You can run a major project but can you run a company? HBG has engaged a business school to teach a group of managers how to take the strategic view.
HBG Construction used to send senior managers to its parent in the Netherlands to be groomed as directors. But when the parent company blocked entry to employees over the age of 40, the UK company decided to go it alone and developed a bespoke programme with the Roffey Park Institute in Horsham, West Sussex.

The first class of the Strategic Management Programme graduated in 2002. HBG is now recruiting for its third class to graduate in 2004.

Costing £50,000 each year it runs, the programme consists of two five-day residential modules. The point of the course is to open the minds of a dozen managers and directors to strategic management – as opposed to project management.

"The construction industry is very project based but as our managers move up the organisation into more strategic positions, we want them to expand upon their project management skills and develop a broader business outlook," says Chris Jones, HBG's head of training.

You can't think strategically without at least an introduction to the wider issues, so participants are guided through the global context in which construction sits – technological, social, economic and political.

It taught me how to manage upwards, how to manage my manager

Nigel Sharphouse, 38

Bigger pictures
This had a profound affect on one programme graduate, "Suddenly you stop thinking about work and you're back in an academic setting," said Clwyd Roberts, 44, South East Regional Director, HBG Properties. "You're thinking about the things society will be preparing for in the next 50 to 100 years. It's fascinating."

Participants are also given refreshers on some management basics, like finance.

"We analysed company reports, examined how we presented our accounts, and even learned how to read the Financial Times," says Steve Burford, 47, design director of HBG Design.

They have dinner with HBG's chief executive Brian May, who runs a session on the company's business strategy and vision. They are also treated to a frank feedback session from a client, such as Asda or Slough Estates.

It helped me motivate people better. I spend less time poking my nose in

Steve Burford, 47

HBG wants real return in running the course, and early signs are positive. Participants must produce research the company can use. One of those last year involved finding a way to offer clients a more integrated service, making the five distinct parts of HBG – construction, property, PFI, facilities management and design – work together better. The group doing this project had to present its findings to the board. While they didn't discover any instant formula to achieve this business goal, they did set some initiatives in motion. An example is a revamped knowledge library on the company intranet. It started after a casual conversation in the bar.

"I was talking to a guy who had experience with underfloor heating," says Clwyd Roberts, a 2002 graduate. "He was also on the course. As it happened, I needed to know about under-floor heating. It was a chance meeting."

"That's what the benefit is to the company," says Chris Jones. "Twelve individuals going away to think about ideas, talking to each other. Things start happening then."

Roberts adds: "You don't get that much management consultancy for £50,000."

The course is creating a raft of like-minded individuals through the regions

Clwyd Roberts, 44

Nous network
So much for the company; what about them as individuals? Do they feel ready for the main board? It's not as simple as that, says Roberts. It takes more than a couple of weeks on a course to prepare you completely. But it did allow him to step back and think more broadly at a time in his career when it was helpful to do so. Also, company leaders need connections, and the Strategic Management Programme gives participants the opportunity to expand their networks.

"Before this I didn't know Steve from Adam," Roberts says. "Now there is a gluing together of individuals. The course is creating a raft of like-minded people through the regions."

Strategic managers also need to know where the business is going in the long term. The course helped Steve Burford to leave detail to others so he can focus on the bigger picture.

"It helped me to think about how to motivate people better, to spend less time poking my nose into what they're doing. As an engineer I can't help dotting i's and crossing t's. But this course helped me get in, see what's going on and get out again quickly."

For Nigel Sharphouse, 38, the course helped him to be a more effective link in the company's chain of command. Before January he was a construction manager with responsibility for projects in the north west of England. In January he became national account manager for Asda, a major client that uses framework agreements. Before, when he was looking after individual projects, he tended to think of intervention from above as meddling. Not anymore.

Source

Construction Manager