Young leaders in tourism, hospitality & leisure and professional services in Coventry and Warwickshire are set to benefit from a free development programme.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has been chosen as one of the delivery partners for the Peer Networks programme which is being funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and managed locally by the CWLEP Growth Hub.
The Chamber, through its training division Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber Training (CWCT), will deliver the programme online to 18 to 30-year-olds within either the tourism, hospitality & leisure or professional services sectors.
The aim is to encourage participants to collaborate, work through common business issues and strengthen business performance by completing the programme. It has also been devised to support young leaders to develop their skills, resilience, implement practical solutions and develop a trusted support network of peers – particularly during the current crisis.
The interactive, online sessions are targeted at young people who are working within a business or organisation already and will be delivered in six, three-hour sessions. They will be based on themes, such as leading and managing change; driving performance and productivity; managing stress and building resilience; having difficult conversations remotely; and effective team working at a distance.
It will begin in November 2020 and run through to March 2021.
Keely Hancox, of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “It has been an extremely difficult period for everyone in business but especially those aspiring young leaders who will have missed out on so much.
“We know that this age group has disproportionately been affected by Covid-19, particularly in the sectors we are seeking to support. Undoubtedly, the next six months will continue to present challenges – the opportunities to interact with colleagues and peers, both formally and informally, will be more limited and we will need to continue to adapt our way of working.
“This programme is seeking to support our aspiring young leaders. It will be very much led by the participants themselves, but will be focussed around several themes in order for participants to take ideas and new approaches back into the business they work for.
“There is strong evidence that this kind of peer network training really works, problem solving and working through solutions with your peers, led by an experienced facilitator can generate some fantastic results, as well as enabling participants to build a trusted network of peers that they can call on for years to come.
“We’re calling on aspiring leaders to get in touch with us to help them develop their skills or for businesses to recognise that they have this kind of person within their company to put them forward for this programme.”
For more information on the programme, go to https://cw-chamber.co.uk/business-support/peer-networks/
Pictures taken prior to March 2020