Pioneering people development from the Global Energy Group

The Global Energy Group is Pioneering a new approach to developing its greatest asset - It's people

This month the group launched The Global Academy, a new in-house unit dedicated to ensuring every member of its workforce is equipped with the full range of skills they need to realise their own potential and contribute to the company’s continuing growth and success.

Aiming to set a gold standard in people development, the Academy has secured the services of Olympic athlete and coach Ian Woods to help drive the ambitious initiative forward.

Since its launch in 2005, the group has developed rapidly through organic growth and strategic acquisitions and is now provides employment for around 2,500 people worldwide. Global’s activities include, engineering, fabrication, construction, inspection, specialist welding, pipeline solutions, recruitment and corporate support.  As a result, the group’s training needs cover a huge spectrum - from the harder skills of the shopfloor or oil rig to the professional skills required in a wide variety of office based roles.

However, the philosophy behind The Global Academy stretches far beyond ensuring Global’s people are trained to meet the requirements of their job descriptions.

As a relatively young and rapidly growing business, the board recognised that getting the company’s culture and values right, and aligning these values across the group as early as possible, was critical to its strength and flexibility . They also recognised that any planned process to achieve the changes needed would require careful development, inspirational delivery and strong leadership.

The conclusion they reached was that to create the kind of positive, can-do culture that is captured in the company’s slogan, “Working together for success”, everyone in the business needed to embark on a learning journey, with the board and senior management leading the way.

Last year, Ian, the director of Onesimus consultancy, teamed up with Global’s Organisational Development Director Susan Myles to plot and embark on the first stages of that journey.

Ian’s skills and a remarkable background have already proved ideally suited to the challenge.  Starting his working life as an engineer in the military, he spent 12 years as a professional athlete, competing at two Olympic Games and has coached other athletes and teams at Olympic level.  With 21 years experience in raising performance, he is an accomplished development training consultant and executive coach, who a focuses particularly on the challenges and benefits of developing sustainable, principle-centered organisations, such as Global.  He has worked with major organisations including Rolls Royce, The Wellcome Trust, Nottingham Business School, M&S, Siemens and BAE Systems.

Together, Susan and Ian led the development last year of the innovative Building Global Leaders leadership programme and have been instrumental in its delivery.  As a result the past months have seen 36 members of staff from throughout the Group take part in an innovative new approach to building trust, raising performance and developing leadership capacity within the organisation. 

More recently a management development programme, called Building our Global Future, based on the same principles and involving another 36 people, got underway and plans to roll out similar training to other members of staff throughout the Group are progressing.

It was from these initiatives that the ambitious concept of the Global Academy was born.  Ian has now joined the Global Energy Group to work with Susan over the next 12 months, to develop the Academy.  Focusing on leadership, culture, values and professional skills they will build on the progress already made through the earlier initiatives and delivering training and development programmes throughout the Group’s workforce.

The Global Academy will work together with Global Training, the unit recently established by the Group to deliver all aspects of harder vocational skills training.

Global Energy Group chairman Roy MacGregor believes the development of the Academy will play a key role in the future success of company.

Mr MacGregor said:  “Our people are our greatest asset and that will always continue to be the case as we evolve further as a company.

“One of the most important aspects of the development of the Group over the past year has been the introduction and delivery of the leadership development programme and related courses.  It has been a fascinating and very rewarding journey for all of us that have been involved.  It has already been clear how those who have taken part it have benefitted.

“Having the right skills is obviously vital to us, just as it is in any business, but having the right leadership, culture and values throughout the whole organisation is, I believe, equally important.

“We are breaking new ground in establishing the Global Academy.  It is an exciting new development that I am confident will bring lasting benefit to the Global Energy Group and the people who work for us.  I am delighted that someone of Ian Woods’ proven calibre, experience and skills has joined us to help pioneer this initiative.”

The Group’s commitment to this area has been further underlined by its sponsorship of the new Global Energy Group Award for Excellence in People Development in this year’s Highlands and Islands Business Awards.