Tailor-made Whanganui course for businesses ready to expand

Ali Arc Industries general manager Haig Elgar said the UCOL course helped their senior leaders become better managers. Photo / Supplied

A course tailor-made for a Whanganui business is now ready for rollout to other businesses across the central North Island.

Four managers from Whanganui's Ali Arc Industries, and one from its parent company the Bartley Group, have worked with UCOL's "UCOL For You" professional development team to create a course.

"The advantage of giving training to staff already hired with us was UCOL could then see what skills the staff already had and offer additional skills and theory they could add to their toolbox," Ali Arc Industries general manager Haig Elgar said.

"It was a no-brainer partnering up with someone local.

"Even though UCOL is Palmerston North-centric, all the instructors from the courses were based in Whanganui: Whanganui-based training delivered by Whanganui people."

Elgar said UCOL had a reputation for using real-world practical examples of how the theory worked, which added great value for those doing the course.

"Part of looking after employees is empowering them with the knowledge and skills and attitudes to help them understand what they want to do in life," he said.

Established in 1990, Ali Arc Industries designs and builds bull bars on utes and trucks across Aotearoa, exporting to the Pacific, Asia, Europe, Australia and North America.

Every year they make about 2500 bull bars for trucks and 2000 for light commercial vehicles, and refurbish bull bars.

The long-serving management team had worked their way up through the ranks, so the company invested in training to help them become better managers, Elgar said.

"They know all aspects of our business and can take the reins when someone is out so we can keep on keeping on."

UCOL executive director of business and industry partnership Jasmine Groves said the course was led by Whanganui business lecturers Gemma Patterson and Phil Thomsen and covered introductory management topics such as motivation, leadership and problem-solving.

"We developed the course with Ali Arc and ran three two to three-hour courses in their space once a month," Groves said.

Ali Arc finished its last round of training last Tuesday.

Groves said the course was ready to be rolled out to other businesses across the central North Island, and although the idea was to use local knowledge, external experts would be brought in to support where necessary.

"We deliver short course training at your place of work, in work time, and we tailor the course to your business needs," she said.

"Whether you want management skills, or any other knowledge to bridge a particular skills gap, we're here to build a short course that will help you to achieve your goals."