We were delighted to have Ann Francke, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute speak at Reed Connect, our recent networking and learning day at Reed Business School.
In her session entitled The Skill-Up Imperative: How to get the most out of your employees, Ann spoke about the importance of providing managers and leaders with effective training to help foster a productive and collaborative environment.
Here are our key takeaways from the session:
The rise of the ‘accidental manager’
82% of UK managers are considered ‘accidental managers’ - individuals who are put in charge of their department because they were good at their original role but have received no formal training in how to manage people or teams.
According to Skills England, 40% of organisations spend no money on training at all, so it’s not surprising that many managers are being left to figure it out themselves.
The detrimental impact of accidental managers is significant, with nearly half of workers who rate their managers as ineffective planning to leave their organisation within the next 12 months.
The importance and benefits of training managers
People with ineffective managers are generally less satisfied with their work and less motivated. Subsequently, less motivated workers will not produce their best work; resulting in weak productivity, and ultimately poor economic performance.
On the flips side, investing in managers can lead to a 23% boost to organisational performance, as well as a 32% increase in employee engagement and productivity. (CMI data).
Trained managers are significantly more likely to trust their team, feel comfortable leading change, and feel comfortable calling out bad behaviour.
Investing in your managers can also have significant positive impact on your bottom line. Figures suggest that the annual business revenue boost from each Chartered Manager is £59k, equating to £294k over 5 years.
Empathy is crucial
Empathy is a hugely important quality when it comes to managers - employees with trained managers are significantly more likely to feel supported, fairly treated and included at work, leading to high productivity and an increased sense of belonging.
A supportive manager is seen as the most influential factor in people feeling supported at work (60%). Higher than workplace culture (53%), and D&I initiatives (24%).
Adaptability is key
According to research from Prof Nicholas Bloom, employees value flexibility at work as much as they would an 8% pay raise.
38% of mothers with young children say that without workplace flexibility, they would have had to leave or reduce hours - McKinsey
Diversity makes teams stronger
Gender-diverse executive teams were 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability. This rises to 35% for those with ethnically diverse teams (McKinsey).
Teams with gender, age and geographic diversity make better business decisions than all male teams (87% vs 57%) (HBR).
Some of the biggest PR blunders and company implosions in recent years have been as a result of ‘group think’ caused by a lack of diversity and outside perspective when making decisions.
Final thoughts
If organisations continue to under-invest in proper training for their people, especially managers and team leaders then they are likely to see the negative impact on both productivity and profitability.
Impactful training is just as much about behaviours, as it is about skills and knowledge, and it’s best to start this training sooner rather than later.
Training all employees against a consistent framework is the best way to build your culture, improve employee wellbeing and increase employee retention and mobility.
If you're looking to strengthen your leadership team or explore impactful training solutions, Reed Business School can help. Get in touch to find out how we can support your upskilling and reskilling goals.