Chartered Management Institute level 7 – first cohort awards

Becoming a Chartered Manager, awarded only by the Chartered Management Institute, is the highest status that an individual can achieve.  The University of Huddersfield has embarked on a strategy that will see all its managers gain the award.  Presentations of certificates were made to the first cohort of 82 managers at the University’s Awards Ceremonies.

THE University of Huddersfield is becoming one of the best-managed organisations in the country, said a leading expert when she took part in a ceremony attended by its Chancellor, His Royal Highness The Duke of York.

The event was the presentation of certificates to the first 82 members of the University’s staff who have achieved the qualification Chartered Manager, as bestowed by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).  

It is the aim of the University to become the world’s first large organisation to be led by a team with 100 per cent Chartered status.  Eventually, some 350 will have undergone the rigorous accreditation.

It is expected that the process will be completed by 2020.  By then, all managers will have taken a bespoke course of blended study, workshops, tutorials and e-learning designed to tackle leadership challenges at the University.

A special ceremony took place at the University’s St Paul’s Hall for the first cohort to have earned the CMI’s L7 postgraduate-level Strategic Management and Leadership certificate.  

After receiving their framed awards, they were congratulated by The Duke, who said that the University represented a “pinnacle” of teamwork.

Chartered Management Institute level 7

Also present was Ann Francke, who is CEO of the CMI.  She praised the University’s decision to seek Chartered status for all of its leaders and told how the benefits would cascade throughout the institution, especially as managers would have to ensure that they maintained their levels of capability.

“I have no doubt that the University of Huddersfield will become one of the best-managed teams in the country,” said Ms Francke.

The University’s senior team includes seven who have been appointed CMI Companions – the invitation-only network for successful business leaders.  This is more than any other organisation, and one of them is the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan.

Speaking at the start of the awards ceremony he expressed his pride in the project to secure 100 per cent Chartered status and explained the thinking behind it – that all managers should pose themselves the question “what gives me the right to manage?”

“The right qualifications are key to it and at the University of Huddersfield, we are poised to have the best-qualified management team in the HE sector.  Congratulations to those of you who are in the vanguard of this,” said Professor Cryan.

But there would be no resting on laurels, he added.

“A strength of the CMI process is that it includes annual reviews if Chartered status is to be maintained.  This ensures we must all keep our practice up-to-date.  As a result, the benchmark for managerial excellence at the University of Huddersfield is constantly being raised.”

Chartered Manager is the highest accreditation in the field of management, and is currently held by more than 6,500 professional managers working across all industries and sectors.  

According to CMI research, Chartered Managers add an average of £391,000 of value to their employers.  Managers can achieve Chartered status through a number of routes, including taking CMI-backed qualifications, taking a Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship, or demonstrating professional experience.