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Currently, engineering contributes 27% of the total GPD in the UK (£455 billion) covering many different sectors including Aerospace, Mining, Automotive, Nuclear, Pharmaceutical and other subsectors.
Engineering provides excellent opportunities for its workforce. The sector employs 5.7 million people in the UK, which makes up 19% of the overall workforce. Within any organisation, effective leadership must take place to allow businesses to grow. Leadership can differ from sector to sector and each organisation will apply its own credentials for employing leaders. There is evidence that nurturing apprentices and allowing them to grow into a fully competent skilled tradesperson will give them the potential to become the best leaders in that organisation. A qualified tradesperson understands the sector, has a vast amount of experience in the trade, and more importantly, knows how that specific organisation works to maximise output, however is this a successful way for a business to grow?
Will a leadership qualification make a difference?
No one can dispute that effective leadership is crucial for a business to succeed and grow regardless of size. Leadership can take many forms from Chargehands, Workshop Managers, Project Managers up to Chairperson/Managing Director.
All leaders will have some form of sector/industry qualification, generally, they will have achieved a recognised apprenticeship with significant experience in that sector. However, in many cases, leaders in a position of responsibility will not always have a formal leadership or management qualification to underpin this role. Promoting from within allows the workforce to grow and flourish within an industry setting, gaining knowledge and skills on how to grow that individual company. Knowing clientele, how that business operates, and the market recognition are far more important than having a formal leadership qualification.
Leadership and management qualification will provide huge benefits to individuals and organisations, no one can question that. However, some roles tend to lend themselves better to these qualifications, for example, budget planning, strategic thinking and resource planning as opposed to Workshop Managers/Chargehands.
The average salary in 2018 for all engineers is just over £47,000, with the highest sector paying more than £53,000 for the oil and gas sector. These figures are an average but as engineers progress up the organisational ladder into a leadership position, so will the salary they make. An average Director will earn just over £72,000 within the UK and middle-management coming in anywhere in-between.
As part of our commitment to support the ongoing development of the Engineering workforce, we are delighted to offer several apprenticeship standards to enable individuals to take an important step in their career. Take a look at the information on our website which shows the range of standards that are already open for registrations.
Industrial experience or a leadership qualification?
Engineering in the UK is very successful and extremely important for the economy, generating a huge amount of revenue in terms of GDP. Engineering is also massively important to the jobs market, especially for young people starting their careers.
Leadership within the engineering sector has never been more important. Organisations have had to navigate through Brexit, the pandemic, and the previous lockdown restrictions, all of which have impacted the business performance. This has led to many organisations in the sector favouring industrial experience over formal leadership and management qualifications when recruiting for the leaders of the future.
Visit i-l-m.com to find out more about our leadership and management qualifications.