16
DEBATE EMBRACING CHANGE
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
MEETING NEW CHALLENGES IN THE FACE OF A PANDEMIC
Earlier in the pandemic, we brought together a diverse group of business leaders to discuss the changes they were implementing and the learnings they were embracing. Several months on, and again in conjunction with human resources consultancy Collaborate Business Solutions, we reconvened the group to consider new challenges and learnings in their organisations and as individuals.
PRESENT:
Richard Slater – Lancashire Business View (chair) Karen Buchanan – Burnley College Steve Fogg – Lancashire Enterprise Partnership
Simon Iredale – Motionlab Ian Liddle – Farleys Iain Round – Beever and Struthers
Louisa Scanlan – Collaborate Business Solutions Chris Smith – Pendle Engineering Greg Ward – Mattioli Woods
Karen Buchanan, Burnley College
We learnt lots of good things through the lockdown and have continued teaching remotely. We’re going to share some of the things we have learnt with school heads.
What I’ve learned is the value of having networks and actually listening to them. We’ve been listening to employers and I can name probably 40 companies whose senior leaders I’ve spoken to through lockdown. I’ve managed to go and look round their factories and listen to them.
We’ve actually changed the curriculum, something that I wouldn’t have thought was possible or even realised needed to happen. But it means that 16- and 17-year olds are getting jobs, and they’ve been paid during this lockdown to help some companies that are thriving.
We’ve managed to get apprentices who’ve been furloughed and would have been made redundant into other companies. Listening to employers at a really high level has been eye- opening for me and it’s really working.
Qualifications were written 20 years ago and companies have diversified. I can now change our qualifications to focus on things local companies are telling us they want employees to be able to do.
So, we’ve restructured our curriculum, and it’s that listening that’s really helped me. Ian Liddle, Farleys
The difficulty has been managing staff fears and concerns where we can, but then balancing those against the needs of the business.
You learn a lot in adversity, you learn more than you do when things are going well. When challenges present themselves, you have to look at yourself first, and wonder whether the approach that you’re adopting is right.
Then you talk to other people and invite feedback, positive or otherwise. As long as you learn from it, hopefully you come out a better person and more importantly, a better leader.
I’ve learnt to listen more, and be more sensitive in a way that I wasn’t in truth. I’m certainly not perfect but leadership isn’t always about being everyone’s best mate. It is about making difficult decisions, not popular ones necessarily. You just have to show the strength of your convictions.
I have clients that I have a huge amount of respect for and I will discuss things with them. I find that invaluable, being able to get different views. It makes you a better leader. We don’t have all the answers. We all have strengths and weaknesses and fears and concerns and if you can talk to other people, that’s the key.
Ian Liddle
Hook up with clever people, hook up with charismatic people, hook up with successful people and just ask them the questions.
Karen Buchanan
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