Staff Development at JSR

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Staff Development at JSR

Leadership Development programme
IT Training Suite

Leadership Development programme

Since the inaugural course in 1991, the Leadership Development programme (LDG) has played an important role in the personal development of team leaders and management trainees.

LDG - Leadership Development Group

In 2008 the LDG begins its 16th year and more than 100 delegates have successfully completed the programme.

The idea was conceived when Tim Rymer, Chairman JSR Farming Group, noticed that no-one from within JSR had applied for a job vacancy advertised on one of their pig units. Curious as to why that may be, he asked the staff on the unit why they had not put themselves forward. The response was that they did not feel they had the necessary skills and confidence to lead a team of people.

Tim approached Lindsay Muir, of Cedar Associates and together they worked to design a programme that would equip staff with these missing skills. However it was evident early on that this was a programme that could benefit delegates outside JSR, and so it was agreed that the course would be available to other companies, by marketing through Cedar Associates.

The LDG programme runs over a period of 12 months and consists of a number of modules that focus on personal development, whilst at the same time exposing delegates to leadership skills.

Part 1 - Outdoor Development Programme

The programme starts with a residential outdoor development course. This is run by Cedar Associates, with the help of Rob Kelly and his team from Vertical Air, based near Kendal in the Lake District. The week contains a number of tasks which unearth a variety of both physical and emotional challenges to the delegates. These tasks increase in difficulty as the week progresses and are aimed at encouraging the delegates to work more effectively as a team, whilst at the same time encouraging leadership. Naturally, people slot into their own comfort zones, however by the end of the week the programme effectively manages to coerce the delegates into more challenging roles. The group's progress throughout the 5 days is closely monitored by the trainers, where feedback plays an important part and is paramount to the progress and motivation of the team. To add to the complexities of the task much of the programme is held outdoors and is at the mercy of the changeable weather conditions the Lake District in February is notorious for!

Part 1 Project - Personal Development Plan

Part 2 - Leading Teams Safely and Effectively

With the valuable lessons learned in Part 1, this module moves onto the next steps of leadership development and looks at leadership style and delegation, building and monitoring teams and responsibilities for Health and Safety.

Part 2 Project - Safety Project

Part 3 - Planning and Organising Work

An effective leader should have good organizational skills. This element of the course helps with setting clear aims, time and personal planning, work study techniques, and budgeting and finance. Guidelines to planning and structuring a presentation are covered here to help the delegates prepare a work organization project for later presentation.

Part 3 Project - Planning and Organising Work

Part 4 - Communication and Presenting Ideas

Effective communication is key in any leadership / management role. Help is provided here with communication skills and assertiveness, seeking consensus in meetings, presentation workshop, presentations of work organization projects, employment law workshop, motivating self and others.

Part 4 Project - Presenting the new method persuasively and then making it happen

Part 5 - Managing Customers and Projects

This final part of the LDG course focuses on delegate's contribution to quality, internal and external customers, managing projects, avoiding or tackling crisis and personal feedback.

Many of the delegates that complete the LDG programme go on to take on more responsibility within their workplace. It becomes clear from Part 1 that the delegates who have got the most out of LDG are those that put the most in! LDG can prove a valuable asset to any training programme.

IT Training Suite

JSR have developed their own in-house IT Training Suite at their Southburn offices. The suite can accommodate up to 6 delegates at any one time and boasts excellent IT / Media equipment.

The benefits of being able to offer staff on-site training courses in a variety of Microsoft Office software packages and other industry related packages has improved IT competence throughout the business.

This facility is available to external businesses, wishing to run their own training courses and who need a dedicated IT suite.

Further Information

For further information on Staff Development at JSR, contact:
Mrs Linda Woodall
JSR Farms Ltd
Southburn
Driffield YO25 9ED
Tel 01377 227799,
Fax 01377 229253
linda.woodall@jsr.co.uk
www.jsrgenetics.com