Business Management: People Management and Leadership

Good people management skills are vital in meeting the challenges faced by organisations of all shapes and sizes across the world.

Designed by world-class academics from The Open University, with input from industry experts with diverse perspectives, this microcredential will introduce you to frameworks and ideas that will help you become an ethical and inclusive people manager and leader. You’ll learn the critical tools and techniques needed to adapt and respond to the changing needs of your organisation, and further your career.

Learn why people management and leadership skills are so vital

Organisations are increasingly required to be more agile and find innovative solutions to challenges and opportunities. Research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) shows that people management skills will be at the heart of successful responses to the challenges and unexpected disruptions that will face organisations in the coming years.

The Open University’s 2021 Business Barometer report further highlights a gap in these vital skills, with 28% of employers reporting a lack in managerial skills, and 24% in leadership skills.

Develop your own management and leadership identity

Through a range of engaging and interactive activities, you’ll be encouraged to reflect on your own managerial identity and explore how relationships with others inform the way you work.

You’ll develop your understanding of management as a living and changing practice and develop skills to be able to adapt to different contexts and challenges.

The microcredential will show you how to support and lead others with care, creating a culture where your team and colleagues feel motivated, included and valued. You’ll understand how coaching can sustain the development of your team and how being an effective mentor can support personal development and career aspirations.

Gain in-demand skills from experts at The Open University

This course has been created by academics from The Open University’s highly respected Business School, who have been pioneering innovative distance learning for over 50 years.

You’ll hear from practising managers in the retail, service, and manufacturing sectors, about their own experiences of people management and how they have set and pursued their goals and overcome challenges. These examples will help you to think more widely about your own work and how you may be able to use their learning to support your practice.

Throughout the microcredential, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss your experiences with other learners, enabling you to gain unique insights and perspectives to help broaden your understanding.

You’ll be actively encouraged to apply your new skills to your own work, so you can immediately put your learning into practice and add value to your organisation.

Discover more of The Open University’s Business and Management microcredentials – designed to provide you with key leadership and management skills that will set you up for career success.

Choose from Marketing Principles and Practice, Improving Organisational Practice, Financial Accounting for Non-Financial Roles, Fundamentals of Management Accounting and Project Management.