Chartered Management Institute Reviews

"Eat your own dog food". Too many accidental managers, even after completing qualifications. A qualification doesn't automatically make you a good manager. Also, job titles containing "manager" but having no direct line management? What are these people managing then? You're making the hierarchy top heavy. Core "behind the scenes" teams (the 10% completing 80% of the work) are understaffed, underpaid and overworked. Just because they're not the glitzy Sales team or customer facing means you don't just let the core teams suffer. The organisation has grown significantly over the years but the core teams have declined in size. Favouritism to the London office - something as simple as state of the art coffee machines, more expensive lunches for meetings/events and a fully kitted out fridge in the kitchen. Compare that to Corby? Buffet lunches or if you're lucky, limited hot food options. One decent coffee machine. And no fully kitted out fridges. God no. It's the vending machine for you - the one that the prices would be frozen at a suitable price as it wasn't required to be profit making but suddenly the prices are bumped up. And shock horror, items go out of date as people bring in their own stuff instead, so no profit is made. The Corby office is essentially dilapidated and not really fit for purpose. A lick of paint on every floor is all well and good but could've been better spent elsewhere. Pay is "benchmarked" every three years against similar sized organisations in the charity sector, however some roles which are essentially 2-3 roles merged into one aren't viewed as such.

For an organisation that is dedicated to creating better leaders and managers, it is astounded that they wouldn’t first focus their attention in-house. This does not speak for all managers at CMI. But some management styles are particularly worrying. Managers should be experienced people who know how to manage people different age groups, walks of life, races and backgrounds and should always be fair. Managers should not be revealed to engage in sneaky behaviour or collude with other members of staff to push someone out because they don’t like them.