Funded Leadership Development Programme supports multiple businesses in West Yorkshire in 2021

After an unusual 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, training provider DMM Training and Development has been pleased to be supporting businesses with face-to-face leadership training again. With multiple businesses from across West Yorkshire taking advantage of funding towards the training through Higher Performing Workplaces.

Following government guidelines and with fingers crossed, Diane Mason (Owner, DMM Training and Development) scheduled an Open Personal Leadership DevelopmentProgramme to start on 17 May. The uptake was so great, another programme was scheduled to run concurrently, which started on 18 May. This ensured social distancing guidelines were followed, and more clients could take advantage of the funding available. 18 delegates in total were involved.

Diane - “DMM’s Open Personal Leadership Development Programme is particularly focussed on inter-personal relationships and more specifically those inter-department relationships, which can throw up challenges every day. Because of different viewpoints, priorities and of course personalities. These challenges result in departments not working cohesively together, often resulting in disagreements and reduced productivity/efficiencies.”

Three businesses on DMM’s leadership programme found these challenges were particularly evident, who each had two learners on the training:

W H Bowker – A leading national logistics company. The Transport Manager, Anthony Day (pictured below) and Warehouse Manager John Cutting (pictured right) were put forward for the training.

Stephenson Controls – A specialist electrical circuit board and panel manufacturer. The Technical Production Manager and Sales Manager were put forward for the training.

Platinum Print – A local well-respected print, design and direct mail business. The Digital and DM Manager and the Sales Manager were put forward for the training.

The training challenges learners to gain feedback from colleagues to understand how they are perceived. They learn during the process their own relationship/behavioural style and how this can be perceived, both as a strength and as a weakness.

Diane - “These perceptions drive behaviour and when delegates began to understand themselves at a higher level, they started to understand their colleagues much better. The communication became more frequent, less emotional and most importantly honest and true, resulting in less blame and more ownership for problems. They recognised that everyone has different priorities, but ultimately the same goal.”

All six individuals, at the end of the classroom time and practice back in the workplace, acknowledged how much better their relationships were, on a personal level and on an inter-department level.

Diane - “Sarcastic remarks, lack of understanding of each other’s challenges and automatic blame were now seen as inefficiencies and had been replaced with better meetings, better listening, more productive ‘conflict’ to achieve solutions and an overall respect for each other and individual roles within the businesses.”

At the end of the programme, as acknowledgement and recognition, the group members vote for the Outstanding Achievement Award. The individual from their group who they felt applied themselves and contributed throughout the process. The winners of the Awards were the two individuals from W H Bowker.

Higher Performing Workplaces is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and managed by the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges. Eligible businesses can receive 40% ESF funding towards the cost of any HPW training. Eligible businesses must be based in one of the following districts: Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield or York.

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