Case study ( 4 question )

Introduction

Managers are the biggest occupational group in the UK – and

over 800,000 new jobs will be created in management between

2010 and 2017. However, only one in five managers in the UK is

professionally qualified. Research has shown that poor leadership

may affect levels of employee motivation, reduce productivity or

even impact on a business’ reputation. Direct results might include

a failure to reach sales targets, increased costs or high levels of

absence or sickness.

Managers play a pivotal role in getting things done by motivating,

inspiring and leading others at work. Employees who feel valued in

the workplace tend to be more committed to their work. This

results in higher levels of performance, reduced absenteeism and

more competitive businesses.

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is the only chartered

professional body in the UK dedicated to management and

leadership. CMI has over 86,000 individual members and 450

corporate clients. Its core purpose is the promotion of the highest

levels of management and leadership skills within both individuals

and organisations. It meets this objective by providing a

qualification framework and a full range of qualifications based on

the National Occupational Standards for management and

leadership which it founded. These provide benchmarks for

measuring personal and corporate management performance.

CMI is not just an awarding body and provider of qualifications

and training. The value of its membership for both individuals and

organisations stems from the wide range of practical support and

advice it offers managers and leaders at every stage of their

careers. It also works with employers to help them develop and

accredit their own in-house programmes to build leadership skills

and attract and retain top talent.

CMI is the only organisation that offers the Chartered Manager

Award. To receive this top award, a manager must demonstrate a

range of essential management skills. However, this is only one way

of showing effective management skills. CMI provides a wide range

of routes for existing and potential managers to develop their skills

and gain professional qualifications. Anyone can join CMI and use its

support and resources throughout his or her career to upskill and

gain professional qualifications, for example, an NVQ level 2 in Team

Leading. CMI students then have the opportunity to work towards

the Certificate and Diploma in Management and Leadership.

This case study looks at the theoretical basis behind CMI’s highly-

regarded practices and shows how CMI ensures its members

have the practical skills to make an impact in business.

Curriculum Topics

• Leadership

• Management

• Management styles

• Developing skills

G L

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Management: Organising human and physical resources to achieve business aims and objectives.

Leadership: The act of establishing direction, purpose and the necessary capabilities among a group of people.

Benchmarks: Indexes, standards or points of reference in measuring or judging a quality or value.

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15 www.thetimes100.co.uk Chartered Management Institute | The importance of effective management 21

The importance of effective management

Leadership and management

According to the theorist Henri Fayol, the key functions of

managers are to:

• make forecasts and plans

• organise work

• command the people under them by giving instructions

• co-ordinate the resources (money, people, time) for which they

are responsible

• control activities and people by measuring and correcting them

to enable performance to fit the plans.

Each level of management requires appropriate skills and abilities:

• Senior managers - set strategies and objectives - lead and

inspire others

• Middle managers - lead their teams to deliver the specified

objectives

• Junior managers - manage tasks and learn to lead others.

Leadership is the art or process of influencing people to perform

assigned tasks willingly, efficiently and effectively. Enabling people

to feel they have a say in how they do something results in higher

levels of job satisfaction and productivity. By effectively planning

and controlling the people and processes for which they are

responsible, managers provide a positive and professional

environment. This can generate similar attitudes in their teams.

This engagement of employees is a powerful asset in growing a

business. However, research carried out by the UK government

indicates that employee engagement is low in many UK

workplaces. As many as one in five employees in UK

establishments are disengaged. This can lead to absenteeism and

failure to complete tasks or achieve targets.

CMI recognises that leadership and management skills are not

exclusive of each other. Leadership is particularly important in

senior management positions within an organisation. To become

an effective manager, an individual should show qualities and

competencies in six key areas. These cover both leadership

and management skills and are the basis for the award of

Chartered Manager:

1. Leading people – providing purpose and inspiring trust

2. Managing change – encouraging creativity and driving change

3. Meeting customer needs – improving products and services to

increase customer satisfaction

4. Managing information and knowledge – developing knowledge

and communication to aid decision making

5. Managing activities and resources – on time, to budget and

meeting quality required

6. Self management – using influence and persuasion, achieving

personal goals.

