A year ago the The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) published research that included the following statistic: 82% of UK managers have not received management training for their role. The CMI called them ‘accidental’ managers.
When I read ‘accidental managers’, the phrase “action and inaction have consequences” echoed in my head. It was lodged in there by an intimidating, Director of Nursing, 20 years ago. And it’s true!
Expecting new managers to be competent without providing them with the support and training they need certainly has consequences.
Attrition is one of those consequences. To state the obvious:
❌ Employees leave their jobs when they are poorly managed
❌ Employees leave their jobs when they are bullied, harassed or experience discrimination.
❌ Employees leave their jobs when there is a toxic team culture.
Another consequence is the worrying rise in sickness absence rates which, according to a CIPD report, is at the highest rate in over 10 years.
Ineffective managers are taking the rap: “lack of people manager skills and confidence is the most common challenge for employee wellbeing and ‘management style’ remains among the top causes of stress-related absence.”
This is surely all leading to an accident waiting to happen – in the form of unmotivated staff delivering poor business performance at best, and seriously unwell employees and employment tribunals at worst.
And it is simply unfair to expect a newly promoted manager to achieve competence via osmosis.
Instead, businesses need to invest in the right management training and development for them.
There are so many options that businesses can explore.
It doesn’t have to take up huge amounts of time or budget. But it does need to meet actual needs – those of the business and the individual manager.
At minimum:
✅ A named person to support a newly promoted manager in their first 100 days.
✅ A simple checklist of tasks and processes including sickness absence and other policies.
✅ A clear set of expected management behaviours. This is vital if we want them to have meaningful one-to-one conversations with their team members.
✅ Resources that provide examples.
✅ Regular one-to-one meetings with their line manager should be a given, but I know often it isn’t. When done well it provides an opportunity to safely raise issues and learn from someone more experienced.
At best:
✴ All the above +
✴ A mentor, coach or experienced peer to help a newly promoted manager navigate the challenges they will experience.
✴ High quality management training in people skills
✴ ILM Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management or similar qualification to provide a firm foundation on which to lead their team.
As part of our 20th anniversary in October 2024 we are offering a 20% discount on our ILM Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management. The discount is on offer for any booking made by 18:00 on 31st October 2024.
A year ago the The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) published research that included the following statistic: 82% of UK managers have not received management training for their role. The CMI called them ‘accidental’ managers.
When I read ‘accidental managers’, the phrase “action and inaction have consequences” echoed in my head. It was lodged in there by an intimidating, Director of Nursing, 20 years ago. And it’s true!
Expecting new managers to be competent without providing them with the support and training they need certainly has consequences.
Attrition is one of those consequences. To state the obvious:
❌ Employees leave their jobs when they are poorly managed
❌ Employees leave their jobs when they are bullied, harassed or experience discrimination.
❌ Employees leave their jobs when there is a toxic team culture.
Another consequence is the worrying rise in sickness absence rates which, according to a CIPD report, is at the highest rate in over 10 years.
Ineffective managers are taking the rap: “lack of people manager skills and confidence is the most common challenge for employee wellbeing and ‘management style’ remains among the top causes of stress-related absence.”
This is surely all leading to an accident waiting to happen – in the form of unmotivated staff delivering poor business performance at best, and seriously unwell employees and employment tribunals at worst.
And it is simply unfair to expect a newly promoted manager to achieve competence via osmosis.
Instead, businesses need to invest in the right management training and development for them.
There are so many options that businesses can explore.
It doesn’t have to take up huge amounts of time or budget. But it does need to meet actual needs – those of the business and the individual manager.
At minimum:
✅ A named person to support a newly promoted manager in their first 100 days.
✅ A simple checklist of tasks and processes including sickness absence and other policies.
✅ A clear set of expected management behaviours. This is vital if we want them to have meaningful one-to-one conversations with their team members.
✅ Resources that provide examples.
✅ Regular one-to-one meetings with their line manager should be a given, but I know often it isn’t. When done well it provides an opportunity to safely raise issues and learn from someone more experienced.
At best:
✴ All the above +
✴ A mentor, coach or experienced peer to help a newly promoted manager navigate the challenges they will experience.
✴ High quality management training in people skills
✴ ILM Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management or similar qualification to provide a firm foundation on which to lead their team.
As part of our 20th anniversary in October 2024 we are offering a 20% discount on our ILM Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management. The discount is on offer for any booking made by 18:00 on 31st October 2024.