How a community pharmacy group lifted manager confidence from 71% to 93%
A UK community pharmacy group raised average manager confidence from 71% to 93% with World Class Manager®, the CPD-accredited management development programme. The result comes from 880 matched start and end ratings from 140 managers between 2020 and 2026, and 94% of those managers ended their modules more confident than they began.
The challenge: what community pharmacy managers said at the start
Pharmacy managers run small, busy branch teams where every conversation with a colleague or patient counts. When they joined, managers described their three greatest challenges in their own words. The most common were time and prioritisation (28%), motivating and engaging the team (23%) and managing conflict (18%), coded from 118 managers’ answers.
What the organisation did
Between 2020 and 2026, 314 managers took part in World Class Manager®, the CPD-accredited management development programme from the Global Growth Institute. Managers worked through online modules, answered reflection questions in their own words and committed to actions with their own teams. Start and end ratings could be matched for 24 modules.
Manager confidence, start to end of each module
Results: manager confidence rose from 71% to 93%
Average confidence rose by 22 points, from 71% at the start of each module to 93% at the end. Across all World Class Manager® managers the rise is 23 points (71% to 94%). 94% of managers in this organisation ended their modules more confident than they began. The biggest gains came in these modules:
| Module | Start | End | Rise (points) | Matched ratings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Difficult Conversations | 53% | 89% | +36 | 21 |
| Developing Me, Developing My Team | 62% | 94% | +32 | 49 |
| Great Goal Setting | 65% | 95% | +30 | 56 |
What community pharmacy managers said about the impact
In their own words, from the programme’s reflection and review questions. Verbatim and unedited, original spelling kept, shortened only where marked.
I believe I have made the working environment better for my team. I listen to what they say and take on board feedback and act upon it so they can see results and we know we are making a change.
They are currently feeling more valued, considered and respected. They know that if there is a conflict, I will be able to manage it so they consider that I am a person who they can trust in.
A team that is not afraid to speak up as they know that they will be listened to and taken seriously.
I feel more organised, meaning my time is more productive. My team are clear on what is expected and they feel listened to and valued.
I have been more motivated and seen an improvement in both business outputs and colleagues behaviours.
How the results were measured
At the start of each module, every manager rated themselves on the module’s core skill. At the end of the module, they rated their confidence again. Both ratings are shown as a percentage of the top of the scale (1 to 5, or 1 to 10), matched for the same manager and module, and averaged across 880 matched pairs from 140 managers. Challenges are coded from managers’ own words. All figures are self-reported: they show how managers rate themselves, not business outcomes. The organisation is anonymised and shown by sector and region only.
Frequently asked questions
Does management training improve manager confidence in community pharmacy?
In this community pharmacy organisation it did. Average manager confidence rose from 71% at the start of each World Class Manager® module to 93% at the end, across 880 matched ratings from 140 managers (2020 to 2026). 94% of those managers ended their modules more confident than they began.
Which management skills improved most?
The largest rises were in Difficult Conversations (53% to 89%); Developing Me, Developing My Team (62% to 94%); Great Goal Setting (65% to 95%).
What challenges did managers in community pharmacy face?
In their own words at the start of the programme, managers most often named time and prioritisation (28%), motivating and engaging the team (23%) and managing conflict (18%) as their greatest challenges.
How is the confidence score measured?
At the start of each module, every manager rates themselves on the module’s core skill. At the end of the module, they rate their confidence again. Both ratings are turned into a percentage of the top of the scale, matched for the same manager and module, and averaged. The score is self-reported: it shows how managers rate themselves, not business outcomes.
Are these results typical?
Yes. Across all 177 organisations in the matched data (28,460 ratings from 3,397 managers), average confidence rose from 71% to 94%. Every one of the 35 organisations with 15 or more managers in the matched data saw a rise, of between 16 and 34 points.
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