This is my favourite article in this series so far, because over the past month we have had a number of calls from people wanting to grow and develop their people, so they’ve been calling on us to support them in this. These are great calls to get!
While no two businesses are the same, there have been some common themes in these queries:
All of the calls have been positive, and about the business owners or leaders wanting to support their people to grow and develop
Each person who reached out to us was very open to ideas around the kind of growth and development their team member or members need, which meant we could develop really tailored solutions for them, rather than apply a ‘one size fits all’ approach
They have seen the value in, and been prepared to invest time, money and energy into their people, which we love!
We get really excited about people and businesses growing, and we’re always keen to be part of that journey. Here’s the ‘real life’ examples of the calls we’ve had over the past month:
One was a retention play – they have a key manager in their business who is looking for career development, and he’s identified ‘proactive people management’ as his key area for growth – the business owners felt they might lose him if they didn’t provide him this support, but they could also see the value for their business if he grew in this area. They initially reached out to us regarding our 8 Steps programme, but after talking in more detail with both the owners and the manager, we have developed a one-to-one coaching programme for him instead
Another dairy farming client has a number of new farm managers starting on 1 June, and through their recruitment process have determined that whilst their new managers are all good ‘cows and grass managers’, there are some gaps around their people leadership skills. In talking further with them about some of their current ‘people’ related challenges, it became apparent that it’s not just their incoming managers who need some support and direction, but their current managers as well – so in early June, after the whole new team is on board (and before calving starts), we’re running a tailored, in-house leadership programme for them. As well as helping them to develop these skills, they’re also really excited about this being part of a strong induction programme for their new managers, and a signal to all of their managers that they’re invested in their development.
For another client we are doing some ‘train the trainer’ work and supporting their managers to then run their ‘own’ team building sessions with their individual teams. Their goal is to grow their individual managers, but also to achieve productivity gains through more cohesive team relationships.
Finally, we’ve had a call from a business where a couple of their ‘line managers’ have recently made some wrong calls when dealing with some employment relations issues, and in two cases this has cost the company in terms of payouts – they’ve identified the need for all of their line managers to have a better of understanding of when and how to have tough conversations.
If you are keen to develop your own or your managers’ leadership and management skills, give us a call today to talk about whether or not we can help!