Leadership And Management Training Award

Twenty-nine Team Leaders and Supervisors from Williams Refrigeration's Kings Lynn and Downham Market plants have recently been awarded Institute of Leadership Management (ILM) certification.

The Supervisors course, which normally takes one year to complete, was condensed to an intensive 12-week training period, and for Team Leaders it was a 10-week course.

The team of 29, a mix of both new and existing Supervisors and Team Leaders undertook the training to develop their management skills to enable them to enhance their teams' capabilities, develop team spirit, effectively manage the impact of change and enable them, as supervisors and team leaders, to think creatively when approaching problems.

Managing change is increasingly important in business, especially at Williams Refrigeration where a recent ?1 million investment into the manufacturing facility has meant a significant boost to Williams' production capabilities.

In tandem with this, new manufacturing processes and methods have been introduced and this is where the Team leaders and Supervisors will be able to apply their newly developed skills for effectively managing change.

Feedback from the team has been very positive, as Greg Sutherland, Manufacturing Director, Williams Refrigeration, comments: "All the team feel they have improved their management and leadership skills by doing this course, helping them to have a clearer understanding of the different issues between teams and it's great to see a motivated workforce who will contribute to the continued success of Williams Refrigeration." He continues: "From our business point of view, it's often easy to view investment strictly in terms of the latest technology and hardware, but at Williams we believe in a 'root' and 'branch' approach to investment - investing in the skills of our employees.

The ILM training, which is the beginning of an ongoing process of improving employee skills, has provided team leader and supervisors with an excellent grounding in leadership skills and this will prove to be a great foundation for their future development." The Supervisors' course was undertaken at the College of West Anglia and the Team Leaders' course was carried-out on site in King's Lynn by David Stone, Training Consultant based in Norwich.

Williams Refrigeration continues to show its commitment to employee training and development having recently seen a number of its staff undertake the British Refrigeration Association (BRA) brazing training with excellent exam results.

Williams Refrigeration continues to win major supply contracts both locally, UK-wide and internationally.

New local business wins include refrigeration installations at Norwich City Football Club, CHS Amusements' new Ten Pin Bowling venue in Hunstanton, a major kitchen refit at the Hoste Arms, Burnham Market and Byfords in Holt which recently won the Norfolk 'Deli of the Year 2003'.

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