DriveSpeed Group provide tailored vehicle solutions to clients across a range of industries from a base in North Yorkshire. The business has grown significantly since its incorporation in 2011, and has doubled in size in the last three years, with over 20 staff at their office on Fishergate in York.
In 2020 the dental industry was shut down for a couple of months, but Swallow Dental Supplies adapted its PPE product range and are now growing rapidly through their sales of bone regeneration material and other surgical dental supplies.
“Since Pro-Development I have a lot more self-confidence and rather than taking a more self-depreciating view on my contribution to the business, I do believe I am a valuable member of the team and have a lot to offer. I am also more willing to have difficult conversations in the organisation, using the new confidence found and having a framework I can follow to prepare before having these interactions. In addition, I have the knowledge and tools to take time to breathe, plan and distribute work with greater ease, understanding investing a little time training staff can ultimately free up my time to be better spent elsewhere. It also makes me feel more equipped to coach my own staff and help understand their issues and offer constructive solutions.
I found the coaching experience extremely valuable and many regards, a much wider help that just in the workplace. It is very rare to have someone listen one-on-one about your weaknesses and then objectively suggest solutions to overcome them. Tracey was a pleasure to work with and our coaching sessions always seemed to pass very quickly, and most of all, were a real pleasure to do.”
“I was apprehensive about starting the online leadership development programme as I didn’t know what to expect (and was dreading role plays!) but my fears were unfounded as, from the outset, Tracey put everyone at ease by creating a positive, open and honest learning environment. She encouraged everyone to contribute, listened and gave good feedback and helped me to understand my strengths and weaknesses as well as providing me with tools and techniques to become a better manager.
We were challenged but we weren’t made to feel that there were any ‘wrong’ answers which meant that we all felt safe to contribute, particularly as the sessions were confidential. Delivery of the sessions and the course materials was clear. Tracey was precise with her instructions, both during the sessions and with the preparatory work. I have finished the course with a much better sense of myself and have identified my development areas. I have a stronger working relationship with my fellow participants and a set of reference materials which will help me and my team going forward.”
By far the best development team I’ve worked with. Pro-Development are relatable, warm, friendly and really know what they’re talking about. They are not just regurgitation things from a book. They really do help you discover your own authentic style of leadership. Everyone on this programme has grown throughout it. We are also going to keep in touch to stay on top of our development and continue to help each other out. To anyone thinking about or doing this course remember that change doesn’t happen overnight. Change takes time and work and communication. What the team at Pro-Development does is give you the tools to make change happen and happen right. It’s up to you to use them.
“The coaching was the best part of the course. I thought Janette was universally excellent. She was supportive and listened brilliantly whilst never letting me off the hook for where I needed to take more responsibility. The extra literature she provided has made an immediate and positive impact on my business already. I enjoyed all the workshops, working with people with different skills and personalities but similar values was rewarding. Both Sue and Janette were excellent, really enthusiastic and supportive throughout.”
“We worked with Pro-Development on our staff engagement survey towards the end of 2017 and found them very friendly and helpful in their approach and have really valued the quick and helpful responses we had when needed. The process has been extremely helpful and the meeting to discuss the results gave some great insight from an independent view on how well we were doing and what we could work on. We were proud to achieve such a fantastic engagement result and as a result of the project, we have identified that the work already done in regards to vision, values and teamwork is working with some improvement actions to maintain momentum and progress. Our review process, both performance and financial has already improved with set dates throughout the year and the business improvement ideas collection and team input was another key area for us to work on throughout 2018 and onwards, which can only improve results throughout the team and company. Thank you – it has been a pleasure working with you.”
“As a long standing business, we had grown comfortable as a working unit and we wanted to explore how we could challenge this to improve engagement, motivation, efficiency, communication and productivity with and within our teams and locations. The experience of working with Pro-Development has been positive, challenging and enriching through support and guidance to take a step back and look at things in a different, less obvious way. We had a positive response from our teams to the engagement survey and resulting activity we have undertaken and were able to carefully assess the benefits and rewards for our teams other than just salary and bonuses. The process was challenging for the leadership team but encouraged us to plan ahead for the benefit of our teams and our clients. The guidance, advice and openness has been invaluable and the gentle reminder and nudge has helped us maintain our momentum. The ability to grasp our issues, create a culture of staff engagement and suggestions of positive ideas to form an effective Action Plan has been most worthwhile. We would strongly recommend a conversation with Pro-Development.”
“Working with Pro-Development on our employment engagement over the last few years has been brilliant! We have transformed the way we interact with our staff, improved on so many areas year on year. The benefits to the company have been huge; employee retention, fully engaged in our vision, work to our values, reduced sick days etc…all of this can only improve your business! Our latest score of 96% is fantastic and we couldn’t have done this without the help of Pro-Development”.
“Sue designed and delivered our Future Leaders Programme, working closely with us to provide a tailored and engaging programme for 26 aspiring leaders from across our university. The detailed session plans Sue produced for each part of the programme enabled us to review and discuss what would work well ahead of each session and adapt accordingly, based on the group and our requirements. Participants fed back that they particularly enjoyed the interactive and practical nature of the sessions and appreciated Sue’s engaging approach, knowledge and valuable insight throughout. A brilliant programme for our future leaders”.
“Yorwaste has undergone several years of change both in terms of business structure and growth via acquisition. This generated a rather fractured culture and poor communications thus reducing business effectiveness. Yorwaste met Pro-Development and after some initial meetings and scoping exercises engaged with them on a management develop programme. This initially just looked at the Executive and Senior Managers but has recently expanded to include the Future Leaders of the business. Pro-Development have been outstanding in their efforts to understand Yorwaste which has allowed them to tailor their approach and delivery focused training packages. The Pro-Development team have now run 4 courses for us and what we particularly like is their ability to link each training package with another thus generating continuity across the management structure and reinforcement of lessons learnt. Since first working with Pro-Development 6 months ago, Yorwaste has noticed significant improvements in communication within the business. Greater staff engagement and therefore trust within the business. We have also seen many of the staff grow in confidence. If I had to single out one key benefit of working with Pro-Development it is their ability to understand our business and tailor their training to meet our needs, the personal touch”.
Loved it! I never expected to find so much out about myself and to have so many actions to take back to my job role. Michelle was fantastic – really engaging and an excellent facilitator. Loved that we were made at ease to ask questions throughout. Keen to attend the ‘Honest Conversations’ workshop! Really nice to have a small group as allowed people to open up more and share experiences – kept it very engaging. Thank you!
