With government funding available, an increasing number of businesses are benefitting from developing already senior members of staff through degree level management apprenticeships – and they are sending them to the University of Gloucestershire to do so.
The University of Gloucestershire is leading the way in the delivery of new courses like the chartered manager apprenticeship, with the armoury of skills students gain proving transformational on both a business and personal level.
We list just some of those core skills below that you can expect to improve.
1. Leadership
No matter how good you are as a leader, you will develop an even better understanding of that most important skill of management, from how to develop teams, support people, mentor and coach, to understanding organisational culture and diversity management.
2. Communication
You will learn about communication in all its forms – from the written to the spoken, through to digital channels and platforms. You will study presenting to groups and gain a better understanding and awareness of interpersonal skills, from listening to influencing techniques, chairing meetings to clearly presenting actions and outcomes.
3. Decision making
You will explore how to undertake research, analyse data, and understand the values, ethics and governance of your organisation, solve problems and discover new techniques that will help you become a better decision maker.
4. Managing people
You will study how to set goals, manage performance and people and recruit and develop staff, as well as how to empower individuals and teams and how HR systems can ensure your business meets its legal obligations to staff and their well-being.
5. Self-management
It’s not just about becoming better at managing others, it’s also about better managing yourself. You will become better at managing your own time, at setting goals, prioritising activities and undertaking planning to create a business environment with a focus on outcomes.
6. Finance
You will raise your understanding of financial strategies, of your accounts and management budgets; of how better to control expenditure; interpret financial reports and improve your approach to contracting, procurement and legal requirements.
7. Strategy
You will expand your knowledge of how to develop and implement organisational plans and strategies; set targets and key performance indicators; manage supply chains and resources; understand sustainability; risk management; workforce development; monitoring and evaluation and quality assurance.
8. Sales and marketing
You will learn different approaches to creating sales and marketing strategies; how best to analyse opportunities and routes to market; how to understand and target relevant markets and customers; to be innovative with your products and services; and to create solutions to meet customer needs to help drive and sustain growth.
9. Project management
You will learn how to understand risk management models and reports; risk benefit analysis and health and safety implications, as well as how projects move through the planning, design and development and implementation stages. In short, you will learn how to better organise resources and achieve your organisational goals.
10. Digital
You will gain a clearer understanding of digital technologies and their impact, how they can be used to develop and improve a business, how to better use the data they provide and how that can be used to make better management decisions.
11. Relationships
You will tackle everything from how to build rapport, trust and develop networks and relationships to how to deal with dispute resolution and conflict, how to manage stakeholders, suppliers and customers, as well as negotiation skills and how to shape a common purpose.
12. Awareness
You will learn a variety of techniques to improve how you interact and relate to others, as well as how to reflect on your own performance and identify areas you need to develop; how to better manage stress; personal well-being and develop confidence.
