Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce have developed a ‘Leadership Development Series’ to support local Leaders upskilling and growth.  

The series was established in 2019, responding to Member feedback and data collection from Member surveys. Smaller Members were seeking a cost effective, flexible way to develop leaders and larger Members were seeking additional, practical ways to support their more formal management development training/qualifications.   

The training is aimed at 2 cohorts. Firstly existing leaders who are established in roles but don’t receive regular support or updated training. Secondly, employees who are newly promoted to roles that need leadership skills in addition to core role skills.  

Evidence from Members and from the Local Skills Improvement Plan projects suggests that this second cohort has grown since our series was launched, particularly post Covid and with the challenges around recruitment and retention. Employees are more likely to be promoted from within, encompassing a wider remit of role that can include leading a team.  

The programme is a series of 6 (2.5 hr) workshops across a year. Sessions are run by a professional coach and the key aims are learning, knowledge sharing, group work discussion and connections. 

The programme topics and content changes annually, taking account of the changing environment, latest best practice theories and needs of business. As examples, post Covid sessions included flexible working and managing teams remotely and this year topics include leading and building resilience, emotional intelligence skills, neurodiversity and inclusive leadership. 

The series focuses on the difference between being a manager and a leader. Sessions are designed to stretch the learners mindset from managing and measuring achievable goals, to creating a vision and inspiring, engaging their teams to deliver it. Sessions encompass moving from leading high performing individuals to high performing teams, leading with confidence and conviction. They are highly interactive and designed to develop business leaders to help unlock the hidden potential in future CEO’s and invest in the future of people at the heart of business.  

Over the series, added value of a group working together for a year are the relationships formed and connections that continue well into the future.   

We are flexible with our delivery methods. Originally the full series was face to face and during Covid this moved to virtual. On our return to work, with split demand for both face to face and virtual delivery, the team and coach have delivered hybrid events. This year around half the delegates are face to face and half are virtual. Responding to changing consumer needs is important, despite this adding a level of complexity for the events team and the coach. This approach is now in its second year and has been embraced by all.  

Each year we have trialled new ideas and technologies to innovate and grow. Examples have been guest speakers at sessions one year, including Teresa Boughey – EDI specialist and award winning author and Antoinette Oglethorpe – award winning careers expert. During Covid we updated our approach, using technologies such as zoom, online meeting spaces and  Facebook group to keep united and connected. More recently our hybrid approach enables greater reach, more delegates, flexibility and agility. This year, we have further developed the programme and commercial value by adding a half day conference into the programme, where delegates will hear from a number of topical leadership speakers.  

We believe our relationship and collaboration with our coach is also key to our success. Lucy Barkas (3WH) has partnered with us since the series inception, helping to develop it from the outset and annually each year. Lucy is an inspiring and talented coach with experience spanning 25 years. She has a masters degree in strategic leadership, is a best selling author and is CTI and ORSC qualified. Client satisfaction can be highlighted from one business who feedback: ‘I love the way that you summarise complex concepts in a very relatable, concise and memorable way’.  

Our pricing strategy for the series has always been to keep it cost effective, as the training is designed to complement other additional training, including accredited or non-accredited courses or management training that delegates may also be undertaking. Delegates can attend and purchase individual sessions or the full series for a discount. Individual sessions started in 2019 at £59, with the full series at £299. Non Members are charged extra. Prices have risen over the years to meet demand and increased costs and this years prices are £65 a session and £350 for the full series. 

Attendees are also encouraged to purchase a DISC profile to use within their learning, adding to their overall experience personal information.  

Take up of the series has exceeded our expectations, with the first year starting with 50 delegates and last year increasing to over 100 delegates. We have experienced multiple bookings from some businesses and also repeat bookings year after year from others. 

Each series develops employees from a mix of both Members and Non-Members and this series is now an established part of the Chamber offer, supporting our strategies for engagement, retention and recruitment of new Members.  

Continual upskilling our next generation of leaders supports the whole business community and with now c.400 delegates supported during the programme inception, it’s an outcome of the project that we are all extremely proud of.