Better management vital to UK's performance and productivity

The most comprehensive study carried out in recent years into the demand and supply of managers and leaders in the UK has identified management and leadership as a key factor holding back the performance of UK plc.

'Managers and leaders: raising the game', which will be released on May 13, highlights a significant mismatch between the supply and demand of management and leadership development, and recommends a variety of interventions.

The report also claims that these are vital to ensure that Britain's economic productivity is not held back by a lack of appropriate and practical leadership skills, which are "in short supply from the top to the bottom of organisations", despite a rapid expansion of formal management education in the last 20 years.

Looking at the management development industry, the report finds that while the best providers match the best in the world, there is a very long tail of under-performance. It also suggests that the current supply of management and leadership development is not adequately meeting the UK's existing need for more and better managers and leaders, let alone future needs.

The report is the culmination of two years of wide-ranging consultation and analysis across the UK's public, private and voluntary sectors led by the Council for Excellence in Management & Leadership (CEML).

CEML's report will be released at a presentation to be attended by two Secretaries of State: Estelle Morris MP, Secretary of State for Education and Skills, and Patricia Hewitt MP, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, whose predecessors set up the Council in April 2000.

The Council's work has been chaired by Sir Anthony Cleaver, who will present the findings.

(MB)