Ireland must compete through optimising talent management investment, writes Fiona Reddan

DESPITE THE economic downturn, Irish businesses have been urged not to cut investment in talent management.

"Economic retrenchment is not a time to cut investment in talent management. It would be a short-sighted move that would not serve Irish business well in a time when good decision-making is paramount," Dr Tom McCarthy, chief executive of the Irish Management Institute (IMI), said at the inaugural IMI business breakfast yesterday, held to launch the institute's new Master of Business (MoB) framework.

Prof John Boudreau, research director at USC Marshall and a human resource management expert, emphasised that Ireland needed to differentiate itself from low-cost competitors by generating sustainable competitive advantage through optimising talent management investment.

The IMI's new MoB programme, which is an internationally recognised and accredited master's qualification, is one of the first modular management training programmes in Ireland.

The course enables professionals to build up credits over several years, earning a master's in a timeframe suited to their work/life demands. Every time a person completes an IMI diploma course, they earn 30 master's-level credits on the National Framework of Qualifications.

By completing any two courses in the IMI select suite of diplomas and an action-learning dissertation, 90 credits are earned, leading to a master's degree.

From this month, all IMI diploma participants are eligible for the MoB. Participants typically have relevant work-based experience and/or a relevant qualification at primary degree level.