There are many tangible benefits to completing a leadership and management skills qualification. Such as developing leadership skills, learning to apply practical management tools, improving business knowledge, gaining confidence and self-awareness, demonstrating professionality to colleages and team, earning team confidence and learning to think strategically.
As well as a leader improving in their role, an MSC report stated that the organisation will also find productivity gains, staff attraction and professional reputation improved by offering any kind of management qualification. In addition the 2009 UKCES report explained how companies applying accepted management practices perform significantly higher than others.
The MSC report also claimed that managers who are qualified are more likely to invest in qualifications across their workforce; thus in terms of increasing skills levels, management qualifications have a major "multiplier effect".
Similarly a recent report by the IoD explained that a management qualification can see improvement on multiple levels; improvement of a manager or leader in their role, improvement in the team they lead and improvements in the organisation and the way it operates.
With this in mind, IoD found that Leadership and Management skills shortages are the most detrimental as they have knock on effects on the practical running of an organisation and even exacerbate the effect of other skills weaknesses if managers are ill-equipped to leverage and develop other employees' skills effectively (see LCP's summary of the report findings).
Considering these benefits, the MSC report suggested that employers with non-accredited in-house learning and development activities should consider how offering qualifications could have higher value.
Does UK investment in management need to catch up?
Despite ample strong evidence supporting management qualifications, MSC research found that 41% of managers hold below a Level 2 qualification. Perhaps more surprising was that managers are under-qualified when compared with other professionals - with 38.5% of managers and senior officials qualified at Level 4 or above, compared with 80.9% of others in professional occupations.
When comparing the UK with other countries the UKCES report found that it has the lowest share of managers with a degree of any country (43%) compared with 60% in the USA and 70% in Japan.
The report also cited the cross national study of management development by Mabey and Ramirez which found that around a quarter of the variation in organisational performance was explained by three factors, regardless of country, size, industry or growrh: "a strategic approach to HRM, a long-term, proactive and strategic approach to management development and, on the part of line managers, a belief that their employer takes management development seriously".
This research also found that the UK ranked 5th of the 6 countries studies for its average yearly spending on management development: Germany 4,438; Denmark 3,387; Norway 2,734; France 2,674; Spain 1,803; UK 1,625; Romania 424 (average euros per manager, per year).
What do you think? Does the UK need to invest more in management and leadership development? Does your organisation offer qualifications?
Management and Leadership qualifications: things you should know
Qualifications in the UK can only be certificated by awarding bodies - the two leading bodies are CMI and ILM in the UK. This means that they have been approved by the Qualifications Curriculum Authority that will ensure the content and level meet national standards. Courses are also held at training centres which are vetted by the awarding bodies - if the training organisation isn't an approved centre then the qualification isn't 'real'. See the Management Qualifications website for more useful information.