Ruth Spellman OBE, FCIPD, the latest chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), is calling for a greater focus on the high level skills needed to build UK competitiveness and productivity.

Spellman is also calling for employers to take greater responsibility for the development of their management and leadership teams. She says that this will ensure UK organisations are better equipped to meet the conflicting demands of Generations X, Y and Z, as the ‘multi-generational’ workforce becomes a reality.

Spearheading the institute’s campaign for 50% of managers to be professionally qualified by 2020, Spellman will also also focus on the need for individuals and their employers to adopt a long-term view of development programmes.

Spellman joins the CMI from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, where she had been chief executive since January 2007. She previously served as chief executive of Investors in People UK, HR director for the NSPCC and a business development consultant with Coopers and Lybrand.

Commenting on Spellman’s appointment, Sir John Sunderland, president of the CMI, said: “I am delighted that Ruth has joined us. The current climate is one where skills development should be high on everyone’s agenda and her experience in the arena of people and professional development ensures that she is ideally placed to drive the debate forward.”