AccountingWEB (07/27/10) Spellman, Ruth
At a time when unemployment is on the rise and there is intense competition for those few available jobs, continuing education and obtaining professional qualifications are ways for applicants to differentiate themselves from the crowd, writes Ruth Spellman, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Currently just one in five managers in the U.K. have professional qualifications, having lucked into their jobs because they met business targets and not because they are great leaders. On-the-job learning is essential, but it should always be complemented by continuous professional education. And managers may be starting to understand this—74 percent of respondents to a poll from CMI say qualifications are increasingly important, while 35 percent are planning to obtain qualifications to better compete during the recession and 22 percent want to build transferable skills, change jobs, and prepare for potential layoffs. Those with qualifications are also paid more and feel more motivated and productive—indeed, research from CMI finds that 20 percent of managers say they are not motivated and 37 percent of those citing the lack of advancement opportunities in their company. Training, then, increases worker motivation, which increases a company’s efficiency and productivity, and ultimately the cost of creating competence is much lower than that of incompetence.
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EDSI Commentary
Professional qualifications, as a result of employee development courses, produces an engaged and productive workforce.