Leadership training is horses for courses

Many of us will have experienced an uncomfortable request to give feedback on their manager and found it hard to tell the truth without fear of causing offence (obviously not your current manager who is, of course, perfect). Jan-Hein Hemke, Managing Director, soft services and contract cleaning specialists, Facilicom says they have found a way around this potential social awkwardness so that people can get unbiased feedback on their management style, as part of their wider leadership development programme. And it recently reached the final at the European Cleaning & Hygiene Awards as a result!

Facilicom is a large organisation, but we’re still family-owned and that has a significant impact on the way the company is run. The people that work within our business are colleagues, not employees, and the way we train and develop people reflects that ethos.

Developing leaders in the cleaning industry

We are committed to developing the people who work with us throughout their careers and have an expansive training programme. For the past 10 years we have worked with psychologist, Dr Tenne von Nordheim, to help develop managers and high-potential colleagues. As well as delivering coaching and training to develop skills, she also helps people deal with any work-related problems, such as high-level stress.

As many people will have found, it is not always easy to apply the theory you learn during coaching or training back in the workplace. This is one of the reasons that Tenne introduced Facilicom to a new style of training using horses.

Getting out of the workplace or classroom gives participants the chance to try new things in a safe environment and to develop skills in a new way. It also helps to develop their practical implementation.

Working with horses gives people an insight into their management style in an unprejudiced non-judgemental manner. Horses react openly and without caring whether someone’s a managing director with 40 years’ experience or a new recruit in their first job. The horse’s reaction to instruction can be very insightful and show development opportunities that might not otherwise be identified.

You can lead a horse to water…

During the training, Facilicom managers take on a number of exercises such as leading horses around obstacles or working by touch, looking to achieve simple goals and establish respect and trust with the animal.

The exercises are designed to show whether the way managers think they behave in the workplace is how others perceive it. By analysing behaviour, participants can develop ideas for change and improvements to the way they work and manage. The training helps managers to become more assertive and confident and can improve creativity as the novel approach can lead to new ways of thinking about issues.

No animals are harmed in the making of this training

It may sound odd to use a horse in this way, but mammals share the same limbic system as humans. The limbic system – a complex arrangement of nerves and networks in the brain – drives our instincts and moods. It controls our basic emotions (such as fear and anger) and our urges (for example hunger and dominance). This means the automatic responses the horses make reflect those we, as humans, make too, but without the fear of repercussions. So if the horse is scared to do something, or put off by a domineering approach, it will clearly show it and not try to modify its behaviour in the way humans might.

Having used this form of training for a number of years now we see clear benefits and believe it is a key component in the development of the future leaders in the cleaning industry and beyond. By being a supportive and encouraging employer – using innovative approaches to meet people’s needs – we create a happy and loyal workforce, which is much more likely to deliver the high standards that customers demand, benefitting everyone involved.

www.facilicom.co.uk

Published in Tomorrow’s Cleaning – October 2016