Empowering Leaders for Business Transformation: The Critical Role of Apprenticeships
The fast-changing nature of the business landscape is exacerbated by many factors at present. From the economic impact of the cost-of-living crisis to the significant challenges posed by the Great Resignation, companies now have to fight harder to retain their top talent. It is crucial to have senior business leaders who possess the ability to adapt and thrive in an ever-changing environment. Furthermore, tighter budgets and the need to cater to both office-based and remote employees, necessitate a balanced management style to ensure they have adaptable and change-ready senior leaders in key positions.
The detrimental impact of ineffective management on UK businesses is staggering, with an estimated loss of over £19bn per year in lost working hours. To counterbalance this, we urgently need resilient leaders who adapt and thrive in changing environments. As Dr Charlotte Gendron, Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College Business School asserts “Leaders must be willing to embrace change and take risks in order to stay ahead of the curve. This requires a mindset of adaptability and agility, as well as a commitment to lifelong learning and development.”
Ineffective management can significantly hinder business transformation, which is crucial for success in today’s rapidly changing business landscape. Leadership apprenticeship programmes could be the answer to your organisation’s business transformation challenges, empowering your leaders to succeed in the most demanding conditions. By choosing such initiatives, your organisation can bolster its leadership capabilities and position itself for long-term success.
The Benefits of Executive Development
Continuing the journey of upskilling and skills development is crucial for your workforce, even at the senior leadership level. Leadership apprenticeships and high-level executive development programmes offer significant benefit to both the business and individual employees. As Ria Thachil, Chief Operating Officer at Newsflo and learner on The Imperial College and Corndel Executive Development Programme explains “The programme has allowed me to think about my business in a very strategic way, and also it’s given me exposure to different ideas and different concepts that I can apply to my business. And what’s been really beneficial is that I’ve been able to bring those learnings and apply them to my business immediately.”
From a business perspective, investing in higher-level training ensures your organisation is primed to succeed in the future and ready to tackle any incoming challenges head-on, with senior leaders equipped with the knowledge to navigate change effectively.
The Imperial College & Corndel Executive Development Programme is specifically designed to support senior leaders in the next stage of their development by focusing on the skills needed to excel in their job roles. Many organisations have successfully introduced leadership apprenticeships, equipping their workforce with the expertise they need to deliver transformative change within their own organisations. The programme introduces and explores skills such as analytical thinking, data-led decisions, time management, effective communication, empathetic leadership, and vital to position your people at the forefront during business transformation. Through the programme, Danielle Turner, Director of Membership and Fundraising at the RSPB learned “the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership”. Similarly, Alistair Otto, Head of New Media at the Science Museum Group recognised “the importance of innovation and creativity in leadership, and about the value of taking risks and being willing to try new things”.
Business Transformation and Executive Development
The Executive Development Programme offers a range of modules that explore new and innovative ways to approach business challenges and drive transformations. In Unit 1: Personal Effectiveness, learners focus on the concept of Transformational Leadership, while Unit 3: Strategy and Change Management delves into how leaders can strategically action change in a way that benefits the wider organisation. Additional modules cover continuous improvement and business transformation, providing learners with multiple opportunities to develop essential skills for driving successful transformations.
Navigating Core Business Challenges with Help from the Experts
The Imperial College & Corndel Executive Development Programme offers learners many unique opportunities to access high-level thinking and expert knowledge relating to core business challenges. Our online masterclasses led by Imperial academics connect learners directly with specialists in entrepreneurial thinking, business leadership and data analysis. Recognising and embracing the value of data is central to business transformation and learners can move from raw data to decision making that positively influences their organisation and contributes to the transformation.
Our online masterclasses are engaging and thought-provoking, providing actionable content for learners to implement within their own organisations. For example, the masterclass ‘A Framework for Implementing a Digital Transformation’ led by Imperial College Business School Lecturer and Course Director for the CIM, Daniel Rowles, teaches learners the key elements of a framework that will help guide and shape their own digital transformation initiative.
How to Implement Senior Leadership Apprenticeships in Your Organisation
The Programme has empowered hundreds of highly experienced senior leaders gaining real knowledge and new skills from their apprenticeship programme. Moyra Amess, Managing Director of Cybersecurity at Capita, testifies to its impact: “I’ve also learned a lot about how to drive change within an organisation. This has been very relevant to my role at Capita, where we are constantly evolving and looking for ways to improve our services.”
Implementing an executive apprenticeship programme within your organisation is a seamless and manageable process with the support of your apprenticeship levy funding and our team of specialists. If your organisation has contributed to the Apprenticeship Levy, then you will have access to a pot of funding that can be used for upskilling and developing your senior leadership teams..
You can access your levy funds through The Apprenticeship Service and from here you can use this to pay for apprenticeship training and related assessment costs. Our apprenticeship programmes are fully funded and designed to upskill your senior leaders, positioning them as confident and capable leaders in a constantly evolving business landscape.
Drive the change your business needs with senior leadership training
Senior leadership training is a vital ingredient for organisations aiming to drive transformation and change effectively. By investing in high-level training, your people will have everything they need to deliver successful transformation and foster a dynamic culture of change throughout all levels of your organisation. The Imperial College & Corndel Executive Development Programme is a prestigious apprenticeship programme that combines academic excellence with exceptional management training. Contact us today to learn more about our programme and take the proactive step towards unlocking the full potential of your organisation.
