Highlights – 30 October

As we approach the end of ADHD Awareness Month, in this week’s newsletter, we celebrate differences in the workplace by exploring how neurodivergence can be a superpower – if managers create the right conditions to let people flourish. Our Everyone Economy research linked the UK’s economic recovery and long-term resilience to using all the talent and perspectives available in our workforce. Yet there’s still a long way to go. For example, CMI data shows that fewer than half of management roles in the UK are held by women.

Providing hope

It’s now been a year since CMI published its landmark report, Taking Responsibility: Why UK Plc needs better managers. We’re proud of how it continues to resonate. This week, the research was cited in articles by Harper’s Bazaar and Employer News, which both focused on employees quitting due to poor management.

If better managers are the solution, then the world’s training providers have a vital role to play too. CMI’s Training Provider of the Year award celebrates the teams working hard to develop the great managers of tomorrow. We take a look at the shortlist for the prize, to be announced later in the autumn, here. 

An age-old debate

Also in this week’s newsletter, we explore whether a coaching mindset can help give young workers the sense of value, meaning, purpose and belonging that would help companies engage and retain them. It’s an evergreen topic: back in March, the FT examined Gen Z’s taste for “loud quitting”, where people take to social media to express their frustrations at work. Ann Francke OBE, CMI’s chief executive, told the paper that this should be a wake-up call for leaders at all levels. Those comments were quoted again this week, in the international press.

Of course, there are two sides to every story. Back in 2021, CMI research found that nearly 80% of managers believed graduates weren’t work-ready when finishing their studies and joining the job market. This was picked up this week in the Malaysian press.

Where do you sit in this discussion? And how confident are you that you could convince someone else of your logic? In this week’s newsletter, we break down why having the right ‘smart’ answers won’t necessarily win you an argument, as it’s hard to trump the emotional and political facets of any debate or decision.

When is a break not a break?

Finally, with the clocks going back and October drawing to a close, many minds are naturally turning to end-of-year festivities. Beyond Halloween and Bonfire Night looms Christmas. An article in Education Executive has cited CMI research that found that 19% of respondents planned to work through the holiday period. The article pointed out that these figures have since seen a “dramatic increase, reflecting a growing trend of maintaining work availability even during time off”.

How many of those people will opt for a workcation? With hybrid working and mobility becoming increasingly common, the idea of spending three days relaxing by a pool somewhere hot, and two working from a hotel business centre, becomes increasingly viable. But as we explore in this week’s newsletter, it also gives managers some practical considerations.

For anyone who remembers last year’s long, wet winter, a workcation at a Caribbean beach resort probably holds some appeal. But how about a good old-fashioned holiday instead?

Best,

Ian Doherty CMgr FCMI, director of membership, CMI

Image: Shutterstock / Marina April