Posted: Wednesday, 7 November 2018 @ 09:59
Poor Management is costing the UK economy an estimated £84 billion
a year and the situation is only set to worsen as businesses are faced with
shrinking talent pools and an ageing workforce looking to retire over the next
few years, questions are being asked as to whether younger workers have the
skilled required to fill their shoes?
As Leon Quinn of Balfour Beatty put it: 'Quite simply,
the skill set of young people and the requirements of employers don't match up.
It's like a chef has painstakingly prepared a buffet but has ignored the
dietary requirements of the customers.'
Older workers have a wealth of skills and
knowledge that lend themselves to managing staff; being able to marry
traditional management competencies with the digital working landscape is a
hugely desired skill, the worry being that the Baby Boomer generation will have
little time to transfer this knowledge to the next generation of managers.
How to tackle the
skills gap?
A survey by Robert Hall, found
that many businesses are waking up to the need to train and retain managers, with 45% of respondents reporting an increase in
training and development programmes, 27% of firms hiring mid-level talent to
develop a skills pipeline. Employers are also seeking to
boost their mentoring programmes and knowledge transfer processes (25%),
employing senior-level talent to replace retiring employees (22%) and offering
flexible and/or part-time work arrangements to attract and retain baby boomers
(16%).
Offering staged retirement is a
great way to keep Managers in the job long enough to pass on their valuable
skills to the next generation. With 1 in 4 Brits returning to work within 5
years of retirement offering flexible working hours provides them with the time
to support young team leaders as develop their leadership abilities and top up
their pension.
Changing management practices are also something
that needs to be considered as organisations strive to bridge this gap. As
Richard Branson put it ‘Train people well enough so they can leave, treat
people well enough so they don’t want to’. Employees are becoming an
increasingly nurtured resource of an organisation.
Providing learning & development opportunities
is essential to educating both new and long-time Managers to succeed in this
changing landscape. A Team Leading Apprenticeship qualification is a great way
to support those new to management positions, building confidence in young
leaders. Our level 4 & 5 Management Programmes provide guidance as Managers
develop their leadership style and frameworks to aid strategic decision making.
Read our post on Beating Rising Recruitment Costs
for some hints & tips on how to train & retain your future leaders.