ADR
Defining and learning 'good management'
Maxine: We've grown from a small family firm, and we needed some direction, especially growing at this speed! When we started working with U&I, we had to work out what management at ADR might 'look like'. Our first step was to develop a skills matrix for the company so that whatever we did was consistent, and could support a company wide-culture. We launched that with the senior managers and the management team and so we all started from the same point, looking forward to where we were going together.
Neil: One of the first things I did was to get my team together and ask them what they needed and wanted from a manager - the training I went through helped to fill in the gaps. The management training was designed just for ADR and all the managers across the business are involved.
Dylan: It means we've got a common bank of skills, and they're all tied into how we work, because there's no point in management training being just a 'classroom exercise'. Personally, it's helped massively. It's made everything so much more manageable, and the key is in doing the training, in being observed, then in going through coaching so we know where to improve and how.
Maxine: Working with U&I hasn't just helped prepare a great team of confident managers. It's been so good to have access to someone on the same wavelength who understands what we need. As the person who needs to keep the momentum going day to day I've found that priceless. Really that's what it's created - the same wavelength across the company…
Dylan: It even includes the senior management team! My team knows that
they can approach me and I know I can do the same to my managers. The process we've been through means I'm clear on what management wants, and I can be proactive instead of reactive. We can all see the impact of this training and coaching, which I think is the most important part of this - seeing it making a difference.
Neil: It's definitely given me a new way of working - it's just natural now that there's time put aside for our team to get together to talk about non-task related issues - how we're working, our own development needs, how we're supporting the goals of the company. The difference with U&I is that you know where you are - you're part of a process - there's no pretending that you'll become a brilliant manager overnight. It's only by relating the training to your real job that you start to see improvement.