Partner Article

More management skills for the region's first line managers

A programme to improve the management skills of the region’s first line managers has been introduced by manufacturing organisation EEF Northern. The need to support employers in the area was highlighted to EEF Northern after a six-month study into training and development in the North East. Over 150 companies were interviewed and first line management training was identified as being needed. The level of regional training varied considerably both internally between departments and externally between different organisations.

Greg Ward, EEF Northern Training Co-ordinator, said: “whilst there is often considerable investment in NVQ Train to Gain programmes, senior management training or technical training, there is a shortage of training at supervisory or team leader stages. Whilst they have technical expertise they often find it difficult to adapt to new managerial and supervisory responsibilities. Very rarely is it a natural progression into management, certain skills and abilities need to be developed. At the moment the North East seems to lack training provision in this area.”

SEMTA, the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies, have joined forces with EEF Northern to promote this initiative which reflects the findings of the National Sector Skills Agreement.

Lindsay Middleton, Northern Policy Manager, SEMTA, said: “The management skills of first line managers are just as important as middle and senior managers. Efficiency, productivity and employee morale are all directly affected by the first line managers ability to manage people and workloads.”

The first ILM Level 3 Award is running between 10 and 14 December at EEF Northern, Washington. For further details contact the ILM coordinator Greg Ward on 0191 4165656.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .