What makes a good manager? An individual that works his or her way up through the industry or a boss that takes the academic route of career progression? If the evidence of the closure and scaling-down of external print management courses in the UK is anything to go by, education aimed at high-level staff isn't top of the industry's priorities.
With the London College of Communication planning to launch a part-time version of its MA in Print Media because of a lack of UK interest in the full-time course, and the BPIF cancelling its part-time Professional Certificate in Print Management run in conjunction with Loughborough University, the situation is far from positive. The BPIF and Vision in Print have run their joint Team Leader Training programmes in the past, with another scheduled for this September, but have struggled to fill places.
New media challenge
So why should the industry worry about this apparent com-placency when it comes to training senior members of staff? According to Vision in Print's chief executive Richard Gray, during a speech at the recent 2020 conference, the past 15 years have been good to the print industry, but the next 15 will be more challenging. "The next generation will grow up adapted to universally-available, always-on e-media and print will have to work hard to compete," says Gray. "The new media are attracting high-quality management talent and a well-qualified workforce. New media will win the battle unless we raise our game - recruit better and train harder."
The message is harsh - the industry needs to embrace management training for its future well-being or risk losing business, jobs and companies. Proskills is one of the sector skills councils tasked by the government with ensuring employers have people with the right skills to boost productivity and competitiveness. Its print industry champion Richard Bloxam comments: "At a time when the industry is under immense pressure, companies have two choices; either plan their exit strategy and minimise the financial damage, or up their game and compete with the best."
He also feels UK print can't compete on price alone. "If companies invested a fraction of the amount on staff development that they invest on equipment, they would reap the financial benefits. The key is to start with effective management that is able to set company strategy, identify the critical skills required and provide those skills that are missing."
Spending on kit and not on management training is also an issue close to the BPIF's heart. According to the federation's head of training Ruth Exelby, 2005 figures showed that of 205,000 people in the sector, only 1% engage in competency-based training. Therefore, training undertaken equates to about two days per person a year, at an average of ￡500 per person a year, but the spend on new technology/acquisition is ￡1bn, equating to ￡4,878 per person per year. "My issue is: why invest so much in the kit but not on the skills of the people to maximise this investment?" says Exelby.
Family businesses and SMEs are prevalent in the UK print industry and this has brought a culture of promoting from within, with family members often rising through the ranks. Although in many cases this has proved successful, looking at how management is brought in for the future could be key.
Qualified apprentices
According to Vision in Print's Gray, this tendency to promote from within has in the past served the industry well because of well-qualified apprentices. "What we have are a lot of good printers and a good number of excellent entrepreneurs," says Gray. "However, we have an industry that may be dangerously insular. Now, with print attracting less-qualified new talent, when print must compete against media attracting well-qualified talent, such a strategy appears flawed."
It is easy to see why promoting staff from within a company is sometimes the best option for a business, as senior people will have a feel for manufacturing processes, materials, equipment, staff and customers. According to Dani Novick, managing director of print and packaging recruitment specialist Mercury Search & Selection, there is also a reluctance across the industry to embrace formal academic study because of an aversion to the costs, in time and money, and the benefits cannot be easily measured over a short timescale.
She says: "There is no doubt that the concept of working your way up is still very valued in the print industry; the question is whether it is still valuable? Clearly this kind of in-depth understanding is valuable at an operational level. However, it often doesn't translate to guiding strategy and direction."
Novick also feels that, while there are examples across the industry of individuals with real vision and innovation, it is clear that many lack a real understanding of areas such as finance and marketing (not to be confused with sales or advertising), which are key drivers of strategy.
Fiercely competitive
With margins dwindling, senior managers have to be more savvy than ever to make the business profitable. Harrison Scott managing director George Thompson feels the market has changed dramatically in the past three to five years and will require a more sophisticated and business educated manager to succeed. "You can understand many managing directors thinking they have the skills set to run a successful company; after all, many have had decades of making large sums of money without having received any formal management training. Thankfully, there are many managing directors who have woken up to the fact that they need to raise their game to, as a minimum, stay afloat or better still to prosper in today's fiercely competitive marketplace."
Thompson says that around 10% of the printers in the ￡3m-￡10m turnover bracket that he visits have a professional adviser sitting in on an interview. "I'm also finding that at the final interview stage, a professional advisor will conduct the interview much in the same way Sir Alan Sugar uses advisers in [BBC] series The Apprentice," he adds.
Having the foresight to employ individuals from outside the print industry into senior managerial roles could be essential to maintaining its health in the future. During Gray's speech at the 2020 conference, he said that the industry must recruit better, getting more outsiders with the qualifications and experience to cope with future, not current, needs.
Mercury's Novick agrees: "When recruiting, many seek the easy option of a like-for-like person from a direct competitor. While there are clearly some advantages to this, we often urge clients to consider candidates from different areas of the industry or different industries completely."
Although not everyone can, or wants to, take a degree, any training that helps towards securing the future of a business has to be a good thing. The BPIF's Exelby agrees. "It is about identifying what the needs of the business are and tailoring the training to the business. We have got to crisis point and it is going to have dire consequences if we don't do something about it," she concludes.
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