CMI believes strongly that all managers should be equipped and

prepared to manage as well as to take on leadership roles.

Knowing how to lead and motivate employees is a crucial part of

this. CMI supports managers in developing practical skills through

a wide range of activities including online learning, events and

Continuous Professional Development. A recent study (2010)

showed that if organisations increased investment in practices that

lead to employee engagement (such as personal development) by

just 10%, this could increase profits by £1,500 per employee per

year. For example, in a company that employed 1,200 people,

profits might increase by around £1.8 million.

People-focused management

The concept of Theory X and Theory Y managers was first

developed by Douglas McGregor. He was able to show that

Theory Y managers are better able to create employee engagement.

In a recent survey, CMI asked employees what type of manager they responded to best. The top two results showed employees preferred a Theory Y approach:

A real people person – someone who communicates with you and understands your needs 65%

A strong leader – someone who can show you where the organisation is headed 18%

G L

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Engagement: Employees feeling involved in the workplace and in decision making so that they want to do their work well and on time.

Asset: Anything yielding value for a business over a given length of time. Assets in a firm's accounts have a money value and may be fixed (eg buildings, machinery) or current (eg stock, debtors).

Competencies: The ability of an individual or a firm to perform a particular type of task to a given standard.

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15www.thetimes100.co.ukChartered Management Institute | The importance of effective management22

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X Y Theory X managers believe

employees

• need to be controlled • don’t like work • need to be pushed to be more

productive • need incentive schemes • have to be directed to do things

that they don’t enjoy

Theory Y managers believe employees

• want to be involved • can think for themselves and

make decisions • share ownership of tasks • will find work more rewarding if

given responsibility and a variety of tasks

• have good ideas • can engage in some level of self-

management

Research carried out by CMI also showed that over half of the

managers surveyed felt that there is a short supply of

management skills in two key areas:

1. inspiring people and leading them through change

2. innovation in business growth and development.

CMI provides practical support to managers to help them develop

the skills to inspire their teams and generate creative thinking. For

example, Justin Skinner has a PhD in Mathematics and Statistics.

On taking up a high level management post at London-based

insurance firm QBE, he developed his management skills by

gaining a Diploma in Management Studies. He says, ‘I wanted to

be a good manager and was aware that my competence as a

manager and my management style would have a big impact on

my team and my colleagues’.

Through studying management techniques and principles, he

recognised the importance of his relationship with his employees.

Justin has become a more competent manager by trusting his

team more and being open to their ideas. His company benefited

as these changes made the team feel valued and raised levels of

engagement. Justin continued his development by becoming a

CMI member and in 2007 became a Chartered Manager. ‘I think

that I have become a better manager…my team is now

outperforming similar teams in other organisations.’

Management styles

Justin wanted to improve his management style. A survey

carried out by CMI showed that managers frequently use

unsuitable or inappropriate styles for the task at hand. When

asked, ‘What is the dominant type of management style in your

organisation?’, the most common replies were ‘authoritarian’ or

autocratic (21%) and ‘bureaucratic’ (16%). Far fewer of those

surveyed identified positive features of management such as

‘innovative’ (7%), ‘trusting’ (9%), and ‘empowering’ (7%). Studies

of managers at work have identified a number of distinct

management styles and where these are appropriate.

Managers need to learn to adapt their style to ensure employees

will respond. Organisations with trained managers benefit from

having a consistent and professional approach across the business.

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G L

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S A

R YManagement style: Broad approaches

to management typically characterised by the way authority is wielded and the extent to which decisions are delegated.

Autocratic: Where a leader makes a decision alone and conveys it to staff without allowing dispute or discussion.

