CMI: Management training still important

16:00 8th April 2009

Management training should still be considered important for businesses, especially during the recession, according to one expert body.

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) recently found that more than 80 per cent of managers involved with training, learning and development, consider management programmes to be of greatest importance to UK businesses.

Ruth Spellman OBE, chief executive of the CMI, said that businesses should consider investing now in order to ensure long-term competence in existing workforces.

Ms Spellman said: "Quite clearly, the government and employers need to think about how skills training can be accommodated because this thirst for knowledge and professionalism can only be good for UK GDP."

She added that only 20 per cent of existing managers actually hold formal qualifications for the job they do, so expanding training opportunities is important.

More management training could encourage staff to pursue a career change or perhaps seek additional IT training.

Over 50 per cent of employers surveyed for a CBI/Nord Anglia report said they were keen to produce more effective training programmes.