The Value of Management and Leadership Qualifications

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Another key skill described in regard to people management is the ability to take intoaccount differences in individuals and situations that require different management styles.One participant said they had learned that, “you need to take the right approach to particularpeople, not one size fits all”.3.4 Change inorganisationalcultureQualifications and training can form a central component of a cultural change programmein organisations. GLL is an excellent example of this.In the midst of a period of rapid growth and expansion in 2007, GLL were warned by aInvestors in People (IiP) report that they had neglected the ‘people agenda’. Leaders atGLL took this criticism seriously and sought to address the issue. Lorraine Patrinos, Headof Skills Development at GLL, explains:“One of the things about our organisation at that stage was that we were rapidly growingand were very task focused and our natural management style was very autocratic. So wewere looking for a way to educate our managers on different management styles,including a more collaborative style of management.”GLL decided at the outset that in order to change the organisational culture, there wouldneed to be a large-scale approach to educating managers in a coaching and mentoringstyle. They decided to run a series of MLQs in coaching and mentoring offering the CMIAward, Certificate and Diploma to staff at different levels. In addition, as part of a wholesystemsapproach to culture change, they introduced a robust appraisal system and arecurrently rebranding and redefining their behavioural competencies to ensure the peopleagenda remains an organisational priority.These policies were discussed at length in the focus group, with a very positiveresponse from participants. Managers now felt empowered to make decisions and thatthe organisation had become more “people centred”. Their views were backed up by themost recent IiP report which referred to the positive influence of coaching and mentoringpractices on staff at GLL. This provides a very compelling ‘before and after’ example ofhow culture change can be achieved through an integrated approach combining MLQswith wider organisational policies.3.5 Supportingorganisational changeprogrammesHaving managers who can adapt to and manage change within their team is very importantfor organisations, given that a typical pattern following change programmes (even whenthey are designed specifically to enhance performance) is a drop in performance levelsdue to the disruption caused. One theme that emerged from the focus groups was thatproviding managers with management and leadership skills through MLQs helped themsupport their organisation through change programmes.Enhanced people management skills enabled managers to bring others on board withorganisational changes, rather than disengage them – which can be a typical result.Indeed, imminent organisational change was one of the main reasons for use of the MLQprogrammes by the NHS employers in Leeds. Staff across all the NHS Trusts involvedvalued their new skills, drawing on them at times of difficult negotiation with internalstakeholders and when communicating troubling messages to wider team members.Similarly, participants from across the focus groups spoke of how their MLQ had given themthe generic management skills to work flexibly and to adapt to different situations. This, theyfelt, was very valuable given constant changes in the business environment, which theyneeded to absorb while maintaining performance levels.24
3.6 Enhanced staffretentionA clear theme that emerged from the focus groups and the HR interviews was the positivebenefit of MLQs in terms of staff retention. Many participants described how the commitmentthe organisation was showing to their personal development made them feel more positivelyabout the organisation. One manager from Synergy Health illustrated this well:“I felt quite special when my line manager decided to send me on the course. It wasn’t cheapand I felt that they wanted me to progress in the company and I’m happy about that”.Participants from the GLL focus group described how having the opportunity to undertakethe Coaching and Mentoring qualification reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to staff.One commented that “it makes me want to stay here”.There was a general feeling in the HR interviews that investing in people’s developmentdisplays how committed the organisation is to their staff and that this will help with staffretention. Rob Reed, the Senior Manager for Group Learning and Development at BGLGroup, said: “If you develop staff they do tend to stay. They can see our commitment.”3.7 Creating a positiveimage and theattraction of staffOrganisations that invest in managers are perceived more positively by their employees andwider stakeholders. Focus group participants also discussed the impact that MLQs hadon an organisation’s external image, the positive impact this has on both staff recruitmentand customer relationships. It was possible to identify two key themes on this topic.The first theme was that investment in staff enables the organisations to position themselvesas an employer-of-choice with proven management capability. Lorraine Patrinos from GLLbelieves that they achieve strong recruitment because the organisation is an industry leaderin terms of its learning and development.The second theme was connected to the positive presentation of the organisation bymore engaged employees. Employees are more likely to reflect positively on their employerfollowing the funding of an MLQ, presenting a more positive image of the organisation toexternal audiences in both formal and informal settings.3.8 Creation of amanagementcommunityAnother narrative coming from the focus groups was the value of having managers that haveall been on the same course. It was described as leading to a ‘management community’based on a common language where members understand each other and have similar‘toolkits’ to draw upon. There is likely to be cumulative benefit for the organisation when alarge group of managers are equipped through an MLQ to question, challenge and manageusing similar tools and language.3.9 Overall cost/benefit to employersWhen asked to consider whether the total investment from an employer in an MLQ,including the level of time, money and effort invested, is outweighed by the benefits thatthe qualification brings the employer, 79 per cent of respondents agreed.25
Page 3 and 4: ContentsPageForeword 4Introduction
Page 5 and 6: IntroductionEarlier this year CMI p
Page 7 and 8: Defining managementand leadershipqu
Page 9 and 10: Individual managers’perspectives
Page 11 and 12: CEO/MDDirector/Senior Manager2.081.
Page 13 and 14: The findings demonstrate that price
Page 15 and 16: The focus groups corroborated these
Page 17 and 18: Be more confident in my approach to
Page 19 and 20: One of the participants explained h
Page 21 and 22: More than 5 years ago2 to 5 years a
Page 23: Diploma Certificate AwardFoundation
Page 27 and 28: Chapter 4: Maximising the Returns f
Page 29 and 30: The most common method, written ass
Page 31 and 32: I was supported by my line manager
Page 33 and 34: 4.9.1 Quantitative feedbackTo meet
Page 35 and 36: Conclusions and RecommendationsThe
Page 37 and 38: Appendix 1: Case Study 1: BGL Group
Page 39 and 40: Appendix 2: Case Study 2: Greenwich
Page 41 and 42: Appendix 3: Case Study 3: Leeds Lea
Page 43 and 44: Appendix 4: Case Study 4: Synergy H
Page 45 and 46: ReferencesAlimo-Metcalfe, B., Alban
Page 48: Chartered Management InstituteThe C

The Value of Management and Leadership Qualifications

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