Following the withdrawal of government funding from key leadership and improvement apprenticeship standards going forward, CQM Training & Consultancy has strengthened its apprenticeship and commercial offering to provide employers with ever more practical routes for continuing to develop leadership, management and continuous improvement capability.

As Team Leader Level 3, Operations Manager Level 5, Improvement Practitioner Level 4 and Improvement Leader Level 6 are subject to no longer being funded going forwards, CQM is disappointed, particularly given the value we have seen them deliver for individuals, employers and the wider economy against a backdrop of skills gaps and leadership pathways. 

These programmes have provided practical, structured routes for developing the people responsible for leading teams, managing performance and delivering improvement, and their removal creates a genuine challenge for organisations looking to build this capability. In particular, Team Leader Level 3 and Improvement Practitioner Level 4 were very popular and valued amongst our clients and the broader industry too.

CQM has therefore further strengthened its portfolio of funded apprenticeships and commercial programmes across leadership, management, business improvement and Lean Six Sigma. The focus is not on finding a simple replacement for each withdrawn standard, but on helping employers identify the route that best fits the individual’s role, responsibilities and the capability the organisation needs to build.

• Leadership and Management Development 
• Process Leader Level 4 for Operational Manufacturing Leaders  
• First-Line Management and Leadership for Non-Manufacturing Roles 
• A Shorter Commercial Option For Targeted Intervention  
• Continuous Improvement and Lean Six Sigma Development 
• Business Analyst Level 4: A New Route Within the Improvement Journey 
• Lean Six Sigma Belt Accreditation: A Direct Route to Improvement Capability 
• Supporting Employers Through the Change

For employers looking to continue developing first-line managers, team leaders and operational leaders, CQM has established routes that combine practical leadership development with the responsibilities of the role. 

For individuals with responsibility for leading production activities, people, processes and operational performance, CQM’s established  Process Leader Level 4 apprenticeship can provide a particularly strong option. 

The programme has been developed specifically around manufacturing environments and combines leadership and people management with operational planning, continuous improvement, change management, performance management, recruitment and the delivery of a live workplace improvement project. 

It is important, however, that Process Leader is selected because the role fits the apprenticeship rather than because it remains funded. The programme is designed for people whose day-to-day responsibilities genuinely involve leading production or manufacturing operations, managing teams and improving the processes for which they are accountable. 

CQM’s recently published  Process Leader Level 4 Apprenticeship Showcase demonstrates what that combination can look like in practice.

These examples reflect the wider purpose of Process Leader: developing people who can lead teams, manage performance and drive improvement together, rather than treating leadership and operational improvement as separate disciplines. 

For first-line managers and team leaders including whose roles sit outside a manufacturing environment, CQM offers alternative routes focused specifically on leadership and management development. 

CQM’s Improvement Technician Level 3 Apprenticeship for Team Leaders  combines the funded Improvement Technician apprenticeship with dedicated leadership and management development, including CMI Level 3 leadership and management content. Learners develop skills in areas such as coaching, communication, performance, decision-making and continuous improvement, alongside completing a workplace improvement project that also provides them with Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt accreditation.

CQM has also worked with clients to strengthen its commercial leadership offer with focussed intervention and a much shorter alternative to apprenticeships. 

Its  CMI Level 3 First Line Management and Leadership Diploma provides a six-day development route for new and existing first-line managers, covering organisational awareness, leading people and teams, stakeholder communication, delivery of organisational activities, professional development and supporting people throughout the employee lifecycle. 

This provides employers with another option where the priority is focused leadership development rather than a longer apprenticeship programme. 

Andrew Cheshire, Managing Director of CQM Training & Consultancy, said: 

“The withdrawal of funding from these leadership standards doesn’t remove the need to develop strong supervisors, team leaders and operational managers. If anything, the capability challenge facing manufacturers makes that development even more important. 

 

What we don’t want employers to do is simply move people onto another apprenticeship because funding happens to be available. The starting point has to be the role, the capability gap and what the organisation needs that person to be able to do. 

 

For the right manufacturing role, Process Leader is an incredibly rounded programme because it brings together leadership, operational performance and continuous improvement. For somebody at a different stage or with different responsibilities, our Improvement Apprenticeship for Team Leaders or a shorter CMI programme may provide a much better answer.”

