leadership will have a catastrophic effect on the UK’s ability to compete internationally and that is why it’s dismaying to note that the UKCES report also shows managers do not receive enough training.  

“However, development programmes undertaken for the sake of it will not have the desired effect.  To have a truly positive impact, employers need to offer professional qualifications that are relevant to the individual and the job they do.  The UK currently boasts just 1 in 5 professionally qualified managers and if we are to achieve world class status by 2020 this must be addressed.

“It’s also not enough to raise employer ambition for a better qualified community of leaders.  The burden of action falls on individuals as well as the organisations that employ them.  Managers and leaders are vital to job and wealth creation and that is why I urge Government to make their skills development a national priority.”

Woodman’s comments come in the wake of CMI research which revealed that 63 per cent of managers admit they have had no management training and against a backdrop of data suggesting that individuals with professional management qualifications are 9 per cent more employable.

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Further information:

Mike Petrook
Telephone: 020 7 421 2714
Email: mike.petrook@managers.org.uk 

NOTES TO EDITORS

• The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is the only chartered professional body in the UK dedicated to promoting the highest standards of management and leadership excellence.  CMI is the founder of the National Occupational Standards for Management and Leadership and sets the standards that others follow
• As a membership organisation, CMI has been providing forward-thinking advice and support to individuals and businesses, for more than 50 years, and continues to give managers and leaders, and the organisations they work in, the tools they need to improve their performance and make an impact
• As the only organisation to offer qualifications from Level 2 (GCSE) to Level 8 (PhD), CMI is committed to equipping individuals with the skills and knowledge to be exceptional managers and leaders.  Qualifications and accreditations such as Chartered Manager, combined with products such as CMI’s Continuous Professional Development scheme and the online support resource, ManagementDirect, support the development of management and leadership excellence across the UK
• Through in-depth research and policy surveys of its 90,000 individual and 450 corporate members, CMI maintains its position as the premier authority on key management and leadership issues