The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) published its annual Future Forecast report in December 2014, offering insight into what managers across the UK are hoping to focus on over the coming year.
The report surveys managers from businesses across the UK, giving them the opportunity to reflect on the previous year and to also make predictions on what they see happening over the next twelve months.
Headline statistics indicate that UK businesses continued to grow in 2014, up 5% from 2013 and continuing a five year run of increased growth. However despite this, optimism has remained at about the same level as the previous report with managers less optimistic in the public sector (49%) than they are in either the charity (69%) or private sectors (73%).
Managers surveyed are also slightly more dubious about the economy than they were last year, with optimism for the UK’s financial stability seeing a drop by 4% to 51%.
People Development on the rise
People development has become the third highest priority for managers in 2015, with a rating of 56% importance and behind only performance management (71%) and cost control (72%).
Supporting this, 45% of managers are expecting an increase in training and development budgets over the coming year, with 50% of managers looking to support their teams’ professional development. Meanwhile over half (53%) of managers surveyed are intending to spend more time on their own professional development.
72% of managers stated that recruiting employees is getting tougher, up 6% from 2013, whilst 74% agreed that recruiting staff for management roles was challenging. Despite this managers are still not prioritising the development of future management, with only one in three putting it on the agenda for 2015.
“It is clear that the war on talent is still not over, with the report indicating a growing problem with recruiting senior positions,” says Greg Guilford, Managing Director of HR Solutions. He supports the recommendations put forward by the CMI with regards to developing and leading people, including managing and attracting talent.
“The findings highlight that managers and organisations believe that HR activities, such as performance management and people development, are key priorities for them and their business activities in 2015. We agree.”
“With ever-changing employment law it is vital that management have the training and understanding required to manage their businesses fairly and legally.”
