How a global manufacturer lifted manager confidence from 71% to 91%
A global packaging manufacturer raised average manager confidence from 71% to 91% with World Class Manager®, the CPD-accredited management development programme. The result comes from 968 matched start and end ratings from 277 managers between 2022 and 2025, and 88% of those managers ended their modules more confident than they began.
The challenge: what manufacturing managers said at the start
Manufacturing managers often step up from the production floor and lead shift teams across several sites. When they joined, managers described their three greatest challenges in their own words. The most common were motivating and engaging the team (24%), time and prioritisation (24%) and communication (21%), coded from 439 managers’ answers.
What the organisation did
Between 2022 and 2025, 637 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 15 modules.
Manager confidence, start to end of each module
Results: manager confidence rose from 71% to 91%
Average confidence rose by 20 points, from 71% at the start of each module to 91% at the end. Across all World Class Manager® managers the rise is 23 points (71% to 94%). 88% 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 | 56% | 88% | +32 | 27 |
| Great Goal Setting | 62% | 94% | +32 | 71 |
| Optimising Your Time | 64% | 90% | +26 | 69 |
What manufacturing 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 have been able to be more empathetic and have seen the positive results. Difficult conversations have been easier and setting goals different. I feel I talk to the team on the floor more and have gained more trust and a better rapport with them.
Worked on improving my team meetings, more focused, more impactful, and shorter. So far it is working and my team is noticing the change.
The team is working more collectively vs independently. The team is taking more pride in their work.
Seeing the team being more outgoing and proactive to issues on the production floor.
I’m more calm in listening to people and taking the extra time to build a good relationship. They respect me and my objectives for the team.
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 968 matched pairs from 277 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 manufacturing?
In this manufacturing organisation it did. Average manager confidence rose from 71% at the start of each World Class Manager® module to 91% at the end, across 968 matched ratings from 277 managers (2022 to 2025). 88% of those managers ended their modules more confident than they began.
Which management skills improved most?
The largest rises were in Difficult Conversations (56% to 88%); Great Goal Setting (62% to 94%); Optimising Your Time (64% to 90%).
What challenges did managers in manufacturing face?
In their own words at the start of the programme, managers most often named motivating and engaging the team (24%), time and prioritisation (24%) and communication (21%) 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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The same pattern in every sector we have measured. See all ten case studies
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