New Managers in Demand

By Jack Francis of "The New Managers Club"
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Recently I was asked to speak at a conference on "Management
in the High Growth Industries". One of the pre-prepared
questions our panel was asked to address was "Is there a
future in management as a career?"

There had been a lot of comment in the media at the time
that employees were better off seeking a career as a
well-paid specialist rather than aspiring to a management
position.

To obtain a quick view on the future demand for managers, I
turned to the Department of Labor statistics. In particular,
I looked at the figures produced for the President's High
Growth Job Training Initiative.

They have identified 15 sectors that fit within the
following criteria:

(1) they are projected to add substantial numbers of new
jobs to the economy or affect the growth of other
industries; or

(2) they are existing or emerging businesses being
transformed by technology and innovation requiring new skill
sets for workers.

Here are the sectors:

o Advanced Manufacturing
o Aerospace
o Automotive
o Biotechnology
o Construction
o Energy
o Financial Services
o Geospatial Technology
o Health Care
o Homeland Security
o Hospitality
o Information Technology
o Nanotechnology
o Retail
o Transportation

Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics which project future
trends over a ten year period (currently 2004-2014), a list
of the top 50 "In Demand" occupations has been produced.
These are ranked using a product of predicted demand times
median salaries.

It’s no surprise to see that Registered Nurses and
Physicians head up this list. However, there is also
overwhelming evidence of the future high demand for managers
in these high growth areas.

13 of the top 50 occupations are specifically management
jobs. Financial Services Managers have the highest ranking
of these, holding the ninth position. Engineering managers
in Advanced Manufacturing have the highest predicted median
salary - $48 per hour.

The management occupation with the highest predicted need is
"First Line Manager in the Construction Industry" - 209,000
jobs. First Line management accounts for five of the top
thirteen management rankings - 693,000 jobs in total.

Management occupations also rank highly in the list of "in
demand" jobs outside of the high growth areas. General and
Operations Managers are ranked third in the list. First Line
Managers of Office Support Workers, Real Estate and Property
Managers and C.E.O’s are all ranked in the top twenty.

There is no doubt that that the future looks bright for
those seeking a management career. Two questions remain:

o Do employees want to take on the responsibilities and
stress of a management job?

o How are we going to train these new managers?

Many of the industries listed have no great history of
effective management training.

The firms within these high growth/emerging industries are
often small or medium sized enterprises with little resource
for training. High growth enterprises are characterized by
flat management structures offering little opportunity for
these managers to learn on the job.

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Jack Francis is a management consultant and with his
business partner, Elizabeth Best co-founded The New Managers
Club - a great source of practical advice and training
materials for anyone new to management or starting a new
management job.

Have a look at their EXCLUSIVE "Starter Pack"  - it's an essential for success in a management role.
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