Highlights – 22 October

The influence of HR departments has been the subject of debate lately, with some arguing that they can actually make organisations less productive. In her latest column for The Times, Ann Francke OBE CMgr CCMI shared the management perspective. She stressed the value of HR directors – when they’re not straying onto line managers’ turf.

“Setting clear objectives, feedback and even difficult performance conversations are all fundamental responsibilities of a line manager,” Ann wrote. “An employee’s most important relationship will always be with them – not their HR colleague.”

Ann also appeared in a Financial Times piece on the self-help trend of ‘rejection therapy’, a practice where people deliberately put themselves in positions where they’re told no in order to become more resilient. Ann suggested more tried-and-tested means of boosting confidence at work, such as stretch assignments, applying for promotions and formalised management training.

CMI’s partnerships around the world continue to fly the flag for the latter. Take the new collaboration between CMI and Asia e University (AeU), which makes AeU the first university globally to offer Doctor of Business Administration scholars a pathway to becoming a CMI Fellow. Ann Francke described the partnership as an example of “global best practice in professional development”.

Doing it deliberately

The Times also picked up on CMI’s research into accidental managers, which found that 82% of managers have not received any formal training. This research has also featured recently in Enterprise News Egypt and Training Industry. 

That’s not an issue for Joshua Bell CMgr MCMI, a recent Chartered Manager of the Week. He left school to do an NHS apprenticeship at 16, later pursued a CMI Level 7 qualification and is now a service manager at Gateshead Council, leading a team of 160. 

You can read about Joshua’s journey in this week’s newsletter. We also look at sustainable leadership and why, in an age of economic uncertainty, technological disruption, shifting consumer expectations and climate change, it’s now a core imperative. And while we’re on the subject of the future of work, we also share a few quick wins to empower your workforce and maximise the potential of your talent in the age of AI. 

A test of leadership

The print edition of The Daily Star has reported on another CMI finding – that almost three in five managers have seen political rows among colleagues this year. 

Petra Wilton, CMI’s director of policy and external affairs, was quoted as saying: “Healthy debate is one thing, but when political arguments start to fuel tensions, stress and falling morale, it becomes a test of leadership.”

Another commonly reported tension lies along generational lines. Ann was quoted in an article in The Sunday Times about the challenges of managing Gen Z employees, where she stressed the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on young people’s careers. 

“They were experiencing their initial education or career entry behind a screen with no real-time observations of colleagues,” she said. “That affected their mental health and wellbeing, caused anxiety and also impacted social skills.”

The importance of social skills can’t be overstated. And it’s another area where the CMI community continues to provide support. In this week’s newsletter, we ask our followers for their biggest challenges around giving feedback. And we hear from a Chartered Manager whose ADHD reshaped his management approach, reinforcing that neurodiversity can be a source of strength, focus and empathy.

Those are tools we all need – whether to lead more sustainably, collaborate with AI or work alongside our HR departments. 

Best,

Matt Roberts CMgr FCMI

Director of membership and professional development, CMI