Bureaucratic: A rule-bound approach, in which there are set procedures and little room for personal initiative.

Features

• Likes to retain control • Likes to tell those working under them what to do • No consultation • Subordinates are expected to obey instructions

• As with Autocratic, likes to take much of the responsibility for decision making but with a caring attitude for employees

• Encourages participation by employees • Shares information with team members • Provides opportunities for the team to influence

decision making

• Little or no direction from the managers • Subordinates are free to make decisions

Impact

• Helps complete urgent tasks that need doing quickly or where there is an element of risk about the work

• May lead to lack of creativity or resistance if employees have no input

• Employees may feel valued but frustrated because there is little scope for decision making

• Gains team commitment, particularly when changes need to be made

• Makes decision making slower but employees are more likely to buy into/support the decisions

• Useful for highly skilled, trained, expert teams • May lead to chaos without centralised control • Regular feedback and communication is required

for this approach to work

Management style

Autocratic

Paternalistic

Democratic

Laissez-faire

Developing management skills

To remain competitive in the world economy, UK businesses need

to develop a new generation of outstanding managers capable of

leading people. CMI’s programmes help people develop

management skills in a variety of ways. This might be through

formal or informal training such as on-the-job training, e-learning

or mentoring, or through continuous professional development, for

example, social networking and management conferences or

events. Membership of CMI provides access to all these routes

and underpins a manager’s development.

CMI also works with businesses of different types and from

different industries to find the solutions that will meet their specific

requirements. A business may need its managers to focus on how

well they communicate, improve how they inspire trust in others or

build relationships with those around them. Individuals and

business-sponsored managers have equal access to the wide

range of resources, information and guidance CMI provides for

those following its programmes. This knowledge resource includes

online research, case studies, e-learning content, tutorials,

assessments, podcasts and a range of problem-solving tools to

help managers find the right information when they need it.

The establishment of a professional standard – the Chartered

Manager status - has helped improve management skills across

the UK. In 2010, the one thousandth individual to achieve this

status was Martin Mackie who works for AMEC Power and

Process (Europe). Martin believes that ‘the award has made me

aware of the skills that I possess and how I am able to implement

them. Gaining Chartered Manager status will hopefully help me to

progress my career’.

Having CMI-accredited managers helps a business to attract and

retain talented people and inspires more public confidence in the

quality of products and services provided. This was shown at the

Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust where all managers engaged in

a range of CMI courses. Surveys show that satisfaction amongst

patients increased as a result of the training programme and the

Trust earned a 5-star rating for excellence - the highest that can

be awarded.

Conclusion

Currently only one in five managers in the UK is professionally

qualified. Demand for strong management and leadership skills is

growing within businesses. There are around 4.8 million managers

in the UK economy. However, the proportion of these with

management-related qualifications is unlikely to rise by more than

20% over the next few years. An increasing number of employees

are also required to take up management responsibilities in

specialist technical areas. The result is that the estimated number

of new managers needed each year is around 114,000.

Management and leadership skills are needed in every industry

and every walk of life. It is essential therefore for new managers to

be provided with opportunities to learn how to manage and lead

people. CMI’s qualification framework and the Chartered Manager

Award help to enhance the status of the profession and provide a

career route for management development.

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15www.thetimes100.co.ukChartered Management Institute | The importance of effective management24

Q U

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1. Set out a table showing the benefits of well trained

and qualified managers to:

i. the UK economy

ii. businesses

iii. individual employees.

2. What is the relationship between management and

leadership? Why do effective managers also need to

have leadership skills?

3. What type of management style would you use:

a) with a team of employees who are keen to

introduce changes in working practice and who

enjoy working together?

b) when carrying out work that needs to be carried

out very quickly and involves a number of potentially

dangerous hazards?

Justify your choices in each case.

4. How effective do you think the status of Chartered

Manager is in improving management training? Why is

it important to have an organisation like the CMI

supporting managers?

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