Highlights – 25 June

“In the UK we still live with the David Brent effect, treating middle managers as punchlines instead of vital leaders.” So wrote Ann Francke OBE CMgr CCMI, CMI’s chief executive, in a letter to The Sunday Times reflecting on the UK’s productivity gap. Contrasting this country’s approach with that of the US, which invests heavily in management training, Ann flagged how 82% of managers are promoted into their roles with no formal training at all. 

That same statistic appeared in a recent article from Lifestyle Asia, highlighting the role of poor leadership in the workplace trend of “quiet cracking”, people disengaging from their jobs because the workplace makes them stressed and unhappy.

On a related note, The Times featured new polling from CMI that shows a third of organisations won’t offer pay rises this year. The data also revealed that the average reported increase is just 3.1%, with two-thirds of pay awards falling at or below the rate of inflation. “For many employees, this will feel like a step backwards,” said Petra Wilton, CMI’s director of policy and external affairs, pointing out the need for skilled managers to deliver transparency and support for their teams when times are tough. 

Featured this week 

If you’re looking to invigorate your company’s own productivity, read the article by Dr Michael Wynn-Williams in this week’s newsletter, which offers a breakdown of the Value-Cost Model and how it helps to set out a company’s future trajectory. 

Also featured this week is Lee Long CMgr MCMI, who began his engineering career as an apprentice at an opencast coal mine. He would soon find management to be his natural calling, but his on-the-job learning could only get him so far. He shares how pursuing his chartership equipped him to push further. 

We also meet another learner, final-year Nottingham Trent University student Ria Sharma, who shares how CMI accreditation has helped her to grow – and to stand out in a highly competitive industry. 

Pressing issues

Skilled managers have a lot on their plate too. Not least supporting team members suffering with their mental health. An article in The Times referred to CMI research that showed two thirds of UK employers now pay for staff to access mental health and wellbeing apps. “While we applaud so many employers embracing various tools, including digital ones, for employee wellbeing, mental health support must go beyond just providing apps,” said Petra Wilton.

Another key concern is diversity and inclusion. An HRreview article about corporate LGBTQ+ allyship used CMI’s Walking the Walk? report as evidence to show that many organisations take a “tick-box” approach to their inclusion policies, rather than engaging in meaningful allyship.

Finally, future-facing managers also have to tackle sustainability. We wanted to know which you felt is more important: setting the strategic vision for your organisation’s sustainability drives or empowering your teams to act. As usual, our LinkedIn poll sparked some incredible insight in response…

Best,

Matt Roberts CMgr FCMI

Director of membership and professional development, CMI

Image: CMI