Too many managers cut costs rather than promote growth

MPs and business leaders will be putting managers and leaders under the spotlight with the launch of a new cross-party Parliamentary Commission.

The Commission, led by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Management (APPGM) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), will explore why too many managers end up cutting costs, rather than promoting growth and employment. It will also focus on how line management can be transformed to drive growth across UK plc in the years ahead.

Led by Peter Ayliffe, President of CMI, and Barry Sheerman MP, Chair of the APPGM, the Commission is a joint initiative of Parliamentarians and business leaders. The first Management Commission for over ten years, it has been created in the wake of research showing that British management is ranked well below international competitors like Germany, the US and Japan, with CMI research showing that as many as 43% of managers are rated as ineffective or highly ineffective.

Barry Sheerman MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Management, said: “Poor management affects every aspect of our lives and ultimately leads to our country underperforming. The hard truth is that too many businesses fail because of bad management. This has to change, because the quality of management and leadership will be absolutely key to how well our businesses do in creating jobs and wealth in the years ahead.

“Despite knowing what ‘good looks like’, too many employers are still struggling to excel when it comes to management and leadership.”

The Commission aims to highlight where employers have successfully used innovative approaches to management that have helped create growth. The best and most innovative will be invited to discuss their work with the Commission in Parliament.

Peter Ayliffe, CMI President, said: “The UK has some brilliant companies that are thriving in a rapidly changing environment – but it also has a lot of mediocre companies which could be doing far better. Many of them don’t even realise how much they could improve if only they were better managed. Our ambition is to identify the practical changes in line management behaviour that managers will need to make to lead and grow our businesses in the years ahead.” 

The Commission is inviting employers, managers, and experts alike to submit case studies, blogs and videos that give practical examples of best practice in management and leadership, via www.managers.org.uk/managementfutures. The Commission will report in summer 2014.