Article:

CMgr isn’t just for line managers

Written by Caroline Roberts Wednesday 22 March 2023

Aged just 27, Frazer Lowrie held a senior managerial role but questioned if he had the right creds to become a Chartered Manager. Turns out he had plenty of relevant experience

Frazer Lowrie has wanted to be a Chartered Manager since he first joined CMI in 2017. But he lacked confidence in his ability to become one. Despite taking on a senior management role aged just 27, he didn’t feel he had the experience to become Chartered.

As a health, safety, environmental and quality manager at a Glasgow-based building and construction services company, Valley Group, Frazer oversees six divisions of the business and almost 60 staff members. However, he doesn’t have a team of his own. “I always thought you had to be managing your own people, so there was that barrier in my mind,” he says.

I always thought you had to be managing your own people, so there was that barrier in my mind

Nevertheless, his health and safety role has given him ample opportunity to develop his management skills. With the launch of the CMI’s Management Diagnostics tool, Frazer decided to assess his skills and see how far he was from qualifying for Chartered status. It helped him to identify his strengths and increased his confidence. He finally applied for Chartered status, and became a Chartered Manager in late 2022.

Management Diagnostics: Try it yourself

It’s a quick and easy way to compare yourself against the Professional Standard – and figure out where your gaps are. You then receive a fully personalised learning plan, packed with resources tailored to you and your areas for improvement. You can repeat the process again and again to see how your skills are growing – and how you are becoming a better manager.

Try it now

Importantly, through the process he realised just how much he managed and influenced people in his organisation. His job is to ensure that people follow health and safety processes. This often receives pushback from people who see it as additional work. “When people push back, you need to be able to not take that personally and understand their reasons and the pressures they are under. It’s also about educating people about why they need to do certain things and emphasising the benefits to get them on board,” he explains.

Keep reading to learn how becoming Chartered upgraded Frazer’s management practice

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