Michael Barker is the first manager in the food industry to be awarded Chartered Manager status. Here he describes how the qualification has enhanced his career and benefited his employer, Sun Valley Foods
Today’s business environment is more competitive and demanding than ever before. I’ve always made use of my professional qualifications to achieve performance targets and results. But while the knowledge that I gained by achieving my technical qualifications has always been essential to the work I have done since the start of my career, as I progressed further within the organisation I thought that I needed to demonstrate my management and leadership capabilities.
I realised that as time passes, organisations seek more from their employees than the appropriate academic and technical background. What they want, and what I wanted, was a route that both developed and provided proof of my professional management skills.
The idea of becoming a Chartered Manager appealed because it gave me official recognition for work that I do. My management skills would be given the same credibility as those of my peers in other chartered occupations.
It was also a way to gain a nationally recognised designation without taking exams. Instead I had to submit evidence of my management skills and my own experience as a manager. But the biggest strength of the scheme was its flexibility. I didn’t have to complete the programme within a set time, but instead could take a break from it, depending on work commitments.
It’s an essential benefit for anyone managing in an operational environment and the programme did not impose on my time at work.
And as the scheme assesses
my actual work instead of awarding Chartered Manager status on the back of an exam, it provides an independent benchmark for Sun Valley to assess its own management development programme. In other words, because it is an external initiative that focuses on practical evidence rather than theory, the institute’s assessment of my work gave complementary support to Sun Valley’s in-house training.
And unlike any formal exam, this scheme actively encouraged me to involve colleagues to help pass various stages. I had to demonstrate how my skills made a difference to Sun Valley’s performance and the best way was to ask my colleagues’ opinions of my work. The thought of putting the chance of your own success in other people’s hands might frighten some people, but to my mind, the idea of a 360-degree appraisal encourages a high performance work environment and the motivation to perform.
To achieve Chartered Manager status, I also submitted a portfolio of work for online assessment and underwent a panel interview.
My success was measured against six nationally recognised skill-sets, including the ability to manage customer needs, information and resources.
It might sound strange, but the reason I’m particularly keen on this hallmark is because, unlike my technical qualifications, I can’t necessarily keep it forever.
The whole point - and one of the reasons Sun Valley supported me doing this - is that management skills are fluid and subject to the changing demands of business and customer requirements.
So to prove that I’m still as qualified to manage in the future as I am today, I will have to undertake a review in three years’ time if I am to retain Chartered Manager status. It means I cannot rest on my laurels and, from Sun Valley’s perspective, the company will have a manager committed to ongoing personal development.
To me the scheme provides a template for what the ideal manager should be like. The programme was created by the institute because government research revealed that over one-third of organisations in the UK say their managers are not proficient. Sun Valley’s support of my participation offers proof to potential employees that the organisation invests in its people and supports their career development. I’d also like to think that by having the letters CMgr after my name, I don’t fall into that category identified by the government’s research.
The accolade is conferred by the Chartered Management Institute (www.managers.org.uk)
n Michael Barker is head of engineering at Sun Valley Europe’s Hereford site.
Today’s business environment is more competitive and demanding than ever before. I’ve always made use of my professional qualifications to achieve performance targets and results. But while the knowledge that I gained by achieving my technical qualifications has always been essential to the work I have done since the start of my career, as I progressed further within the organisation I thought that I needed to demonstrate my management and leadership capabilities.
I realised that as time passes, organisations seek more from their employees than the appropriate academic and technical background. What they want, and what I wanted, was a route that both developed and provided proof of my professional management skills.
The idea of becoming a Chartered Manager appealed because it gave me official recognition for work that I do. My management skills would be given the same credibility as those of my peers in other chartered occupations.
It was also a way to gain a nationally recognised designation without taking exams. Instead I had to submit evidence of my management skills and my own experience as a manager. But the biggest strength of the scheme was its flexibility. I didn’t have to complete the programme within a set time, but instead could take a break from it, depending on work commitments.
It’s an essential benefit for anyone managing in an operational environment and the programme did not impose on my time at work.
And as the scheme assesses
my actual work instead of awarding Chartered Manager status on the back of an exam, it provides an independent benchmark for Sun Valley to assess its own management development programme. In other words, because it is an external initiative that focuses on practical evidence rather than theory, the institute’s assessment of my work gave complementary support to Sun Valley’s in-house training.
And unlike any formal exam, this scheme actively encouraged me to involve colleagues to help pass various stages. I had to demonstrate how my skills made a difference to Sun Valley’s performance and the best way was to ask my colleagues’ opinions of my work. The thought of putting the chance of your own success in other people’s hands might frighten some people, but to my mind, the idea of a 360-degree appraisal encourages a high performance work environment and the motivation to perform.
To achieve Chartered Manager status, I also submitted a portfolio of work for online assessment and underwent a panel interview.
My success was measured against six nationally recognised skill-sets, including the ability to manage customer needs, information and resources.
It might sound strange, but the reason I’m particularly keen on this hallmark is because, unlike my technical qualifications, I can’t necessarily keep it forever.
The whole point - and one of the reasons Sun Valley supported me doing this - is that management skills are fluid and subject to the changing demands of business and customer requirements.
So to prove that I’m still as qualified to manage in the future as I am today, I will have to undertake a review in three years’ time if I am to retain Chartered Manager status. It means I cannot rest on my laurels and, from Sun Valley’s perspective, the company will have a manager committed to ongoing personal development.
To me the scheme provides a template for what the ideal manager should be like. The programme was created by the institute because government research revealed that over one-third of organisations in the UK say their managers are not proficient. Sun Valley’s support of my participation offers proof to potential employees that the organisation invests in its people and supports their career development. I’d also like to think that by having the letters CMgr after my name, I don’t fall into that category identified by the government’s research.
The accolade is conferred by the Chartered Management Institute (www.managers.org.uk)
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