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New Charter's dragons lie in wait...
A Dragons Den-style inquisition greeted employees who wanted to extend their learning. And the dragons decided they were “in” on ambitions as diverse as hand massage, learning Turkish and ballroom dancing.
New Charter invited staff to bid for extra learning and development opportunities beyond the work-related training programmes which helped it achieve an ‘outstanding’ 2 star assessment from Best Companies this year.
Despite the apparent ferocity of the dragons, staff responded with ideas to extend their learning in their personal lives. More than £5,000 was available.
New Charter’s Group Director of Organisational Development Christine Amyes was one of the dragons. She said: “As well as being fun, we found several applications which we could link to our business objectives. So our awards went a lot further than the £5,000 we’d set aside. We were taken aback by the quality of some ideas. Those who entered the spirit of the occasion probably found us more fluffy than fiery!
“The message we wanted to give was that learning any new skill is valuable. Employees who are keen to learn outside work are almost certainly committed to refreshing their skills for the business. We hope this will keep us at the top of our sector.”
The dragons also included Group Chief Executive Ian Munro, Head of People Development Jane Blackburn and Learning Centre Co-ordinator Hannah Grantham.
Among the winners to emerge from the Dragons Den unscathed but clutching a prize was Building Company supervisor Dave Birtwistle. “My family love Turkey as a holiday destination, but like many Brits abroad, I’m just not proficient in their language. This award enables me to follow an evening class in Turkish. I plan to shock some of the locals with my fluency on my next visit!”
The longest-serving employee at New Charter is Joyce Malpas from Human Resources. She won over the dragons with an ambition to learn hand massage. “I’ve always found having a hand massage relaxing, and I now have the chance to learn the skill. I was a little apprehensive as I entered the den...but soon had them eating out of my hand!” she said.
