CMI: The UK urgently needs better management

As a long-term Approved Centre with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), we support their efforts to promote and shape effective and professional management and leadership in the UK. Their popular qualifications and careful curation of ‘Chartered Manager’ status act as prestigious benchmarks of best practice across all sectors of the economy.

In their report “Management and UK 2030,” CMI analysed the UK labour market and found strong suggestions that leadership and management skills are comparatively undervalued in the UK vs. top-performing economies like those of Sweden, Singapore and South Korea. Furthermore, if the UK wants to tackle regional inequalities, improve public services and develop the next generation of globally competitive, highly productive organisations, urgent action is required.

Key Findings

• The UK will need to recruit over 120,000 extra managers by 2030.
• To close a gap with the world’s most productive economies, the UK requires 10% more management job adverts to specify high-level management skills.
• The UK’s health sector may be undervaluing skilled managers in comparison to other sectors.
• If the UK mirrored, for example, Germany’s management capability in the coming decades, the resulting improvements in efficiency and productivity could be worth as much as £127 billion to the economy.

Five Recommended Steps

1. Upgrade the management capabilities of the government and public sector workforce and those who supply it goods and services.
2. Government to act as arch persuader for better management.
3. Support existing policies that improve UK management.
4. Use strategic policy and regulation levers to improve management capabilities.
5. Trade deals that support the place of UK business in global supply chains.

Whilst the full, 23-page report goes into detail about the steps above, we want to highlight a particular response that supports more than one of them: Management Apprenticeships.

With a huge quantity of management training required – both for fresh entrants to the labour market and for those currently in leadership positions without having received any formal management training – the modern apprenticeship system represents a continuously underrated and underutilised opportunity for full funding and easy access to comprehensive, CMI-endorsed leadership development programmes.

By embedding management apprenticeships within workforce development strategies, organisations can address leadership gaps while simultaneously ensuring long-term talent pipelines. These apprenticeships not only support individuals in gaining practical, real-world leadership skills but also align with broader national economic goals, such as boosting productivity and closing the UK’s management skills deficit.

The Power of Management Apprenticeships

• Bridging the skills gap: Addressing the UK’s urgent need for trained and competent managers.
• Enhancing productivity: Research consistently shows that better-managed businesses perform more efficiently and are more profitable.
• Future-proofing industries: Equipping both public and private sector organisations with the leadership skills needed to navigate economic challenges.
• Supporting social mobility: Apprenticeships provide accessible pathways into leadership for diverse talent pools.

With Eliesha’s Level 3 (Team Leader) and Level 5 (Operations Manager) programmes available via virtual learning with online support, access to impactful and fully-funded leadership development has never been easier. Organisations can seize this opportunity to invest in their current and future managers, ensuring they are equipped with the skills, confidence, and strategic acumen to drive long-term business success.

By embracing management apprenticeships, UK businesses can take a proactive step towards the high-productivity, globally competitive future envisioned in the CMI’s report—turning insights into action and strengthening the nation’s economic resilience for years to come.

To find out more, arrange an informal, exploratory meeting with our expert team and we’ll explain everything you need to know about using the apprenticeship system for impactful leadership development.