The complete set of National Occupational Standards for Management and Leadership are listed below. You can download individual units by clicking on the unit title, or whole chapters by clicking on the chapter titles.

The standards are proven benchmarks of best practice and have been developed based on extensive consultation with genuine managers doing real management jobs. They offer a practical resource to aid decisions in everything from day-to-day matters like recruitment and selection to long-term issues such as the recognition and development of future leaders.

This revised set of standards, released in November 2008, builds on the 2004 suite with the addition of new units covering fresh areas such as knowledge management, environmental management and quality assurance. The standards are both clear and accessible while still providing enough detail to be robust and measureable.

NB: Following Agreement with Awarding Organisations, SVQs and NVQs are still based on the 2004 standards, not the 2008 standards.

Hard copies of the standards may be purchased for £25 each, with toolkits containing the standards on CD available for £15 each. To order any of the MSC products please visit the online shop, or click here.

Section A - Managing self and personal skills

A1   Manage your own resources
A2   Manage your own resources and professional development
A3   Develop your personal networks

Section B - Providing direction

B1   Develop and implement operational plans for your area of responsibility
B2   Map the environment in which your organisation operates
B3   Develop a strategic business plan for your organisation
B4   Put the strategic business plan into action
B5   Provide leadership for your team
B6   Provide leadership in your area of responsibility
B7   Provide leadership for your organisation
B8   Ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, ethical and social requirements
B9   Develop the culture of your organisation
B10 Manage risk
B11 Promote equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion in your area of responsibility
B12 Promote equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion in your organisation

Section C - Facilitating change

C1   Encourage innovation in your team
C2   Encourage innovation in your area of responsibility
C3   Encourage innovation in your organisation
C4   Lead change
C5   Plan change
C6   Implement change

Section D - Working with people

D1   Develop productive working relationships with colleagues
D2   Develop productive working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders
D3   Recruit, select and keep colleagues
D4   Plan the workforce
D5   Allocate and check work in your team
D6   Allocate and monitor the progress and quality of work in your area of responsibility
D7   Provide learning opportunities for colleagues
D8   Help team members address problems affecting their performance
D9   Build and manage teams
D10 Reduce and manage conflict in your team
D11 Lead meetings
D12 Participate in meetings
D13 Support individuals to develop and maintain their performance
D14 Initiate and follow disciplinary procedure
D15 Initiate and follow grievance procedure
D16 Manage redundancies in your area of responsibility
D17 Build and sustain collaborative relationships with other organisations

Section E - Using resources

E1   Manage a budget
E2   Manage finance for your area of responsibility
E3   Obtain additional finance for the organisation
E4   Promote the use of technology within your organisation
E5   Ensure your own actions reduce risks to health and safety
E6   Ensure health and safety requirements are met in your area of responsibility
E7   Ensure an effective organisational approach to health and safety
E8   Manage physical resources  
E9   Manage the environmental impact of your work
E10 Take effective decisions
E11 Communicate information and knowledge
E12 Manage knowledge in your area of responsibility
E13 Promote knowledge management in your organisation
E14 Support team and virtual working
E15 Procure supplies
E16 Select suppliers through a tendering process
E17 Outsource business processes

Section F - Achieving results

F1   Manage a project
F2   Manage a programme of complementary projects
F3   Manage business processes
F4   Develop and implement marketing plans for your area of responsibility
F5   Resolve customer service problems
F6   Monitor and solve customer service problems
F7   Support customer service improvements
F8   Work with others to improve customer service
F9   Build your organisation’s understanding of its market and customers
F10 Develop a customer focussed organisation
F11 Manage the achievement of customer satisfaction
F12 Improve organisational performance
F13 Manage quality systems
F14 Prepare for and participate in quality audits
F15 Carry out quality audits
F16 Manage the development and marketing of products/services in your area of responsibility
F17 Manage the delivery of customer service in your area of responsibility
F18 Prepare sales proposals and deliver sales presentations
F19 Sell products/services to customers

A mapping document can be downloaded from this page detailing the changes made to the 2004 standards and the relationship between the 2004 standards and the 2008 standards. The document also details the new units introduced into the 2008 suite of standards.

For further information on how the standards may be used please contact a member of the MSC team on 020 7240 2826 or management.standards@managers.org.uk.

A number of the NOS units are expected to be equally useful at all management levels, whilst other units are likely to be most useful to managers at a specific level of responsibility.

A matrix showing how each unit applies to four typical levels of management responsibility is available to be downloaded from this page, along with the units grouped by level of managerial responsibility. It should, however, be noted that the majority of managers have 'spiky profiles', where their full range of responsibilities falls under more than one typical managerial level.

The matrix can be used as a general guide to the units, although users of the NOS should assess their individual role profile (which can be undertaken with the help of the standards) in order to determine which units will be most relevant to their existing and future responsibilities.

In 2009 the full suite of Management and Leadership NOS were given credit ratings and levels using the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Guidance. This allows the standards to be used in qualifications sitting on the Scottish Framework. Please note, the levels attached to each unit do NOT relate to the levels used in England and Wales.

The credit and levels attached to each unit can be viewed by downloading the relevant attachment on the right of this web page.