British banks and other organisations must place more emphasis on the management skills of those in finance jobs, it has been suggested.
According to the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), too few managers in the UK have professional qualifications – just one in five to be precise.
With this in mind, professionals applying for finance jobs in management positions may benefit from pursuing qualifications that prove their acumen when it comes to making decisions and delegating.
The CMI, which is the only chartered professional body dedicated to improving corporate leadership by offering such qualifications, was responding to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which indicated that most employees are not satisfied by the training managers offer them.
Employees were likely to say that their immediate line managers are committed to their organisation (71 per cent) and treat them fairly (67 per cent).
However, far fewer (28 per cent) were willing to agree with the statement that their manager always/usually coaches them on the job, discusses their development needs (38 per cent) or gives them feedback on their performance (44 per cent)
“Our own research has shown that 50 per cent of people think they can do their job better than their manager – so this does not surprise me,” said Mike Petrook, head of public affairs at the CMI.
He suggested that placements for managers could provide them with the skills required to take on tasks such as staff training.
“We invest a whole lot less in training and development of management than our counterparts across Europe. To improve these issues we must invest more in the development of management and leadership,” Mr Petrock said.
“It is the ongoing professional development that counts. The way a manager learns about this has to be directly relevant to their place of work.”
A study published by Capita Learning and Development last year indicated that business managers believe inadequate staff skills to be the biggest risk to their ability to take advantage of the current economic situation.
