Regan Home

 

ESCALATOR

An ILM Level 3 Award in Management

Designed for Women by Women

 

The Facts

Demographic and social changes over the last 20 years or so have contributed to a rapid increase in the number of women in paid jobs. Over 70% of UK women of working age were in employment in June 2007, according to the Chartered Management Institute; and this is rising.

 

Working women, however, occupy only 32% of all management posts in the UK and hold even fewer (13.6% of all) directorships. Why?

 

The research is littered with examples of recruiter bias (Will she leave to start a family? What about when the kids are ill? Ours is a tough world: will she cope?). On the other hand, women (and men) sometimes shun the responsibility of management and other high-demand jobs to achieve the work-life balance they want.

 

In our experience, however, the most significant barrier to women entering management is their own lack of confidence. In tutorial after tutorial, our female students tell us that 'gaining self-confidence' is the main reason for joining our programme. Fortunately, 98% of them report significant increases in confidence at the end of it.

 

Our Philosophy and Approach

We know that management teams with a good gender balance perform better than male-only teams (little research has been published on all-female teams!). It's therefore fairly obvious that we need to encourage more women to enter management.

 

We also know that the best way to build someone's confidence is to help them build upon the skills and personal attributes they already have. Our approach is to help women students to identify their strengths and find ways to apply them in management roles.

 

This is a programme for women, designed and delivered by women who have substantial management and coaching experience.

 

 

The Programme

Has been developed especially for women in work who are seeking a more challenging position or promotion and/or people who have recently gained promotion and who are looking for a qualification, some management skills and who are interested in issues related to women, work and career development.

 

It gives an introduction to the basic skills, knowledge, understanding and behaviours required of today’s first line manager. The mandatory module ‘Solving Problems and Making Decisions’ is designed to develop practical techniques for tackling managerial problems and making decisions, from gathering and interpreting information, through to the effective communication of outcomes.

 

The Award is delivered over 34 hours: equivalent to 5 days training, or 10 x ½ days or 18 short burst training sessions of 2 hours. Listed below are the learning modules which have proved to be most popular with previous clients:

 

Solving Problems and Decision Making

• Understand the distinction between quantitative and qualitative data;
• Know how to collect and analyse information to help with decision making / problem solving;
• Understand a range of problem solving models and how to apply them;
• Know how to plan implementation and communication of decisions, and;
• Review your own influencing styles

Developing People

• Understand the make-up of teams;
• Recognise different team building models;
• Understand the importance of facilitation skills;
• Know how to approach delegation;
• Be able to identify and priorities training needs, and;
• Understand the concept of coaching.

Management Skills

• Identify the stages involved in planning and controlling work;
• Identify how authority is established and used in your workplace;
• Use your authority effectively to the benefit of your team and organisation, and;
• Distinguish between different kinds of authority.

Planning and Managing Change

• Identify the forces behind change, and be aware of forthcoming changes;
• Anticipate and recognise reactions to change, and overcome resistance to change;
• Recognise the beneficial aspects of change, and adopt a positive attitude towards new thinking;
• Manage the implementation of change, and;
• Understand the importance of quality, continuous improvement and performance measures within a change arena.

Using Information to Aid Decisions

• Define some simple statistical terms;
• Describe the principles of effective storage and retrieval of information;
• List ways of organising information;
• Understand the use of visual information, and;
• Create a variety of visual presentation sets.

Leading and Managing People

• Explain some of the theories of motivation and how you can apply insights gained;
• Understand the behaviour of people you work with;
• Assess you own leadership qualities and potential;
• Identify which leadership style you feel most comfortable with, and;
• Understand how to effectively plan your human resources through recruitment and selection.

Working with Costs and Budgets

• Appreciate the importance of setting and monitoring budgets;
• Differentiate between fixed and variable costs;
• Produce a sound sales forecast and calculate the cost of sales;
• Explain the impact of cost control on a business, and;
• Understand basic business finance.

Developing Self and Others

• Identify ways of increasing your efficiency and effectiveness through better time management;
• Differentiate between the demands on your time, and set your own priorities;
• Examine what is stopping your effectiveness as a manager;
• Understanding how adults learn, and;
• Setting SMART objectives

Understanding Organisations

• Understand the purpose of organisations, and the benefits they can bring;
• Recognise some of the various structures that organisations may display;
• Be able to identify the differing environments in which organisation operate;
• Identify Handy’s organisational cultures, and;
• Consider the impact of organisational structures on managers.

Managing External Influences

• Explain what quality means;
• Recognise the benefits of quality improvement and development in your work;
• Have a good understanding of total quality management;
• Understand your role in managing and promoting customer relationships;
• Recognise the key elements of communication with customers and with your team, and;
• Have a strategy for dealing with customer demands.

 

                                                     The Qualification

To gain the ILM Award, students need to complete a work based assignment (WBA) of approximately 1000 words. The WBA must address a real issue at work and should produce benefits that justify the cost of attending the programme.

 

In addition, students will complete 4 short question and answer sessions / papers to confirm their understanding of relevant management theory and its application. 

 

Modules are supplemented by open learning and coaching by experience women tutors.

 

What Previous Women Delegates Have Said:

“…I have learnt a lot from the Women into Management programme. All the tutors have been brilliant and very understanding throughout. Thank you for letting me be apart of this course and for helping me grow!”   “I am now seen to be more accepted as part of the management team.”   “…My confidence has greatly increased since starting this course. This has been noticed both at work, and at home. Even though I am not  in a management position, the course has helped me to understand how  other colleagues work and understand their needs.”     “…I may go on courses in the future that are useful and build on my experience;  however I think I have had the best foundation on this course with the assistance I have had from all at Regan Consulting.”   “…the abilities that I have gained on this course have enabled me to take  on project work which I would not normally expect to get involved in.  I have become a key member in a number of Board meetings and the knowledge I have gained has enabled me to make worthwhile contributions to those meetings.”   “…my relationship with my manager and his team has grown significantly  as they have begun to acknowledge my growing confidence and the new skills I have gained.  This makes them keener to involve and promote  me in the work that they are doing.  This has perhaps been the best learning  opportunity that I have been given during my working life and I am keen to progress to the next level.”

 

                                                   When and How Much?

In-Company programmes can be delivered at a time and venue to suit your needs. For up to 12 delegates the cost of £9360 + vat includes all tutor expenses, materials, in-programme coaching and ILM registration, assessment and certification.

 

For delegates joining an ‘open’ programme the cost is £965 + vat + the ILM registration and assessment fee of approx £120.

 

About Regan Consulting

We are a husband and wife team supported by five dedicated associates. Our business is leadership and organisation development. We work with both large and small organisations across most sectors. Please visit www.reganconsulting.co.uk to see our most recent client feedback. 

 

For more information or a chat about the programme, please contact Ruth Regan at trcp@waitrose.com (01773 863906) or our lead tutor Lisa Toohey at lisatoohey2003@yahoo.co.uk (07739540736).