Management Education is the key to developing “better managers” – Bringing the message to Parliament

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI), Barry Sheerman MP and assembled guests from organisations including the BBC, NHS, and BT, gathered in the House of Commons to discuss the importance of management education. In a joint reception, apprentices and employers from a range of backgrounds and industries came together to share their experiences of how management apprenticeships have changed their lives and brought benefits to their organisations.

In his opening remarks, Barry Sheerman MP, said:

“If you really want to change any town, any city, you have got to look to the quality of managers. And I’ve seen so many Chancellors and Prime Ministers who say, ‘Please could we have higher productivity.’ So for a way to start, can we please have really top quality managers – in every facet of our lives. […] As we go into the uncertainty of post-Brexit, we’re going to need good management.”

Also speaking at the event, Ann Francke OBE, Chief Executive at CMI, said:

“The real value of management apprenticeships is that they teach the exact skills employers are looking for. We know that 62 per cent of employers say they want graduates who can lead and manage themselves and others, who can communicate and motivate teams – and that’s what the management apprenticeship offers.

The close collaboration that the apprentices have with employers as well as the education providers is an extremely innovative approach, and the UK should be very proud of pioneering this.”

CASE STUDIES

Jill Ablett, Chartered Manager Degree Apprentice (CMDA), and Director of Medical Education & Obstetric Consultant, Royal Berkshire NHS Trust:

“I’ve been with a cohort of people from all different walks of life, all different academic backgrounds, all different ages, all different specialties. We’ve formed this fantastic network who are bringing back all these skills and knowledge [from management apprenticeships] into the NHS and we’re all fixing it from the inside

Apprentices are an absolutely fantastic idea. They should be for everybody and everyone should have the opportunity to learn more skills. Learning in the work environment and using your own background, skills, and experience adds a massive amount of synergy to the process.”

Stuart Brocklehurst CMgr CCMI, CEO, Applegate – apprenticeship provider:

“The greatest importance about apprenticeships is social mobility – equal opportunity and levelling up. It would be a tragedy and a crime to cut off the route to provide people from all backgrounds the opportunity to make the most of who they are – and a waste of the talent we have in the country.”

Sean Williams, CEO, Corndel – apprenticeship provider:

“We saw the apprenticeship levy as a really transformative change in vocational training in the UK. Too often, vocational training when it’s funded by the government, has no relationship to what employers actually want. The fundamental change, I think, in the introduction of the levy wasn’t the increase in funding of 1 billion pounds to 3 billion pounds – it was putting employers in charge.”

CMI also spoke to the first cohort of Social Change Chartered Manager Degree Apprentices about their choice to pursue management education specific to the third sector.

Thomas Nevill, Social Change CMDA – Samaritans:

“When this opportunity came up to combine a degree, a Chartered Manager qualification, and work experience, I thought it’d give me a platform over the next four years to develop myself to a position where I can really affect change within the business – where I can work towards the goals of Samaritans, and be a useful part of the team. […] You don’t go in making teas and coffees – you get thrown in the deep end.”

Catherine Hogan, Social Change CMDA – Mind:

“The fact that I get to work and study at the same time is just phenomenal […] it’s going to give me so many prospects in the future. I really want to work with Mind after I graduate as well, and I’ll have four years of work experience under my belt – that’s more experience than some of the colleagues I work with already.”