In 2018, the Global Leadership Forecast surveyed around 1,000 senior-level organisation leaders.
The survey offered insight into the top concern’s leaders had for the years to come. On this list were issues like slowing economic growth, labour relations, and the potential for a global recession.
Somewhat surprisingly though the two biggest concerns were the immediate need to develop the next generation of leaders and the difficulty to attract and retain top talent – with these two cited more than twice as frequently as other issues.
It’s evidence such as this that led Schlam to develop its in-house leadership and management program in 2019.
According to Schlam’s Human Resources Manager, Anna McIntyre, the program's objective was to increase the capacity of the company's managers and supervisors and give them the tools needed to lead and manage their people effectively.
“The program was tailor-made to suit Schlam. This required close collaboration with the accrediting registered training organisation to make it as relevant as possible to our business model and operating systems."
“Sessions were delivered jointly by Schlam’s Colin Bell and an accredited trainer from Skills Strategies to give students a balanced view mixing theory with real-world examples,” said Anna.
The program covered nine units, including topics such as leading teams, project management, communication, and risk management.
Schlam Payload Solutions national sales manager, Ben Baker, one of the 16 Schlam team members to graduate from the program, said that the program was a real eye-opener.
"I learnt a lot during the Leadership and Management program, not just about business, but about myself too. The most exciting unit for me was the Leading Teams section. We have a lot of self-sufficient, high performers within our sales team. This section of the course detailed how to assist these types of employees to ensure they're supported to carry out their responsibilities with as little disruption to their workflow as possible."
“While I’ve been to other courses run by my previous employers, this was different as it was specifically targeted for Schlam employees,” said Ben.
The graduates were treated to a celebratory dinner at Lamont’s Bishop House where Schlam’s Chief Executive Officer, Matt Thomas, spoke about his growth as a leader.
“I was fortunate to complete a Masters in Leadership and Management, and one of the first things I had to learn about was myself."
“It’s a journey of self-reflection, what does my heart say and what does my head say – and they didn’t always agree. But learning about what drives me and why I react in ways that I do in certain circumstances, helped me have a better understanding of my colleagues and to appreciate that they may have more going on in their life that perhaps I am not aware of,” said Matt.
The 2019/2020 Schlam Diploma of Leadership and Management graduates are:
