Would you expect a senior manager to be good with figures and able to analyse data,  to understand statistics and percentages and be able to interpret a graph ? It’s implied if not explicitly stated in the every JD and PS at this level. And yet the recruitment process places far more emphases on verbal reasoning than analytical intelligence.

Would you be surprised to learn that on my MBA course there was a module on making effective presentations but nothing on maths? Despite the traditional emphases on the bottom line, preoccupation with good financial management and the introduction of performance  targets it is surprising to find so many organisations appoint senior people who are bad at maths.

Maybe you have not had any difficulty presenting a statistical report to the senior management team or the board. Maybe you haven’t been asked to take out the graphs , simplify the tables and charts and make less use of statistics  “ unnecessary detail. Just give them the conclusions and recommendations.” The analysis of data is left to the nerds and bean counters ( statisticians , accountants, “experts”).

But when it comes to the Annual attendance /absence report, a break down of the demographics of the workforce in race and gender, cross referenced with data on recruitment targets, disciplinary outcomes, grievances and equal pay, then as they say the devil is in the detail.

It’s the same for finance reports. In my experience budget management doesn’t require much maths from senior managers. They are given the headline message from the finance section , if we carry on spending at this rate we will be over spent at the end of year , must cut back, make savings. At which point they impose a freeze on vacancies, cut back on training, stop the use of expensive agency staff, ban overtime, until such time as the accountants say the budget is back on track.

Likewise if the budget is going to be reduced next year / income is projected to be down managers will be asked to identify efficiency savings, if necessary by cutting management posts, proposals will be costed by the finance officers who will do the maths to make sure they add up to the necessary savings.

So senior managers don’t need to be able to do the complex calculations but they do need to understand the reports they receive , be able to ask the right questions and draw the right conclusions. They need to know how much confidence to have in projections, they need to know the limitations of big data and algorithms and yes they need to understand percentages, statistics and graphs.