The Fundamentals of Management: Benefits of a Level 3 Training Course

It’s a fact that the majority of managers and leaders in the UK are not actually qualified to be managers and leaders. This puts us way behind many other countries – but also provides a significant opportunity. If you choose to undertake a professional qualification such as a level 3 management training course, you immediately put yourself ahead of the majority and have an edge when seeking promotion or a new job – whilst also learning skills that many others don’t have.

But how do you choose the right course? In this blog we will discuss how CMI Level 3 Leadership and Management Training Courses provide those professional qualifications for first-time or aspiring managers, and why they might be the right one for you.

First-time managers: the challenge

Many people are promoted into a management role – particularly at the front line – because they are reliable, conscientious and have proved themselves in a previous job. They may even be well qualified – but in something else.

The challenge is this: the job of a manager may be very different to your old job and requires a very different set of skills and abilities. Moving up into such a role takes a lot of thought, skill, learning and reflection. If you get that right early on, it will help you throughout your career.

The role of a first-line manager is highly visible. If you don’t get it right, the result will be obvious to everyone. Your team won’t perform and you probably won’t deliver the expected results. Your internal and external ‘stakeholders’ won’t keep that to themselves: you or your bosses will soon hear about it. It’s important to be confident and capable.

Chances are that from time to time you’ll have issues with team members, you’ll often struggle for resources, people will let you down and things will go wrong. Through all of that, everyone will look to you for the answers and to sort out the problems.

That isn’t easy and it takes a calm head and a broad range of people, problem solving and communication skills to get through it. How ready are you for all of that? If there’s a crisis, do you feel confident that you’ll know what to do?

What are the benefits of a level 3 management training course?

The benefits to a leader who pursues a professional qualification are many. It can provide confidence and self-assurance, knowing that what you are doing is sound and based on accepted ‘good practice’ in line with national professional standards. It brings confidence to those you lead, who will know that what you are doing is professional and well considered, rather than just a wild guess or an accident of your personality. It introduces a number of ideas and concepts that encourage you to think, explore, reflect and challenge yourself.

Many who begin their professional career at this level later go on to achieve far more senior positions. Leaders who are working with us at a post-graduate or even doctoral level often began at Level 3 and have been growing their capabilities ever since.

What does a Level 3 management training course involve?

The Level 3 Certificate is often the starting point for a first-line manager and leader. Usually achieved in around 6 – 9 months, the programme covers a lot of principles – building and shaping a team, setting goals, developing performance, understanding the needs of stakeholders, organisational culture and the behaviours and skills that make a leader more likely to be effective.

The Level 3 Diploma takes this further to explore some additional, more advanced aspects of leadership at the first line. We’ve found that most leaders benefit from starting off with the L3 Certificate and then progressing on to the L3 Diploma after another year or so. That way there is ample opportunity to practice and embed the first principles before then adding further layers.