Durkan LEAD


Poppyfish People Development is pleased to be partnering the construction company, Durkan Limited, in its new LEAD initiative which gets underway in June. The company wide Durkan LEAD programme will see all 160 employees embark on a pathway of learning and development that is designed to maximise individual potential and generate continuous performance improvement across the firm.

Each Durkan employee will be enrolled on one of three learning pathways, each following a personalised structure that will see a number of compulsory events supplemented by additional optional events that the employee can choose to attend. Employees that complete all compulsory courses and an appropriate number of optional courses will be entitled to receive a 'Durkan Diploma' in recognition of their learning.

“We are very pleased to be able to offer this exciting new opportunity to our staff,” said Ian Cresswell, Director of Health & Safety, Quality and Environment at Durkan, “we feel that the LEAD programme reinforces that fact that our people are key ingredient to the ongoing success of the company, and offers staff real opportunities to improve their own skills set in a way that totally complements the job that they do”.

Ian feels that the most exciting prospect of the programme comes from its structure; “The typical LEAD course will see senior managers, office staff and site workers from across the company coming together for interactive, small group learning. We believe that this will have some excellent consequences for teambuilding and for encouraging communication and innovation across all levels of the business”.

The LEAD title is built from an acronym on the four main focuses of the programme: Leadership, Empowerment, Accountability and Development. The course is expected to last up to three years and has been constructed in consultation with Herts based Poppyfish People Development Ltd. Nick Skinner, Director of Poppyfish said “Durkan have shown genuine interest in the ongoing development of their employees. They realise that technical expertise and competence, whilst obviously essential, is no longer sufficient to satisfy the demands of customers who expect a more rounded performance. Continuous performance improvement can only come about through people at all levels who are totally aligned with the company values and ambitions and who have the right mindset and conditions in which to perform. The LEAD programme will help to achieve this”.

As part of the programme every member of staff will complete a behavioural profile designed to allow them to understand more about their own developmental needs “The starter session on the programme is all about understanding ourselves and our own behavioural preferences”, said Ian Cresswell, “This profiling allows staff to assess their own strengths and preferences before selecting which optional aspects of the course might offer them the greatest benefit”.

Poppyfish will deliver the bulk of the twenty three workshops that form part of the programme, with input from Associate Steve Jarrett and other training providers. 
 
The first of the LEAD courses will get underway in June.
 

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