What qualification do you need to be a manager?
Over the last several years, there has been a significant growth in the number and types of qualifications that are offered by various groups and institutions. Does this mean anything? Is it important to get one of these qualifications before becoming a manager? Is it important to get one if you already have management experience? Does a qualification do anything for you? We will look to answer all of these questions and more in this post.
Do you need a qualification to be a manager?
The short answer to this question is no, you don’t need a qualification. There are plenty of highly talented, motivated managers out there who have no management qualifications at all. Quite often, these are people that didn’t set out to become a manager, but who through talent and skill have been promoted into a position of significant authority.
If yes, why?
However, even these people can really benefit from gaining a new qualification, for two main reasons. Firstly, no matter how skilled a manager you are already, there is almost always something more you can learn. Anyone who thinks they already know all the tips and tricks to being a great manager and has nothing left to learn is likely not nearly as good as they think they are! You should always be open to learning new skills and improving what you’re capable of – especially when you are in charge of other people.
In addition, while you may be the greatest manager in the world, without any qualification what you need to be a manager as proof, it becomes much harder to gain recognition for it. Whether it is in looking for a new job or simply seeking to show your value to your employer, a qualification provides a real, tangible way of demonstrating your skill and therefore makes you a significantly more valuable employee or candidate.
Both of these are even more true if you aren’t already an exceptional manager. Your skill and value can both be increased with a management qualification, allowing you to do your job better, move into new areas at work and become an integral part of your company, managing people who will want to work for you.
What sort of qualification should you get?
As I’ve already noted, there is a huge proliferation of management qualifications out there. When looking for what qualification is the best for you, there are a number of important factors to consider. However, most of them are factors that I can’t help you with in this post because they will be very personal to you and your situation. In particular, you should consider the content of the course and what exactly you want to achieve – do you want to learn human resourcing techniques, team leadership, planning skills or something else entirely? Each of those will be best served by a different course.
CMI Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership
However, one factor that I can point to that should be an important factor in your decision is the authority of the organisation giving you the qualification. In the UK, the leading professional body of managers is the CMI (Chartered Management Institute), so any courses that are offered by them should be considered especially authoritative. A good example of such would be our own CMI Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership. A qualification from an established university would also be well-regarded, although you may wish to examine the individual university’s reputation for business-related courses.
Another factor that you may wish to consider is the method of course delivery, especially if the institution you would like to gain your qualification what requires to be a manager is not local. One of the reasons for the increase in numbers of courses is the growth of live online course delivery. A live online course is often far more convenient as it allows study from wherever is most convenient for the student. Some institutions that offer such courses will simply provide study materials for you to work through while others (such as ourselves at the College of Contract Management) will provide live online lectures that you can attend at the time or listen to recordings of, as well as study materials. Having these lectures as part of our CMI courses allows us to provide a more tailored experience and for students to actually interact with those providing the teaching.
Next steps to get the qualification what do you need to be a manager
Once you have achieved a qualification, that doesn’t mean that things are over. In business, it is never a good idea to sit back and rest on your laurels and the same is true when it comes to your qualifications. Looking for further opportunities to increase your skills is always a good idea. This is formalised in the concept of Continuous Professional Development (or CPD). To show how important this is, bodies like the CMI will require their members to devote a certain amount of time every year to CPD, be that through further CMI courses, other courses, attending conferences, listening to speakers, or some other means.
What this means is that you shouldn’t stop after one course – keep going! Techniques change all the time and there is always more to learn. Once you have an official qualification you may not need to gain another one, but you can still find plenty of resources to improve your management skills.
If you have any questions about any of the CMI courses we offer at the College of Contract Management, please contact me on 01420 481681 or chris@theccm.co.uk