Highlights – 25 February

It’s Chartered Week, a chance to celebrate the people, organisations and professional benchmarks that are driving competence and ethics across the world of work. In recent months, we’ve spoken to many inspiring Chartered Managers, who work across everything from nuclear fusion to the Environment Agency. We keep hearing how their professional credibility has been bolstered by accreditation. We share some of those stories in this week’s newsletter. 

We also feature recent Chartered Manager of the Week Derek Thomas CMgr MCMI, who shares how becoming Chartered boosted his skills and self-belief – and helped him get his management job in the NHS.

Credibility is more powerful than ever right now, given how hard it is to predict the challenges shaping our working lives. In her latest column for The Times, Ann Francke OBE CMgr CCMI, CMI’s chief executive, answered a reader's question about the future of management apprenticeships amid talk of funding for them being halted. She reiterated CMI’s strong view that stopping funding would be a “big mistake” and described managers as the “essential lynchpins” in supporting young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, as they enter the workforce.

She’s far from alone in that view. The CMI Employer and Apprenticeship Petition, which urges the Government to maintain employer choice for levy-funded management training, has now gathered over 5,000 signatures, representing 1,500+ employers. Signatories include Co-op Group, Capita, Ocado and Asda, along with hundreds of public-sector organisations, including NHS trusts. (If you haven’t yet signed it, please do so here.) It’s a remarkable vote of confidence in programmes that deliver improved productivity for employers while offering a lifeline for social mobility, giving frontline managers a chance to earn while they learn.

Emerging talent

The petition is getting noticed. Quoted in the Financial Times’ Working It newsletter, Petra Wilton, CMI’s director of policy and external affairs, made the case that management apprenticeships are not a luxury – they deliver cross-cutting skills that are essential to driving productivity in every industry. 

Ann picked up the baton again when she co-authored an op-ed for Wonkhe with Professor Malcolm Press CBE, vice-chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University. They warned that “streamlining” management apprenticeships risks “rationing” the vital skills needed to support young people entering the workforce. 

The petition was also featured in an FE Week report, which flagged that the UK’s skills minister, Baroness Jacqui Smith, has confirmed that leadership and management apprenticeships are “on the chopping block” as the government seeks savings. The petition was also featured in a piece in the Express & Star that covered Smith’s visit to Specsavers’ manufacturing site in Kidderminster. 

To gauge the impact of management apprenticeships on people and their organisations, you only need to look at the Emerging Manager of the Year category of the CMI Awards of Excellence. This new award celebrates exceptional young professionals aged 18–22 who are already making a mark as leaders. In this week’s newsletter, we meet the first-ever shortlist – all of whom have completed or are currently undertaking CMI apprenticeships. 

The impact of AI

One clear way that apprenticeships can help organisations is by plugging the AI skills gap. The Telegraph published a sponsored article by Arden University arguing that apprenticeships are a critical tool for “future-proofing” the workforce against AI disruption. The piece highlights how many of Arden’s programmes, such as the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship, include professional accreditation from CMI.

Speaking of AI, in our latest Managers’ Voice survey, we’re asking you to tell us how the technology is changing your role. Your insights will contribute directly to a research study looking at the impact of management and leadership on successful AI adoption, and ensure our products meet the real-world needs of managers. If you can spare a few minutes to complete our AI survey before 5pm on Wednesday 4 March, you stand a chance of winning an Amazon voucher worth up to £200 and exclusive early access to the final research report.

Striving for better

If the Winter Olympics showed us one thing, it’s the levels of excellence that can be reached through dedicated training. Many athletes will be focused on delivering their best at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Trivandi, the official event delivery partner, is launching a major recruitment drive to fill up to 200 jobs. New recruits will receive support through its Trivandi Academy, which trains people in major event planning and delivery through a CMI-accredited programme.

The Guardian’s Wednesday Briefing newsletter referenced guidance from CMI originally published in 2020, which is proving to be evergreen. As the newsletter noted, CMI urged employers to judge performance on output rather than “face time” – arguing that flexible working could improve productivity while reducing stress. The piece also highlighted CMI’s suggestion that well-designed flexibility could narrow the gender pay gap by enabling women to progress in skilled roles and encouraging men to share caring duties.

And on a final, related note – in this week’s newsletter, we’re running an extract from Paolo Gaudiano’s book Measuring Inclusion: Higher profits and happier people. Paolo explains why equity, diversity and inclusion efforts (EDI) should be treated like finance, with diagnostic tools to help leaders monitor and make decisions about the “people health” of their organisation.

Higher profits and happier people. That’s certainly something to strive for. 

Best,

Matt Roberts CMgr FCMI

Director of membership and professional development, CMI

Image: CMI