Highlights – 26 February

This week is Chartered Week at CMI. With 96% of managers saying that Chartered Manager (CMgr) status is proof of high-quality management and leadership skills, we’re highlighting the power of those four letters – and how they help managers succeed in the job market.

That help can take many forms. It may be about overcoming imposter syndrome. It may mean improving motivation. Last week, the Financial Times shared how Gen Z workers are uninterested by opportunities in middle management. The paper quoted Ann Francke OBE, CMI’s chief executive, who offered a spur: Gen Z employees need well-qualified guides, not accidental managers. Data from the Better Managers report on accidental management was also cited in articles from Forbes Poland and Onet. 

We’re proud to have a community full of fantastic Chartered Managers who can demonstrate proper management and attest to the value of Chartered status. In this week’s newsletter, Ian Scott CMgr FCMI recalls how a colleague’s tears showed him the importance of mental health at work and how CMI helped him formalise the support he could offer. We also hear how three Chartered Managers created healthy defences against long-term sickness absence, an escalating crisis in the UK.

Keeping pace with change

It seems managers face plenty of challenges to their ability to lead right now. Beneficial offerings such as apprenticeships, sabbaticals and parental leave are increasingly under the spotlight. So too is trust. Ann appeared on Times Radio recently (listen from 52:49) to discuss Elon Musk’s remarks around mandatory end-of-week performance reviews for all employees. 

The world is changing fast, and Chartered status can help managers keep pace. That’s the opinion of Professor Mark Loon CMgr FCMI, who discusses how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing education and what it means to be a good manager in this week’s newsletter. 

AI is changing the workplace in ways that are hard for managers to foresee. For example, The Telegraph has revealed how disgruntled employees are now using the technology to “bombard businesses with costly and inaccurate lawsuits”.

Faced with AI’s trajectory, tech whizz Andreas Roos CMgr FCMI shares his belief that lifelong learning has become even more important – and reveals how CMI has been a “secret weapon” for him in a world being transformed by AI.

Further reading

Fellow lifelong learners will find inspiration among this year’s Management Publication of the Year winners. The ceremony on Monday acknowledged the best in management books, journals, podcasts and more – with a shortlist that covers everything from the circular economy to the role of men as allies and enablers of change. You can find out more about the overall winner, Men Stepping Forward: Leading your organization on the path to inclusion by Professor Elisabeth Kelan, and read about other highlights from the evening here. 

Keep soaking up that knowledge.

Best,

Matt Roberts CMgr FCMI

Director of membership and professional development, CMI

Image: Amanda Forman