To ensure the voice of managers and leaders is heard during the election campaign, and to bring about much-needed change in political attitudes to management and leadership, CMI is encouraging politicians, employers, managers and leaders to join over 3,000 of their colleagues who have already pledged their support to its Manifesto for a Better Managed Britain by signing up at www.managers.org.uk/manifesto.
Ruth Spellman (pictured), chief executive of the CMI, said: "Britain is suffering because our managers and leaders are simply not up to scratch. It's clear that turning the present economic situation around is going to be the battleground on which this Election is won and lost. But the parties are missing a trick - if they don't prioritise revolutionising the way we go about developing management and leadership talent and equipping our current managers and leaders with the skills to do their jobs effectively, the country will not be in a strong position to turn our economic situation around.
"Since we launched our manifesto to the three main political parties in November we secured a great level of cross-party support, with MPs including former minister for women and equality Meg Munn MP, Conservative shadow minister for universities and skills John Hayes MP, and Liberal Democrat shadow secretary of state for business John Thurso MP signing up to our pledges. We've also recruited heavy-hitters from the business world, including PricewaterhouseCoopers and SimplyHealth.
"But we want to take this further. Whether you are an individual manager of an employer, now is the time to stand up and be counted by showing your commitment to improving management and leadership skills across the UK and to help us argue that Government has a huge part to play in this."
CMI research conducted in November showed that 47% of the UK workforce have left a job due to bad management, while a similar number (49%) said they would take a pay cut to work with a better manager.
Spellman added: "Improving management and leadership standards is critical to the UK's economic and social future, and is one of the most significant issues facing UK plc today. The views of the business community will help determine the outcome of the forthcoming election and business leaders have made it clear that improving management and leadership standards and tackling the skills gap has to be a national priority. The shared promise by all three political parties to boost the skills of the British workforce is meaningless unless action is taken to improve management standards."
