Management high achievers of the future are being given a helping hand thanks to a unique joint initiative by a group of regional building societies, including Dorset based Teachers.
The Achievers Academy scheme has been created by seven building societies – Teachers, Saffron, The Hanley, The Loughborough, Leek United, Ipswich and Market Harborough – together with Mutual One, a company that provides support services for building societies and other mutuals.
It is aimed at high potential employees at any stage of their building society career, who would not normally be involved in strategic decision-making and provides them with a much broader range of experience than they would normally encounter.
Uniquely, each candidate has a chief executive as a mentor and, in each case, the mentor is from a different society to the candidate. This not only gives them direct experience of how things are done in other organisations, but also provides a valuable sounding board for candidates on ideas that they may not yet be ready to discuss with their line managers.
James Bawa, Chief Executive of Teachers Building Society explained: “The aim is to provide a platform for people who have potential to be the leaders of the future to develop their skills and broaden out their experience.
“The Achievers Academy has given us the opportunity not only to provide formal courses, but to let our candidates experience different approaches and management styles through their direct access to senior management in different organisations.
“Of course, it has meant a significant investment of time by each of the chief executives concerned, but we feel it has been worth it as it has allowed the candidates a unique insight into leadership and running an organisation.”
Candidates also participate in set tasks to broaden their skills and are given management presentations from senior personnel in other organisations, such as the NHS.
Academy graduate Keith Hannibal, Senior Mortgage Underwriter at Teachers Building Society said “The programme provided a great opportunity to see how other Societies are run and also to develop my own management skills. The Academy is now in its second year and I have been able to impart my experience to my colleagues taking part this year.”
