Management Development Programme
• increases staff retention •
• leads to higher productivity •
• enhances the leadership and mentoring skills of managers •
• produces tangible corporate social responsibility outputs •
• leads to higher productivity •
• enhances the leadership and mentoring skills of managers •
• produces tangible corporate social responsibility outputs •
Pioneering a unique training experience
Our unique Management Development Programme has been successfully implemented at John Lewis and Legal and General. We train managers to become mentors to individuals in the local community who need support, advice and encouragement to start their own business. These individuals include offenders, ex-offenders, long term unemployed, people with mental health issues, people with disabilities and lone parents.
We train managers to be effective mentors and match them with an individual we see could be supported by them. We then support them to make a real and long-lasting difference to that person and consequently to the local community. This unique and innovative programme not only provides valuable training for managers in all areas of team management, it results in increased staff retention, higher productivity, enhanced leadership and mentoring skills and it provides tangible corporate social responsibility outputs.
We train managers to be effective mentors and match them with an individual we see could be supported by them. We then support them to make a real and long-lasting difference to that person and consequently to the local community. This unique and innovative programme not only provides valuable training for managers in all areas of team management, it results in increased staff retention, higher productivity, enhanced leadership and mentoring skills and it provides tangible corporate social responsibility outputs.
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How do we do this?
Our programme provides an unfamiliar context of work and the real possibility to make a difference in someone’s life. This increases drive and motivation. We provide expert coaching in communication which includes self-reflection about preconceived beliefs and values, non-verbal communication, active listening, influencing skills, conflict resolution and feedback skills. This leads to greatly enhanced management, supervisory and interpersonal skills. The programme also raises awareness of the abilities and potential of a marginalised population which is shown to improve the attitude of managers.
Managers learn the technical skills to become effective mentors. They are able to use these new skills in the workplace to manage more effectively and improve performance. The aim of the programme is to encourage them to become change orientated and give them the rounded skills to enhance their ability to work flexibly. They will also be challenged to deal with a client group that will be unfamiliar to them. They will be encouraged to build rapport and empathy with the client group in a different environment than the workplace and if successful, they will make a significant difference to peoples’ lives. If the ex-offender sets up a successful business, they are less likely to re-offend and can contribute to society financially and socially and the manager will discover the satisfaction of helping others.
Benefits to the company
There are many benefits of being involved in this innovative programme:
There are many benefits of being involved in this innovative programme:
- Increased staff retention
- Higher productivity of staff
- Enhanced leadership and mentoring skills
- Tangible corporate social responsibility outputs
- Become champions in an area that has received little support from the corporate world
- Improved corporate image
- Potential for positive publicity
"This programme provides high quality training/experiential learning which equips mentors not only for mentoring but also brings those skills back in-house, which adds value and informs their day job. Development opportunity for mid manager level – those with aspirations for next step, and/or for those who’ve been at L&G a while and are looking to enrich their experience and feel they want a new challenge."
FB, Senior Manager, Legal & General, Hove
Benefits to the managers
Due to the very different nature of the mentees, extremely heightened communication, rapport building and influencing skills will be required to establish a relationship of mutual respect and trust. This can be picked up specifically within the mentor workshop and include some key material on language patterns, influencing skills and active listening which will be invaluable back in the workplace. Personal work tailored to specific individuals can be tackled during the follow up one to one.
The mentees will typically have lower confidence and lower self-esteem which can transfer itself into not expecting too much when setting up and promoting their business ideas. This situation will definitely challenge the mentors in a way they would not normally come across in a corporate environment. They will have to work hard at raising the bar for the individuals they work with, which should have a psychologically beneficial impact on how they perceive and then deal with their team members back in the workplace.
This is not your typical volunteering situation. It's unique and as such a real selling point of it is the fact that it opens up people to new issues, challenges and possibilities that they won't and/or aren't likely to face in a corporate setting.
Mentors will have to research, fact find and open themselves up to different situations and problems and look further afield to find innovative solutions. We would hope that this broadens their approach to corporate work and they transfer some of their new approaches back in the office.
The mentees will typically have lower confidence and lower self-esteem which can transfer itself into not expecting too much when setting up and promoting their business ideas. This situation will definitely challenge the mentors in a way they would not normally come across in a corporate environment. They will have to work hard at raising the bar for the individuals they work with, which should have a psychologically beneficial impact on how they perceive and then deal with their team members back in the workplace.
This is not your typical volunteering situation. It's unique and as such a real selling point of it is the fact that it opens up people to new issues, challenges and possibilities that they won't and/or aren't likely to face in a corporate setting.
Mentors will have to research, fact find and open themselves up to different situations and problems and look further afield to find innovative solutions. We would hope that this broadens their approach to corporate work and they transfer some of their new approaches back in the office.
"I think the training was a real eye opener, it gave me a whole different perspective on mentoring/coaching. I have also become a bit more confident when dealing with day to day situations. I have done a Train the Trainer course which was based on general corporate training, but I think the detail you provided in your course and presentation about non corporate mentoring/training will greatly improve my skills, there is a big difference between the two.
I think your presentation style was really good, you kept us all engaged over the two days, you brought out the best in us from day 1. I think the real life examples you gave helped us to build a better picture in our minds of what we are about to undertake. You made us see things about ourselves that otherwise we may not have or just took for granted."
QR, John Lewis, Milton Keynes
Our Management Development Programme will be tailored to suit your company's requirements. The main elements of the programme include:
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An Introduction to Self Employment
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Business Planning
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Sales and Marketing
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Mentoring Training (4-5 per session)
A two day programme which will fully train all volunteers on the following:
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Facilitation
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"Benna and Phil have been a bedrock of support and encouragement well beyond the call of duty in my cunning plan to start up my own business. I am indebted to them and thank them from the bottom of my heart and any aspiring entrepreneur would be fortunate indeed to have them in their corner." PL, Mentee Legal & General Brighton |
"For everyone out there still thinking about becoming a part of this (both mentor and mentees), I highly recommend that you give it a try as words alone cannot communicate the benefits to be gained from this programme. You will get accurate feedback from Benna, and feel both in control during the sessions and supported when it is needed from Benna. Thumbs up Enterprise Exchange and thank you Legal & General." VO, Mentor Legal & General Hove |
"Speaking for myself, everything is working out great, and even better than I had anticipated. I have been given a tremendous amount of useful advice from Enterprise Exchange and the John Lewis Mentoring Team. In terms of acting on the advice given going forward, I am confident that I will get back on track in no time at all." AH, Mentee John Lewis Milton Keynes |