A critical shortage of skilled people means companies need to upskill those they already have – and the University of Canterbury Business School is doing just that.
The university's Executive Education programme has established itself among the business community thanks to one-, two-and three-day courses covering areas such as design thinking, project management and negotiation skills, helping businesses keep up with the fast-changing world of commerce, sales, systems and technology.
Companies such as waterjet manufacturer HamiltonJet, Heartland Bank, and SPCA are among short course clients – plus there are bespoke programmes covering areas such as change management and strategy development that can be revolutionary for businesses.
These options are developed in consultation with each client to deliver agreed outcomes for attendees: "Bespoke in-house programmes start with a consultation so we diagnose what a company's problems are and then create a programme that solves that business's problems with a tailored solution," says Liz Foxwell-Canning, Director - Executive Education & Industry Programmes, for the UC Business School.
"Companies can't import the talent they need because of Covid-19," she says. "So employers have to grow and develop their own.
"Jobs are abundant and it's an employees' market. But, despite this, business owners still occasionally ask me 'what if I train my staff and they leave?' I say 'what if you don't and they stay?' Isn't it better to have high performing, confident staff than not?
"Employees are a company's biggest asset, we've heard that over and over. Yet employers could do more to make sure their people are match-fit to deliver positive results."
Foxwell-Canning says it's not just staff attending the short courses. "We have seen CEOs and their team members learning alongside each other," she says. "It makes sense to have everyone hearing the same information, having the same experiences and growing their skill sets together."
One product still in development is designed to help women develop their leadership pathways. Foxwell-Canning says the week-long residential leadership programme is for women who – despite hard work, determination and competence – haven't secured the recognition and career progression they deserve.
"It's not about 'fixing' women," says Foxwell-Canning. "It's about enabling them to reach their true potential. It will provide each participant with insights into their management style and how they can lead themselves to greater success."
Short courses offered by Executive Education have been delivered on campus, but plans are afoot to offer online and hybrid options: "My preference is to deliver courses in-person but providing them on-demand is something we are working on – shorter sessions that are self-paced, engaging and appealing."
"I don't think running all-day courses online in real-time is ideal; people are tired of looking at screens all day, let alone trying to learn through one. Our plan is to offer courses in bite-sized segments so clients can dip in and out and learn at their own pace."
Course facilitator Sean Whitaker says: "The world is changing and keeping up to date with the latest knowledge-based learning is an important way people can embrace and take advantage of change – and not be left behind by it."
Another facilitator, Patrick Rottiers, says world-class business schools are becoming hubs where today's leaders and senior managers (with or without degrees) come to train, refresh and challenge themselves with the latest insights and approaches to their jobs.
"A business degree is a fantastic platform - on condition it is maintained well, kept sharp and effective," he says. "In the inspiring company of sharp fellow learners, energised through a number of challenging real-world cases, amazing growth in skills, insights and confidence happens."
All programmes are hands-on, practical, and give attendees the tools to return to work with ideas and the know-how to make a difference.
"What we are finding is that business managers welcome new ideas and expect to see change as a result of their people attending our courses," says Foxwell-Canning.
"The key is to make them interactive and engaging because it is very easy to get distracted if you have to concentrate on a screen while other things are going on around you," says Foxwell-Canning.
Short courses are available now for 2022, book online at canterbury.ac.nz/business/execed