ICOM’s programmes enhance performance through the following elements:

GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS featuring key aspects of leadership and improving individual and organisation performance.  They include how to integrate theory and practice, tutor support and profound conversations with others facing similar challenges.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS (PDPs).  Individual strengths and weaknesses are identified.  Weaknesses are tackled via a focus on reflection recorded in a learning log and sharing experiences with colleagues and faculty and through group and individual tutorials.

APPLICATION WORKSHOPS which customise the core learning material and feature, for example, how to cascade a business strategy, how to develop a people plan, how to improve processes and how to develop LEADERSHIP SKILLS.  Industry leaders will also present their experiences.

The magic of action learning is how the above elements are woven together to produce individuals who, with their new skills and confidence, become a “critical mass” for change in their organisations.  The programmes will lead to improved working practices and a radical approach to the productivity of people, capital and materials.  It will also feature the cascade of strategy into organisations.  It will produce people who focus on DOING and LEADING others to improve performance.

Many companies have responded to global competition by becoming more strategic, better at analysing customer behaviour, producing quality products on time and to budget and managing their supply chains more effectively.

To sustain these improvements, a cadre of “managerial leaders” is needed with strategic, innovative, conceptual and people management skills.  However, these generic management skills are not sufficient in today’s ruthlessly competitive world.  They have to be put within a specific “business” context and individuals have to know how to adapt generic skills to particular situations.  This programme will focus on developing skills tailored to the needs of specific clients, their “technologies” and their value chains.

We believe the central issue of management is not a lack of understanding of business problems or the inability to analyse them.  Managers are generally good at describing their problems.  What they are often not blessed with is a high degree of IMPLEMENTATION CAPABILITY, that is, the ability and willingness to change the status quo, to challenge vested interests often characterised by deep-seated scepticism, entrenched behaviour and outdated working practices.

LEARNING IN THE WORKPLACE is the best way to develop these skills.  Full-time programmes often disconnect learning from the reality of the work place and lose the opportunity to address critical business issues within companies.

Our action learning programme are based on solving real time problems and reflecting on the experiences gained from taking initiatives to improve organisational performance.  Managers need to step back from the pressure of their jobs and view their organisations, and indeed their whole sectors, from a fresh perspective.

Faculty on our programmes bring concepts and best practice to help this action learning process out of which emerges an impatience with the status quo and a determination to implement performance improvements.

Every one of our clients has their own set of challenges.  Contributing to delivering a clear and sustainable competitive advantage, which will drive the business forward, is our aim for each programme.  This is why each programme is designed in partnership with each client, based on their unique set of circumstances and reflecting their own learning culture and approach to continuous professional development.

Organisations who wish to flourish need to continually improve the way they operate.  Those who will win will be those who have a clearly defined strategy, who maximise the value delivered from their operational systems and processes and recognise that developing the capability and commitment of their people, to provide the best possible value to customers, will lead to that sought after competitive edge.  This action learning programme can provide the vehicle to achieve the above essential elements of organisational excellence.