The top New Year’s resolution for managers in Wales is to put their team’s development first, ahead of traditional priorities such as networking or spending more time with customers and clients, figures released by the Chartered Management Institute reveal.

CMI’s Future Forecast survey results make it clear that business leaders recognise the importance of looking inwards and that putting staff back at the heart of their organisations will enhance chances of a speedy post-recession recovery.
 

Just under a third (31 per cent) of managers surveyed in Wales, for example, have pledged to support the development of their team’s skills and 22 per cent also intend to provide ‘more prompt’ support to boost performance.
 

The survey also found that a fifth (20 per cent) of managers in Wales have resolved to acknowledge the efforts of their staff and say ‘thank you’ more often.
 

Just over a quarter (27 per cent) also said they will spend more time with their teams which is quite a significant amount in comparison to the national average of 18 per cent.
 

Ruth Spellman, CMI chief executive, said: “It is very encouraging to hear that UK managers are enthusiastic about learning lessons from what has passed and putting the development and needs of their employees over and above other considerations.”