Stamping out bad management

letter of the week

Stamping out bad management

Iagree with the general tone of Caroline Horrigan’s Guest Columnist comments (Travel Weekly April 16), and in particular her remark that “the main reason people are leaving the industry is bad management”.

Few managers in the UK have had any training and any they might have received is often of an administrative nature. It does not address the important and complex business of staff relationships and the way in which staff should be nurtured and developed.

As Caroline rightly points out, there are many letters published from disgruntled employees whose complaints are related directly to poor treatment from their managers.

 One problem is, of course, there are few opportunities apparent for management training and development.

Entrants to the industry are well served by various schemes but managers often feel the management-level courses on offer – which are usually very costly – are just not geared to the travel industry.

 There is, however, one programme that exists which is a credit to the industry, and that is the Guild of Business Travel Agents’ Certificate in Business Travel, the higher levels of which provide comprehensive supervisory and management training – including the important business of staff management. Although the programme is obviously geared towards business travel, the management principles covered are appropriate to all in the travel industry.

 This programme is, as rightly claimed in last week’sComment, Mike Riddle’s ‘baby’, although he would have been the first to give credit to the many others who helped in the programme’s development. As you suggest, a professional achievement award would be a lasting tribute to Mike and would serve also to highlight the importance of management training. How about travel agency manager of the year? I would have aimed for it when I was a manager.

Richard English, Retraining, Reigate, Surrey