Why leadership training is essential for effective management

In most businesses when an employee is successful at their role the natural move is to promote them to a managerial role. However, this move is often done without considering the knowledge and skills managers need to be successful. This process is common across industries and is now known as the skills gap in middle management. This article will discuss the impact of the middle management skills gap and how to resolve this for better and more effective management.

Skills required for effective management

There are many skills that managers need to possess in order to have effective management within an organisation. Here are some of the key skills to consider:

Communication skills

While some might think that communication skills are something that individuals should inherently have, effective communication is something that needs to be taught. Different people communicate in different ways and understanding communication styles is key for mangers to be able to effectively work with their direct reports and higher management and stakeholders.

Leadership skills

A natural born leader is a term that is often used when discussing certain people, however, to be an effective leader you must learn how to become one by understanding your role within an organisation, how to set a vision or goal and how motivate others to get there.

Problem-solving skills

Management roles come with a range of challenges and problems that need solving. From day-to-day working to budget concerns, stakeholder management and balancing the needs of their direct reports. To be an effective leader an individual needs to have excellent problem-solving skills.

The negative impacts of the skills gap

Managers, particularly those in middle management, have a great impact on the organisation and those around them such as their direct reports. By promoting individuals to management positions without adequate training an organisation could be facing several negative impacts such as a decrease in staff retention from both the individuals promoted to management positions due to high stress from the role and their direct reports who may be suffering from poor management.

Additionally, having a management team that does not have adequate training for internal processes could risk costly the organisation through costly mistakes that may be made by the managers.

Resolving the skills gap through funded training

The solution to the skills gap is clear: provide more training for those promoted to management positions. However, many organisations shy away from providing this training due to the cost associated with the training and the time it may take.

An option that many organisations may not be aware of is utilising apprenticeships for this training. Apprenticeships are funded training programmes, the cost of which is covered largely or fully by the apprenticeship levy.

Utilising apprenticeships for upskilling existing team members to management positions could be the solution that many businesses are after. These programmes can be done alongside full-time work and organisations could benefit from other factors such as National Insurance exemptions for apprentices under the age of 25.

LMP Education’s Future Leaders programme

To help tackle the middle management skills gap award-winning training provider, LMP Education has launched the Future Leaders programme. This programme combines two levels of management training Level 3 Team Leader and Level 5 Operations Manager to offer a comprehensive training plan for organisations looking to upskill their middle management teams.

LMP Education can support businesses in setting out their training plans, customising the programmes for their unique needs and providing levy spending forecasting and strategy to ensure the organisation makes the most of their levy pot.

Learn more about the Future Leaders programme.

Case study: Bill’s Restaurants

Bill’s is a British restaurant and bar chain with over 70 branches across the UK. The chain has partnered with LMP Education to upskill their management team through apprenticeship. LMP’s apprenticeship training was able to be seamlessly integrated with Bill’s existing management training plans for an enhanced training experience allowing their teams to grow and develop in a sustainable way. Learn more about Bill’s experience with LMP Education.

If you are interested in upskilling your management team through apprenticeships, book a discovery call with the LMP team today!