The withdrawal of funding for Improvement Practitioner Level 4 in particular has also created a need for employers to reconsider how they develop structured improvement capability, with the people who actively solve problems, manage projects and implement improvement activity day to day.

CQM’s response is to provide different routes depending on whether the organisation needs a broader improvement role, a funded apprenticeship or a more direct Lean Six Sigma development pathway.

CQM has aligned its  Business Analyst Level 4 apprenticeship as one of the routes available to organisations looking to retain structured improvement capability.

Business Analyst is not a like-for-like replacement for Improvement Practitioner but it does share similar content and approaches that align with the DMAIC process. The people in these roles have been becoming increasingly important to the overall CI journey, team structure and culture of organisations CQM works with.

With this alignment to the capabilities manufacturers value when trying to understand and shape change, and the natural shift CQM has seen, it has already proven a popular choice. The programme develops skills in business process analysis and modelling, stakeholder engagement, requirements definition, solution evaluation, data-led decision-making and change impact assessment. 

Rather than viewing Business Analysis as an IT-only discipline, CQM positions it within the wider improvement lifecycle: helping organisations properly understand a problem or opportunity, establish the current state, engage the people affected, evaluate potential options and build a more robust case for change before implementation. 

Within CQM’s wider portfolio, this creates a connected route alongside Improvement Technician Level 3 and Improvement Specialist Level 5, giving employers options for developing improvement capability at different levels of complexity and responsibility. CQM first outlined this strengthened pathway following the announcement of the funding changes earlier this year. 

For employers that particularly valued the Lean Six Sigma element of Improvement Practitioner, CQM is also offering those joining its Business Analyst Level 4 programme the opportunity to achieve Lean Six Sigma Green Belt accreditation upgrade at no additional cost.

For some employers, the priority will be for shorter focussed programmes, as well as those from across the devolved nations and wider international markets where funded apprenticeships are not accessible.

Many of CQM’s clients have embraced the shorter commercial routes such as Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, using it as a way to build broader development pathways for its staff. Carlsberg Britvic are a prime example of this, and didn’t need any more convincing with the very first cohort achieving in excess of £4m in savings from the work-based projects used to embed the knowledge and skills from the programme through the support and coaching of CQM.

In addition to these ongoing options, CQM has also introduced accessible open-cohort Lean Six Sigma programmes, providing Yellow, Green and Black Belt development for individual delegates and smaller groups that may not have sufficient numbers for a dedicated company cohort. 

Delivered live online, the current open programme consists of eight days split into four two-day blocks and leads to accredited Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Delegates move from the Yellow Belt foundations into more advanced approaches to data analysis, root-cause investigation, process improvement and control, with learning designed around application to real workplace challenges. 

Andrew Cheshire, Managing Director at CQM Training & Consultancy, said: 

“We are genuinely disappointed to see Improvement Practitioner lose government funding because we have seen what it can do when it is used well. It gave people much more than a certificate; it gave them a structured way of tackling real business problems, and employers saw the benefit through the projects they delivered.

 

The project completed during a programme is only part of the return. The bigger opportunity comes afterwards, when somebody has the confidence and capability to apply those methods to the next problem, and then the next one. That is where improvement capability starts to compound.

 

There isn’t one replacement that will be right for every employer. Business Analyst Level 4 is a natural fit within our wider improvement offering where the role aligns, particularly for people who need to investigate problems, understand processes and stakeholders and shape effective change. Where the real requirement is simply to build Lean Six Sigma capability quickly, our Green Belt programme gives employers a much shorter and more accessible route.”

The apprenticeship landscape may be changing, but the need for capable leaders, managers and improvement professionals remains. CQM’s response is to give employers practical choices, helping them develop the right capability in the right people through funded apprenticeships, accredited commercial programmes and flexible open-cohort options.

We will continue to work with employers and our networks to understand capability requirements and business priorities, and identify the route that offers the greatest value. As such we understand sometimes choosing the right training that will deliver value can be tough, and sometimes it isn’t necessarily training that you need at all. As consultants, we can listen to your needs and support you make the right decisions.

To explore CQM’s full programme portfolio or discuss the most suitable route for your organisation, contact the friendly CQM team using the form below.

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