Background and Challenge

Manufacturers consistently recognise the critical importance of enhancing leadership and management skills to bridge existing and anticipated skills gaps and to tackle the major challenges facing the industry. The British Stainless Steel Association members are no different and the association has seen a surge in interest from member firms wanting to develop staff to boost growth and innovation.

Adam Bradley, Director of Corrosion Resistant Materials and Vice Chair of the BSSA said: “Leadership is not something that is taught. What we find at BSSA is that employees that are good at their job and have worked for a long time in a manufacturing firm are generally made leaders. This type of succession activity does not necessarily translate into success, because a distinct set of skills are required to lead, and you must spend time to learn and embed them. Businesses are finding it difficult to help those employees with that transition and are not investing in training because they don’t know where to go.”

Solution

To help their members thrive and move forward, BSSA and WMG worked together to create a leadership programme crafted specifically for the needs of their members.

BSSA realised that the membership base would benefit from a taster of what was available in terms of leadership and development training before investing fully.

The BSSA Talent Development Programme consists of two modules helping attendees understand their own leadership qualities and behaviours as well as how to lead a team to success. The programme also provides coaching and an opportunity to work on a cohort project to benefit the businesses as well as the association.

The successful pilot that ran earlier this year resulted in the cohort working together on a directory and support materials to help members better understand the food and drink and interiors sectors where stainless steel has enormous potential and application.

Impacts

As a result of the pilot programme BSSA have committed to offering members the opportunity to join a second Talent Development Programme.

Individuals will benefit from:

-A leadership certificate from the University of Warwick

-expanding knowledge of products and services within the industry

-the opportunity to network with likeminded individuals

-additional skills in areas such as presenting, marketing, social media, project management as well as a boost in confidence

Benefits to the companies involved include:

-the opportunity to promote their brand

-the opportunity to boost their training and development credentials which will ultimately boost productivity and attract new skills to the sector

James Sweeney, Production Manager at Birmingham based Anopol Group participated in the pilot programme after being promoted to manage a new team. David Cass, Managing Director at the firm said: “It has been a pleasure observing James’s growth through the BSSA Talent Development Programme. Our team at Anopol are benefitting from his leadership training and networking interaction development. James has clearly grown in confidence and is demonstrating excellent communication skills, attentive process driven approaches to conflicting situations, and mature self-awareness. He thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the programme lecturers and delegates whilst experiencing new business environments. Our next delegate is ready to go!”

Liz McArdle, Innovation Manager at WMG who delivers the programme alongside colleague Steven Norgrove said: “We are delighted that Adam and the team have decided to invest in this valuable programme for the second time off the back of the successful pilot. WMG is on a mission to equip the leaders of the future with the skills to navigate changes and opportunities in the manufacturing sector. We thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with the participants and seeing them flourish and grow in confidence. We look forward to meeting the next cohort in October.”

Adam Bradley added: “Our hope is that schemes like this will help to retain and attract talent to the sector which is vitally important for the association and companies across the board. We are excited to witness the journeys that our next set of leaders will go on through the programme.

“It is well reported that skills and leadership continue to be the number one challenge in manufacturing firms. The sector still struggles to attract young people and we really want to create a pioneering membership base that breaks stereotypes. It is therefore vitally important that we develop innovative programmes that inspire and encourage young leaders coming through the ranks.  Collaborating with WMG has allowed us to do that. This is about the future of the individuals and member companies but the BSSA also. We need people to champion what we do as a group.”