Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Aiming for excellence

by Personnel Today 1 Sep 2000
by Personnel Today 1 Sep 2000

At last there is evidence that money spent on good development programmes for
managers will boost a company’s financial performance, says Karen Charlesworth

About 10 years ago, British managers were accused of lagging behind their overseas
competitors in training and development opportunities, and there was solid
evidence that most executives had received no formal training.

The Institute of Management has been keeping a close eye on this sorry state of
affairs, and we’ve noticed that things have, indeed, changed for the better.

We’ve discovered an improvement in the quality and quantity of management since those
dark days of the past. And our latest research, Achieving Management
Excellence, shows that training enhances financial performance when undertaken
in a consistent and systematic way.

We’ve found there’s been a major increase in training since the mid-1990s (when the
last major survey was conducted). And the latest research – in January this
year, among 500 human resources managers and 500 non-HR managers – showed that
the average amount of training for each manager is now six-and-a-half days a
year in both large and smaller organisations. We also noted an important shift
from informal to formal methods of development, with two out of five now
reporting an emphasis on the latter.

Formal methods include opportunities to pursue external formal qualifications,
attending external open/public courses, in-company training to develop skills
lacking in the individual manager, in-company training to develop
organisation-specific skills and attendance at outside seminars and
conferences.

There has also been a growth in the use of informal methods – especially in smaller
establishments – such as planned on-the-job development, coaching, mentoring,
job shadowing, in-company job rotation and external secondment.

We’ve been very encouraged to find growing recognition of the value of a planned and
co-ordinated approach to training in Britain’s companies. Over half (51 per
cent) now have a written statement of management development – up from 43 per
cent in 1996 – and this approach is showing results.

Our research team looked at 223 companies who had taken part in both the 1996 and
2000 surveys. In those cases, organisations that reported a centralised
management development strategy, and whose managers undertook more formal than
informal training, also reported increases in benchmarked financial turnover
compared with others in their sector. For example, 61 per cent of those who
gave a high priority to management development reported an increase in
financial turnover during the past three years, compared with only 47 per cent
who gave it a lower priority.

Demand for management skills is clearly growing. The IM research suggests a move away
from fast-tracking small groups of managers towards ways of developing strong
management skills across broader levels and layers of the workplace. While
technical “hard” skills such as financial management remain important, the most
sought-after are those focused on bringing out the best in people and teams.

The qualities now most in demand are those that have been called “soft”, but which
are increasingly the hardest to deliver – namely leadership, people management,
customer focus and team working.

Interestingly, the survey also found that one competency – the ability to exploit the
potential of the Internet and e-commerce – is expected to rise rapidly as a
much-in-demand talent in the near future and we shall be monitoring
developments.

Karen Charlesworth is research manager at the Institute of Management. The report
Achieving Management Excellence – A survey of UK management development at the
millennium, by Dr Chris Mabey and Professor Andrew Thomson of the Open
University Business School (OUBS) costs £25 for IM members and £50 for
non-members from the IM public affairs department. Tel 020-7421 2704, e-mail [email protected] www.inst-mgt.org.uk

Avatar
Personnel Today

previous post
Best Practice
next post
Nationwide Building Society

You may also like

Five steps for organisations across the globe to...

8 Jun 2022

The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls

24 May 2022

Grants scheme set up to support women’s health...

16 May 2022

How music can help to ease anxiety at...

9 May 2022

OH will be key to navigating ‘second pandemic’...

14 Apr 2022

OH urged to be aware of abortion consultations...

8 Apr 2022

How coached eCBT is returning the workplace to...

8 Apr 2022

Why now is the time to plug the...

7 Apr 2022

Two-thirds of shift workers feel health affected by...

18 Mar 2022

TUC warns of April Covid risk assessment ‘confusion’

14 Mar 2022
  • NSPCC revamps its learning strategy with child wellbeing at its heart PROMOTED | The NSPCC’s mission is to prevent abuse and neglect...Read more
  • Diversity versus inclusion: Why the difference matters PROMOTED | It’s possible for an environment to be diverse, but not inclusive...Read more
  • Five steps for organisations across the globe to become more skills-driven PROMOTED | The shift in the world of work has been felt across the globe...Read more
  • The future of workforce development PROMOTED | Northumbria University and partners share insight...Read more
  • Strathclyde Business School expands its Degree Apprenticeship offer in England PROMOTED | The University of Strathclyde is expanding its programmes...Read more
  • The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls PROMOTED | The Great Resignation continues unabated...Read more
  • Navigating the widening “Skills Confidence Gap” in 2022, and beyond PROMOTED | Cornerstone OnDemand conducted a global study...Read more
  • Apprenticeships are the solution to your recruitment problems PROMOTED | Apprenticeships have the pulling power...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+