Earlier this year, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) produced a report called, ‘Bridging the gap: Supporting a new generation of leaders’, which revealed a growing disconnect between employer expectations and young people’s readiness for the workplace.
It exposed a stark perception gap in the UK workforce: while 45% of young people believe they enter the workforce fully equipped to succeed, a mere six per cent of UK managers agree. On top of this, CMI reported that the disconnect is actively harming the wider economy, with 91% of managers saying early career skills gaps are damaging overall workforce performance.
The skills gaps are not technical for the most part. According to CMI, they are basic early leadership skills including resilience, communications skills, and the ability to take onboard feedback and respond appropriately. Crucially, however, they point out that young people do not lack drive and ambition, as almost two-thirds (64%) said they actively want to become leaders at work.
As a result, the CMI believe there is a missing piece of work to be done to bridge the divide between what employers expect to see in new, young recruits versus what they are getting - or not getting - from them.
We interviewed Petra Wilton, Director of Policy and External Affairs, at the CMI to find out more about the research and what needs to be done to support a new generation of leaders and the future workforce.
Q. Are employers expecting too much from young people entering the workforce, or is education not preparing them adequately?
A: A great question - this is a wider, systemic problem, not a character flaw in Gen Z. In fact, they are very self-aware - 78% of young people told us they believe their education focused too heavily on academic theory rather than practical workplace skills. But you’re right, employers cannot expect recruits to instinctively possess professional behaviours on day one. It is a shared responsibility, one that includes the education system, the employers, and the young people themselves. From the workplace point of view, line managers must be equipped to support and onboard new talent and understand that they have a role to play.
Q. Is ‘workplace readiness’ becoming an excuse for employers not to invest in developing early-career talent?
A: I don’t think most employers are looking for excuses, they are actively seeking solutions to a problem that this research clearly identifies. Workplace readiness cannot be deemed ‘somebody else’s problem’. With worryingly high youth unemployment numbers, policies have focussed heavily on getting young people into jobs, which is great. But we need to listen to what employers are telling us and take a long, hard look at the education system and identify areas for improvement.
Yes, employers have a contribution to make, not least in ensuring new hires are supported at work from day one through skilled line managers. A bad first manager can destroy a recruit's confidence far quicker than any Jobcentre can rebuild it. Employers don’t expect fully polished hires, and many are actively investing in structured onboarding and early-career mentoring to build their future pipelines.
Q. What do you think ‘workplace ready’ actually looks like from an employer’s perspective?
A: To employers, being workplace-ready is less about academic credentials or digital literacy and far more about essential human behaviours and durable professional skills. Employers tell us the top skills young people need to improve are resilience (63%), professionalism (45%), clear communication (43%), and taking feedback well and acting on it (41%). They are also looking for essential workplace etiquette, including reliability, punctuality, and basic time management. These are also the building blocks for creating future leaders.
Q. To what extent do you think businesses are hiring for technical ability when they should be hiring for potential?
A: Many businesses need to fill technical requirements, there’s no doubt about that. For example, you cannot hire an engineer who doesn’t arrive with the basic qualifications needed for the job. But employers also need to think about what else is needed. Can that new engineer clearly communicate with their manager and their co-workers? Are they confident enough to raise an issue if they find a problem, especially one that could prove dangerous, say on a building site. Developing these skills is a shared responsibility. Schools have a role to play, as do employers, through both dedicated core leadership training and through ensuring line managers are trained to support those young people so that they know they can speak up.
Q. If you could change one thing about how businesses recruit and develop young people, what would it be?
A: That’s an easy one! I would mandate structured training for line managers to tackle the ‘accidental manager’ crisis. Currently, 82% of UK managers are promoted based on technical skill alone without any formal leadership training. Because a first line manager is the make-or-break factor for early-career retention and confidence, this training is critical. This is supported by young people themselves: 86% of employed youth state it is important that their manager is formally trained to support and guide them. It can make all the difference between someone just getting a job - any job - and staying in that job, learning, progressing and becoming leaders themselves one day.
Q. Where do you think the biggest disconnect currently exists between what education systems teach and what businesses need?
A: Our education system excels at teaching theoretical knowledge but is neglecting the essential human skills, like resilience, self-management and communication. This is why employers strongly favour practical, hands-on learning. Fifty-one per cent of managers say an apprenticeship best prepares young people for the future, compared to a mere four per cent who choose a university degree alone. This doesn’t mean there is no place for university, of course there is. But it does mean schools, FE colleges and universities need to think about how what they teach can be applied in a work setting. That’s why structured work experience, internships, Saturday jobs, even volunteering needs to come into play. It is in the ‘doing’ that young people will gain these professional skills.
Q. Do you think businesses are doing enough to identify leadership potential in young employees?
A: Managers themselves told us that they are struggling to identify leadership potential. This is despite 64% of young people wanting to step into leadership. But managers say only 12% are progressing as expected. When recruits fail to progress or pass probation, managers cite a lack of motivation (40%) and resilience (38%). But the solution is within our grasp - 83% of young people say they would feel much more confident stepping up and showing what they can do as future leaders if they simply had a mentor or a connection to a professional body.
Businesses must do more to actively identify and nurture this latent ambition. That should be part and parcel of a line manager’s job, to identify that possibility and come up with a plan to nurture this young talent.
Q. At what point should businesses start developing leadership skills in young employees?
A: Day one! Building confidence and core workplace behaviours early prevents costly probation failures and short-term turnover. Programmes like CMI's Leadership essentials can help demystify the workplace before young people even start their first role, while the Aspiring leaders programme boosts skills for recent entrants and apprentices during their critical formative years. The real starting point has to be the line managers who greet the new recruit on day one. Are they modelling the behaviours that will influence young people? Are they being clear in setting expectations? Even having difficult conversations about time keeping and workplace etiquette? These are all core leadership skills, and a good manager will set a new hire up for success.
Q. How can organisations make sure leadership development isn’t reserved for graduates or people already in management positions?
A: Strong leaders know that the more points of view in the room, the better the performance. That is why hiring people from a range of backgrounds and experiences needs to be seen as a strategic strength, not a diversity project in and of itself.
Widen your hiring pool and then think about how you can get the very best out of every new recruit. Have managers who can identify new talent and ambition and then show those young people what a career path might look like. For example, programmes such as CMI's First-line management programme can bridge the gap between individual contribution and team supervision for early-career workers. Upon completion, it leads directly to Foundation Chartered Manager (fCMgr) status, providing graduates and non-graduates alike with a clear, employer-recognised stamp of capability and a direct route to full Chartered Manager status as they grow.
Q. Could developing leadership skills earlier help businesses address future talent and succession challenges?
A: I would argue that thinking about your talent pipeline is a core responsibility of leadership. You need to be thinking about progression for younger hires. By offering them a career path, you retain your talent and gain a more satisfied, committed workforce. You need to plan ahead to stay ahead in business.
Every manager needs to be tasked with identifying and nurturing future leaders. By helping them develop early leadership skills and pairing them with structured pathways to professional recognition, businesses see immediate dividends in productivity. More bluntly, not doing this will cost your business time, money and growth opportunities.
If you are looking to hire a professional to join your team, or seeking a new opportunity yourself, get in touch with one of our specialist recruitment consultants today.
