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The minimum skills requirement for a managerial position depends on the person’s level of experience and whether the role has people management responsibilities. A newly qualified graduate, for example, lacks experience, but makes up for this in energy, enthusiasm and commitment. More experienced leaders may have years of experience, but may need to modernise their mindset and bring their skills up to date. Then there are the in-betweeners - the huge pool of middle managers who are ripe for upskilling; keen to learn and improve.
In this article we discuss how more than 4 in 5 employees accidentally find themselves in a management role without proper training. We explain the impact this is having on business growth, and the action small and medium-sized businesses can take to support managers both with and without people management responsibilities to grow and develop in role.
Accidental manager syndrome
Managers of SMEs across Manchester, Altrincham and Cheshire are no different to those employed by global businesses. Every manager deserves access to growth and development opportunities. Yet due to strained budgets and headcount reductions, we’re seeing more and more people promoted into management roles without any form of training. A YouGov and CMI survey found 82% of managers promoted to such positions have no formal training. Promotion is often based on an individual’s technical competency to do their role in the hope this will develop into natural leadership and management skills. The accidental managers amongst us are those most in need of upskilling.
In reality, being good at your job is not enough of a reason to promote someone to a management role. When employees take on manager duties or begin to lead a team, they need development and support to be able to perform to the best of their ability and have a fighting chance of delivering success.
The cost of failing to train managers
Without a doubt, the biggest barrier to manager development is the perceived cost of training. When leaders are looking to make savings, you can bet training will be the first thing to be cancelled. This is reflected in the latest figures from the Department of Education - employer investment in training has dropped to its lowest level for over a decade. The volume of training has also declined. In 2024, the average UK employee received just shy of 6 days of training, largely due to financial constraints.
Having an internal learning and development function is something most SMEs can only dream of. In-person training courses can be expensive and mean taking people away from their day job for full days at a time. Even bringing a specialist trainer in to lead sessions in-house is out of budget for some small businesses.
Before you discount learning and development as a luxury, consider the implications of failing to invest in your people. Widening skills and capability gaps impact productivity and employees’ ability to perform to the best of their ability. This can create issues with talent retention and impact team culture. Asking managers to lead a team without giving them the tools is akin to asking a plumber to fix a leak without a wrench. You won’t get the intended results you wanted to achieve and the manager themselves will end up stressed and burnt out.
Cutting training budgets is creating problems for our future workforce. The good news is there are affordable alternatives which are simple to access and within the budgets of smaller businesses. We’ll come on to those later on.
Hard skills vs. soft skills
We can’t discuss training without understanding the variety of skills managers require.
Hard skills are the specific practical and technical skills a person needs to carry out their role, usually requiring training and qualifications. Knowledge of the law, shorthand, mechanics, accountancy, coding and foreign languages are good examples.
Soft skills are the more flexible, emotional, human side of management, for example, emotional intelligence, decision-making and problem-solving capabilities. Soft skills impact our behaviours and the way we interact with colleagues in the workplace.
Both hard and soft skills can be developed. LinkedIn’s Skills on the Rise 2026 highlights the combination of hard and soft skills currently in demand by UK employers. AI and machine learning are top of the hard skills list, while leadership, culture and communication are most popular in the soft skills category. The latter is critical for managing hybrid teams, aiding collaboration, and inclusive leadership.
Your people are your most valuable asset. Personal and professional growth has been proven to boost business growth. Contact us to ask us how a skills needs assessment could be your gateway to growth.
Is people management a specialist skill?
When Hays reported on the top skills for 2026 their findings classed people management as an in-demand specialist skill. We agree people management requires a distinct set of skills and capabilities, but would not class it as a specialist skill. The finest people managers are able to balance people management with delivering the goals and objectives required by their role. SMEs should not be fear people management as a hard-to-find specialist skill set, as it is possible to learn and develop every aspect.
The real debate should be, ‘Are we creating strong foundations for our people managers?’ Employers have a duty and responsibility to set their managers up for success and equip them with the skills and knowledge to do their job effectively.
Management development e-learning bundles for SMEs
Based on our experience helping North West SMEs to develop and improve their management skills, we have created two recommended e-learning bundles. While no two companies have identical requirements, skills needs assessments led us to build affordable, CPD certified e-learning to help you get the most from your team. Both are easily accessible, flexible learning designed to build strong management foundations.
Each bundle of 5 online manager development courses costs £150, making it ideal for SMEs operating within limited training budgets. Once your access to the platform has been set up, delegates can work through the learning at their own pace. There’s no requirement to take extended time away from the workplace when in the past these modules would easily have been half- or full-day courses.
CPD certified e-learning for managers
Our two recommended bundles are an excellent starting point for leaders and managers of people. Each CPD certified module includes knowledge checks throughout to cement and measure learning before you move on to the next section.
E-learning for managers of people
Transitioning to Management: ideal for people who are new to managing a team. Learn the basics of people management, understand what managing people means and entails, master managing workloads and the critical elements of successful people management.
Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace: understand the impact on employees and the workplace. Recognise various forms of bullying and harassment, understand policy and procedure, how to take action and support your team.
Discipline and Grievance: learn what to do when conflicts arise in the workplace. Understand the importance of following procedure, explain disciplinary and dismissal processes with clarity, and feel confident leading investigations and hearings.
Effective Absence Management: build essential knowledge to manage and reduce employee absenteeism. Learn best practice absence management and why following structured policy and procedures produces the best results.
Performance Reviews: support your team’s development through effective, consistent performance management. Follow the performance management cycle to manage the process and deliver reviews in a way that benefits both the individual and organisation.
Ask us about cost-effective e-learning for people managers.
E-learning designed for managers
Team Working Excellence: understand the benefits of teamwork and a leader’s role in facilitating this. Learn the characteristics of excellent teams and the critical role of collaboration, communication and decision-making.
Managing Change: every manager has to lead through change at some point in their career. Learn the theory and models behind change management, plus techniques to overcome and manage resistance to change.
Delegation Skills: the ability to delegate improves workload management. Learn six essential steps to effective delegation, improve time management, feedback and coaching skills, and the significance and responsibilities associated with delegation.
Performance - Coaching and Goal Setting: understand the role and importance of robust performance management in the workplace. Learn to use frameworks and models to improve team performance through goal setting, coaching, evaluation and building mutual trust.
Decision-making Excellence: practical guidance to build more effective, confident decision-making skills. Learn a range of tools and models to help improve decision-making capabilities and outcomes.
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