Turning Promotion into Progress - Training Accidental Managers Effectively

Across the UK, thousands of employees step into management roles every year. Most are promoted because they excel at their job, whether that’s engineering, production, administration, or customer service. But excelling in a role does not necessarily translate into leadership.

What is an accidental manager?

An accidental manager is someone who takes on a leadership role without formal training or preparation. They may have the technical expertise and credibility that earned them the promotion, but they often lack the leadership skills needed to succeed, such as:

• Communicating expectations clearly

• Handling conflict constructively

• Delegating effectively

• Motivating and developing others

This skills gap is more common than many organisations realise. Research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) shows that a large proportion (c. 80%) of UK managers have never received formal training, yet they are still responsible for guiding teams and shaping workplace culture.

The cost to businesses

Leaving managers unsupported is not simply a personal challenge for those individuals - it becomes a business issue. Accidental managers often:

• Struggle with decision-making, leading to delays or mistakes

• Allow poor communication to spread across teams

• Create frustration and disengagement among employees

• Contribute to higher staff turnover and recruitment costs

These problems can quietly erode performance. Productivity falls, customer satisfaction suffers, and businesses lose valuable time addressing issues that could have been prevented with proper training.

Why early support is essential

The transition from employee to manager is one of the most significant career shifts a person can make. Supporting individuals at this stage helps them to:

• Build confidence in their new responsibilities

• Understand the difference between managing tasks and leading people

• Apply proven methods for motivating, problem solving and performance management

• Set a positive tone for their team, reinforcing trust and engagement

By intervening early, organisations not only support the manager but also protect the performance of the wider team.

What effective training looks like

To address the challenge of accidental managers, training must go beyond theory. The most effective programmes are:

• Practical – focusing on tools that can be applied immediately in the workplace

• Blended – combining digital modules with applied learning to maximise flexibility and retention

• Accredited – giving managers external recognition for their progress, such as a CMI Level 3 qualification

• Scalable – suitable for individuals or entire cohorts of new managers

This ensures that learning is embedded, confidence is built and skills translate directly into day-to-day leadership.

Accreditation as a motivator

External accreditation plays a powerful role in motivating learners. For managers, achieving a recognised qualification such as the CMI Level 3 provides validation of their skills and a clear career pathway. For businesses, it demonstrates commitment to professional standards and provides assurance of quality.

Building capability at scale

Many organisations face the challenge of multiple accidental managers across different departments. Blended learning allows training to be scaled, so that entire cohorts of new managers develop a shared skillset and language of leadership. This not only improves individual performance but also creates consistency across the organisation.

The long-term benefits

Investing in early leadership training pays dividends:

• Improved productivity and decision-making

• Higher levels of employee engagement and retention

• Stronger workplace culture, driven by confident leaders

• A pipeline of managers ready to take on greater responsibilities in the future

Accidental managers don’t have to remain accidental. With the right training, they can become the leaders their teams (and organisations)need.

Conclusion

Promoting talented individuals into management is often the right move for businesses. But without the right support, those promotions can create more challenges than they solve. Accidental managers are not the problem — the absence of training is. By investing in structured, accredited, and blended leadership programmes, organisations can turn accidental managers into confident leaders who inspire, motivate and deliver results.