An evaluation exercise undertaken on the Business Improvement and Growth (BIG) Journey, an executive development programme delivered through the Centre for Employment, Competitiveness and Growth at the University of Kent, has revealed the value placed on coaching and action learning by participants.
Dr Simon Raby, Programme Manager, commented “we reviewed the learning techniques used within the programme with participant businesses. In addition to the relevance of the content of the modules, business owners revealed how important personal business coaching and working with like-minded individuals within learning sets had been to them to make the change stick”
Business owners reported that personal coaching had been important to build confidence in their own ability and that of others; hold them to account and keep them on track; apply their learning and embed change; develop space to think and reflect; improve their communication skills; and, had encouraged them to listen and engage staff to share ideas and take business forward.
Business owners continued by highlighting that action learning had helped them realise that they weren’t alone, had stimulated them to take action in the business, and had made them more open to sharing and discussing their issues. Indeed, a number of the participants had since implemented the techniques into their own workplace.
“reporting on progress with my action learning set forced me to gain focus”
Sami Patel, Slim Sams Cakery
The BIG Journey is an executive development programme for ambitious owner-managers who want to improve and grow their business, delivered in partnership with a private business consultancy Telos Partners. For further information on this story please contact Dr Simon Raby, Programme Manager, by email S.O.Raby@kent.ac.uk or telephone 01227 824740.