University of Nottingham Unlocking Growth Potential Programme

Services provided

Unlocking Growth Potential

The aim of ‘Unlocking Growth Potential’ (UGP) was to help Directors and Owner Managers of growing SME organisations to identify areas for improvement in both business and personal leadership skill areas. Many of the activities and exercises were designed to focus on the individual’s own business, enabling participants to move forward quickly in a profitable and sustainable way.

The programme delivered 7 days of business and management workshops spread over a 4-month period. Each participant was allocated a dedicated business coach to help them to maximise the benefit of the learning and knowledge gained during the workshops.

Delivered to cohorts of 20 people at a time, the programme was delivered at two different levels depending on where the business and the individual were on their business journey. The peer group interaction, much commented on in the feedback from the participants, was a particularly powerful element of the workshops. Delegates also had the opportunity to complete an optional CMI management qualification that proved a popular option.

Workshop topics covered included;

• Strategic Direction and Business Planning
• Leadership Practice and Personal Performance
• Motivation and Communication
• Finance
• Organisational Change
• Human Resources and Performance Management

The CMBD role in the programme was to:

• Recruit participants and carry out marketing activities such as promotion of the programme at regional events
• Conduct assessment interviews to ensure the programme was suitable for the applicant needs
• Design and deliver the workshops and the learning content
• Support individual delegates with one to one business coaching
• Manage the programme in partnership with the University of Nottingham Project Manager

In total 60 organisations attended the programme, receiving 420 workshop days and 310 hours of business coaching.

CMBD used experienced business professionals to deliver Programme Management support, workshops were delivered by 8 different tutors with appropriate specialist knowledge and 7 different business coaches were used to match the specific needs of each delegate.