The programme is designed to help participants understand their own strengths and find their own leadership style, as well as fostering their own personal growth. This programme enables our managers to build and cultivate high-performing teams and ultimately improve overall morale and productivity.

The Leadership Academy is divided into three separate levels, each with its own specific purpose and tailored content: 

• Personal Excellence is for individuals recognised as possessing high potential and supports them to increase their personal awareness and manage themselves effectively. 
• Management Excellence is intended for first-line managers and is focused on developing the skills, mindset and behaviours required to be an effective manager. 
• Leadership Excellence is designed for senior to middle managers to enable and support them to develop a ‘leadership mindset’ and equip them with the behaviours and skills needed to deliver high-impact results. 

Sharon Barrett, HR Director at Polar, implemented the programme into the business and outlined her motivations for doing so: “I believe the key to great leadership and a strong organisational culture is promoting environments where teams trust each other and where collaboration is encouraged.”

“It is vital that we provide our leaders with the skills needed to inspire their teams. I am proud of the Leadership Academy we run here at Polar and the investment the business has made in this programme is testament to our view that developing talented people is absolutely fundamental to our success.”

The programme is delivered by Jayne Stoddart from RedKite Performance Coaching, who provides a flexible, blended-learning course that includes in-person workshops, virtual learning review sessions and personalised one-to-one coaching sessions. 

Jayne has been working with Polar in some capacity for years and has trained roughly 30% of the workforce as they have gone through the various levels of the programme. 

She described her experiences of delivering the programme: “The whole purpose is to support individuals to understand themselves better so that they can communicate better. You can only get the best out of others if you’re getting the best out of yourself.”

“What I have noticed in the individuals who have gone through the course is the increased appetite for learning, the positive attitude and the willingness to put what they have learned into action. That says to me that Polar is attracting the right talent!”

Chris, who works as a Technical Manager in Polar’s engineering department, described his experience of the course: “The personal excellence course by Jayne was an insightful course on managing my emotions and understanding how to communicate effectively. I am now mid-way through the management course which is helping me to build on my management skills.”

Meanwhile, Michelle who works as QESH Manager, said: "The Leadership Academy was a valuable development opportunity for me which broadened my skill set and allowed me to learn a lot about myself along the way."

To find out more about the career development opportunities available at Polar, visit our Careers page