Developing Effective Managers

THIS article examines the importance of IAM qualifications; firstly in meeting the needs of employers by developing effective managers, and secondly to the profession of Administrative Management.While debate still rages concerning the competency approach to management development, the IAM continues to provide qualifications that not only meet the needs of employers through developing the capability and effectiveness of managers, but are increasingly important in raising the professional status of Administrative Managers.Organisations are recognising the need for management development in order to eguip managers to cope with dynamic and complex external conditions. The Employment Research Institute feels that, in the 21st Century, essential management skills will enable organisations to manage the changing conditions more effectively. Obviously then, managerial development is essential in order to underpin organisational success in this turbulent environment.The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) argues that highly qualified managers are more likely to adopt strategies of introducing new, higher quality products and improvement of existing products, and consequently support such development. The contribution that management development can make to helping organisations achieve their strategic objectives is therefore becoming increasingly important.What is Management Development?Management development is the process of developing effective managers to meet organisational needs. The development of managers can be separated into three distinct aspects:* Knowledge.* Planning, analytical and creative skills.* Interpersonal skills.Planning, analytical and creative skills are thought to be developed from in-job or job-simulated activities, whereas interpersonal skills are felt to be derived from team-working/ building activities. Management qualifications are considered appropriate for the development of knowledge, in particular specialist techniques and awareness of the general environment (1)Management NVQsManagement development has been subject to fierce academic debate in recent years, particularly focusing on the contribution of Management National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). Management NVQs were developed by the Management Charter Initiative (MCI) to establish a generic set of standards, which managers would be expected to perform competently, thereby constructing a model of the common features of good managerial practice. The process of accreditation then becomes matching work-based activities against those standards.While some, such as Swailes (2), feel that Management NVQs can enhance both general skills and personal competence, others, such as Grugulis (3), are critical that accrediting existing competence does not add value to the knowledge and skills of managers. Indeed, this is a key point: the accreditation of existing competence does not focus on future managerial skills or roles, which is important to management development.IAM QualificationsIn contrast to Management NVQs, IAM qualifications have always focused on developing managerial capability. Awards in Administrative Management are designed to ensure an individual | has not only acquired professional knowledge and developed an appropriate level of understanding, but also has developed the ability to apply the management knowledge in an organisational context. This latter point is important, since contemporary thinking of management development advocates a relationship between management development and organisational context (4).IAM qualifications develop the skills demanded by employers. I conducted an observational analysis of job advertisements in the UK over a two-month period. Here, posts were sought in one local and one national press sources referring to Administrative Manager, Administration Manager, Office Manager, or similar. Ignoring the industry specific requirements, the generic skills demanded by employers were mostly evidenced as communication and organisational skills (Chart 1). …