Investing in talent management has never been more important. With the economy still facing uncertain times, companies rely on their existing workforce to innovate and drive forward growth.
To help create the perfect conditions for this, good business leaders will want to incentivise people to build their career and achieve new levels of professional development which will propel them to the top of their chosen industry. Babcock is no exception – as a group we have enjoyed huge growth in recent years. In 2005 our annual revenues were £760million but this has risen to around £4.8billion this year. A series of acquisitions have brought a number of companies into the group, each with its own culture and managerial approach.
Our task is to support all those different cultures to gel together to maintain a wider Babcock brand. In collaboration with Strathclyde Business School, Babcock launched an MBA aimed at senior leaders which marked a significant extension to our existing partnership with the Business School. The MBA is aimed at candidates with the identified leadership potential and ambition to progress into more senior roles to help drive forward the business in the coming decade and help to maintain our momentum.
Babcock have enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Strathclyde – circa 1000 Babcock employees have benefited from Babcock’s investment in executive education. Our flagship programme – the Babcock MBA – has been developed in close collaboration with academics to provide a programme which offers practical solutions to our day-to-day business issues.
Babcock appreciate that the MBA will not be relevant for all staff but we have a clear definition of the type of candidate we expect to benefit. Existing high performers with potential to go further within their current business units who can demonstrate extensive management experience and exceptional ability are encouraged to take their career to the next level.
The key factor in making this programme relevant is collaboration – the business school understand what Babcock want and deliver content which will help Babcock staff do their jobs better and develop their career to become great leaders rather than just good managers.
“As a company which delivers complex and critical support to a range of customers in defence and civil markets, Babcock needs a strong leadership capability within its business and a responsibility to develop its people. The three year Babcock MBA is key to developing that capability.”
Kevin Goodman, Group Director of Organisation and Development
Professor David Hillier, Executive Dean of Strathclyde Business School, said: “We are dedicated to working closely with our partner organisations to ensure they get maximum benefit from our collaborations. From initial contact and subsequent communications, we design a programme that directly meet the partner’s objectives. We have worked with Babcock on a number of programmes that have impacted positively on their business for many years and we believe our ongoing relationship is thanks to the ‘useful learning’ which is Strathclyde’s driving force.”
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