Survey shows fundamental managerial skills lacking

Survey shows fundamental managerial skills lacking

Keywords Management, Skills shortage,Training

Many organizations fail to develop key skills among their managers, according to an independent survey conducted on behalf of Marshall Publishing, the business book publisher, and Video Arts, the video training company.

The research was undertaken by City University Business School. The survey showed that 51 per cent of managers had not received training in effective time management, 56 per cent no training in presentation skills and 58 per cent no leadership training. These figures are of concern but there was worse to come; 68 per cent of managers had not been trained in delegation, 72 per cent not trained in giving feedback on performance and 87 per cent received no training in stress management.

It might be argued that training in stress management is not vital, but delegation and giving feedback on performance are a critical part of any manager's day-to-day role and the survey shows a substantial number of managers are not being given the training they need by their organizations. For the majority of managers this means they have to develop their skills themselves.

The independent survey examined the level of interpersonal skills training among managers working in different sectors at supervisory, middle and senior levels. In the light of this survey, Marshall Publishing and Video Arts have produced an innovative new book series to assist managers in developing their own skills. The books aim to help managers assess their current skills, identify areas for development and put their newly learned skills into practice.

The Marshall's and Video Arts' series has been written by a team of experts led by Chris Roebuck. As well as providing checklists, the books give practical formats for succeeding at work and explain the underlying principles behind them.

The series includes the following eight titles, which are available from bookshops for £9.99 each:

• 1.

  Selection Interviewing;

• 2.

  Effective Interviews;

• 3.

  Effective Communication;

• 4.

  Telephone Techniques;

• 5.

  Stress Management;

• 6.

  Time Management;

• 7.

  Effective Delegation;

• 8.

  Perfect Presentation.