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. The business has recently been bought by Swedish company Lifco and their MD, Paul Harrison, is beginning the process of retirement. In his process of stepping away to retire, Paul has seen potential in the management team to run the business and manage the 24 staff. He contacted Pro-Development not sure on where to start and together they developed a plan to help Paul achieve his ambition and support the engagement and development of the team.
Where to start?
Paul saw lots of potential in his leadership team, so this was a great opportunity to develop core talent in the business to help lead and manage going forward. He wanted to invest in them and support them through that journey. Pro Development’s support began with an Employee Engagement Programme, which involves an employee survey and helps SMEs to develop a ‘people plan’ through various actions. This helped the business to quickly identify what they were doing that was going well and what, if anything, was getting in the way. The confidential surveys helped their staff to feel able to share openly and honestly what was working for them and what needed to be addressed to help with their engagement.
Working together we built a survey to meet their needs but reviewing our 11 core engagement drivers. Once completed, we shared the result with the leadership team which helped them to see what they had been doing over the last few years that was building engagement and any gaps. We also encouraged the team to go out and share the results with their teams so they could see that their feedback had been received and heard.
Following this, we then worked together to build an action plan aimed at playing to their strengths and working on any development areas that would help to improve engagement. Then, every quarter, we reviewed their actions to ensure they were making a difference. Swallow Dental Supplies were amazing at implementing the actions identified in their Employee Engagement Programme. It was clear from the outset that they genuinely wanted to do the right thing so the programme easily fits into their everyday routine.
Pro Development’s actions came naturally and really fitted in to what we wanted to do within the business. We’ve seen the difference the survey has made already, there has been a change in atmosphere and an uplift in energy.
Annie Kilburn, Finance Director
As a management team of a small, but growing business we were aware that it was becoming more difficult to keep our valued staff engaged both with us and the company ethos. We knew that staff engagement was the way forward, but did not know how to even start the process. We were also aware that, in a dynamic business that is growing at a fast pace, we needed to develop as a management team, both personally and as a group,
Paul Harrison, Managing Director
Identifying key priorities
One of the focus areas identified just helped to re-enforce what Paul Harrison, their Managing Director, had already seen. He had some great talent and so Annie and Ben joined Pro-Development’s 7-month experiential Inspiring Leadership programme, which involved attending 7 one-day workshops and six months of coaching sessions.
The beauty of experiential learning is that Annie and Ben have been physically learning about leadership but in a fun way, meaning the knowledge embeds easily and transitions are smoother. Experiential learning gave them both a great opportunity to observe other leaders and see what works and what doesn’t and offer each other feedback. They both grew in both confidence and skill and we started to see two very authentic and inspiring leaders emerge.
Swallow Dental Supplies also supported two other members of Annie’s team with coaching. Annie told us how the human approach of coaching, compared to classroom training, has been useful for her team members’ confidence and has noticed a difference in both team members already.
It has felt unforced and I don’t have to remind myself to do the things we’ve learned; it just comes naturally now. It’s been a lot of fun but also a great opportunity for self-awareness and self-evaluation with someone there who has the knowledge on how to change things for the better. The coaching has been a privilege as it has felt like career counselling and, when coupled with the leadership programme, it has helped me to become more confident.
Annie Kilburn, Finance Manager
A High Performing Leadership Team
Annie and Ben, along with the other members of the senior leadership team, James and Paul, their Managing Director, also participated in a session together which looked at conflict, style of communication and how they work together. The Building Teams for the Future workshop aimed to make a more consistent management team with trust and healthy conflict.
Swallow Dental Supplies are continuing to grow and are currently recruiting. They recently expanded into new premises but are already outgrowing these with plans to expand their current offices. Their next steps will be to take the employee engagement survey again to measure the success of their action plan and Pro Development’s interventions.
Being more honest with each other and having the conversations we’ve had has helped massively. This means that the non-managerial staff now have more trust in the management team and this extinguishes any ‘us and them’ culture. It’s shown us how a management team getting it right can change the culture in the business as well. The funding arranged by Pro-Development, made the amount of support received possible, compared to what we could have invested in without. Pro Development are a very ‘human’, personable, small business. Their culture and the way they conduct the training has really helped. Coping with the changes Swallow Dental Supplies has gone through in the last 12 months has been made easier by the fact that our leaders feel better equipped, thanks to the training and support. We’re now able to guide others through change and reassure our staff.
Annie Kilburn, Finance Manager
We have seen significant and very positive development in how the management team interacts and performs. The same can be said of how staff are once more becoming engaged with the business. The funding that was available has made a significant difference to our business as we add our ‘bit’ to the development of the Northern Powerhouse.
Paul Harrison, Managing Director
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I engaged with Pro-Development during what proved to be an incredibly challenging year for the business, with the market dropping significantly and requiring us to reduce our workforce by 25%. We wanted to use the survey to better understand where we stood as a company following these changes and identify how we could improve employee engagement. My experience of working with Pro-Development has been brilliant, with excellent communication, engaging delivery and ongoing support throughout. The Essentials of Management training provided valuable development for a new manager within the business, giving her practical tools and confidence to support her team more effectively through improved structure and guidance. The survey outcomes will also help us implement wider business changes to further improve employee satisfaction and engagement. I fully expect to continue working with Pro-Development for future training and support and look forward to building on the relationship over the years ahead. What I valued most was the clarity, openness and continued support, particularly the follow-up meetings which ensured we stayed on the right track rather than the support ending after the training itself. I would highly recommend Pro-Development to other businesses.
Trailblazer 25/26
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