Member Article

BSW Invests in Tailored Management Training For Staff During the Pandemic

BSW Group, the UK’s largest integrated timber and forestry business, has invested in tailored training courses for staff across its sawmills in Scotland. This training has seen five up-and-coming team leaders awarded with full Chartered Management Institute (CMI) certifications, which will transform how the business and its team operate.

John Cross, Erik Tot, Michael O’Donnell, Daniel Moan and Mark McHattie received qualifications for three training units – Monitoring Team Performance, Building Working Relationships and Introduction to Team Leading – through a specially created course accredited through CMI.

Led by Tony Lockey, the BSW Group Learning and Development Manager, the five team leaders from the Fort William and Dalbeattie sawmills in Scotland enrolled on the programme in September 2019, working throughout the pandemic. They have now gained world-recognised accreditations in management as well as new skills and techniques that will greatly improve the way they and BSW work.

Lockey worked closely with the CMI to write tailored courses which involved two days of interactive and immersive learning sessions, accompanied by assignments on theoretical models and practical experience. Completing the training in-house allowed the business to make large financial savings circa £10,000 (£2,000 per delegate), whilst developing its people, and Lockey received high praise from CMI themselves for his approach.

The BSW team has invested two years of its time in the completely customised programme and the trainees are also now members of the CMI; the world-leading chartered body for management and leadership, which collaborates with businesses to increase performance through developing in-house talent.

BSW’s mission statement says that ‘through constant investment in our people and process, we aim to be the leading, most technically advanced and innovative business in the timber industry’, and this training was crucial to meet those goals.

Tony commented; “This two-year programme has been a real challenge, but an exciting and incredibly rewarding one. In my management career, this achievement has to be one of my proudest, especially in terms of the results that I have seen.

“This peer-to-peer discussion, I hope, will create a demand going forward for future cohort training. I am focused now on building on these courses and to offering more development opportunities going forward.”

Michael O’Donnell, one of the delegates based at BSW’s Fort William sawmill, said; “These courses have given me greater understanding as to how to work with my team and motivate the team in a better way, as well as considering the responsibility of a team leader. I honestly think the course has helped me to improve as a team leader.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tori Lynn .