A new report from AVADO, carried out amongst UK managers has revealed some worry-ing attitudes towards training and confidence in the workplace. Firstly, women were five times more likely to feel that their gender hinders confidence in them, with a fifth (20 per cent) of female managers admitting they would rather be managed by a male colleague. When it comes to confidence in their own abilities, almost half of men (48 per cent) said that they were very confident in their management skills, compared to 30 per cent of women.
The findings also revealed that age played a part in management attitudes, with 68 per cent of young leaders (20-24) saying they felt their age hindered colleague’s confidence in them as a manager. However, when asked about who they perceive to make the better managers, respondents said it would be the person who was most qualified to do the job (44 per cent).
Despite a clear importance placed on training and qualifications, 18 per cent said they had asked for training and not received it. 83 per cent of managers also said they had heard excuses for a lack of training such as it was too expensive (45 per cent), the com-pany was too busy (42 per cent) and that staff should be paying themselves (19 per cent). It was also found that half of UK managers (50 per cent) feel their workplace doesn’t do enough to invest in digital literacy, a vital skill in modern management.
‘From our research, It was disappointing to see the negative impact gender and age had on confidence in management capabilities, but encouraging to see the powerful impact that being qualified can have on employees,” says Amy Crawford, managing director, of digital transformation company AVADO. “At AVADO we recognise the importance of ac-cess to high quality training, helping managers across the UK to build on their skills. Our new qualification, in partnership with CMI, also allows us to ensure that employees in management don’t get left behind in this fast-paced, digital age by helping to grow their digital skill set at the same time.’
Worryingly, just under a third (30 per cent) of those concerned admit that their company many not be investing digitally due to widespread digital illiteracy throughout the compa-ny, with just under one in ten (7 per cent) even saying they feel their bosses don’t want them to be more literate them they are.
In an attempt to tackle this AVADO have partnered with CMI to launch a revolutionary new online qualification in leadership and management. The Level 5 Diploma will cover the key topics that apply to traditional leadership and management skills but will also ap-ply a digital lens to ensure managers are able to use what they have learned in a digital context.
