Unqualified managers

According to research by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), over half of all managers in the UK have no qualifications.

The research demonstrates that this matters because managers with formal training are significantly more likely to trust their team, feel comfortable leading change initiatives and to feel comfortable calling out bad behaviour compared to those who don’t.

The research also detected signs of bias in relation to promotions and recruitment. Three out of ten managers agreed that people with caring responsibilities were less likely to get promoted.

Likewise, managers from lower (57 per cent) and intermediate (59 per cent) socio-economic backgrounds were significantly more likely than managers from higher socioeconomic backgrounds to say that they didn’t have management and leadership qualifications.

In addition, 34 per cent agreed that people who spend more time in the office/onsite were more likely to progress. This suggests that people who spend less time with their manager in the office are being overlooked for promotion.

It is perhaps no coincidence then that there are more female managers in post with no management qualifications (55 per cent) compared to male managers (48 per cent).

The research also found that managers and their employees sometimes put a different value on things. For instance, while workers put showing empathy and understanding near the top of their list (62 per cent), just under half of the managers did the same (46 per cent).

Workers also placed a higher priority than managers on the importance of making unbiased decisions (53 per cent vs 38 per cent) and identifying and addressing bad behaviour (29 per cent vs 20 per cent).

But there are other risks. In some instances, an ineffective manager can be the reason an employee hesitates to report suspected wrongdoing or bad behaviour, effectively stymying a potential whistleblower from alerting senior management to a reputational or financial risk.

Of the one in five managers (17 per cent) who said they had wanted to raise concerns but didn’t, 41 per cent were concerned that they would not get enough support from their superiors. Overall, 35 per cent of managers and 32 per cent of workers say they have left a job because of a negative work culture.

CMI commissioned the leading polling organisation YouGov to look at the state of UK management and leadership. The surveys (both online and the fieldwork) were carried out in June and July.

To read the report in full, click here.