Award win for company which offers transformative leadership training with University
Holiday-park operator Cove UK celebrated its work with the University of Chichester in providing transformative leadership training to its team members as it won a Workplace Culture Award.
The company was handed the award by The Caterer, and judges were impressed by its employee engagement – which Cove said was in part down to its work with the University in developing talent within the organisation.
Cove UK runs 17 holiday parks and employs up to 1,300 staff in peak season. For the past three years it has offered its staff places on a bespoke leadership development programme by the University of Chichester, led by Dr Rob Warwick, Professor of Management and Organisational Learning, and Paula Jenkins, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management.
The idea is to help develop talent across the group, and to build networks and relationships between team members. Each participant undertakes a business project as part of the programme, and they present it to directors in a Dragons’ Den-style pitch.
Antony Smith, Head of Culture and Development at Cove UK, said Cove UK launched in 2019 and started to acquire family-run holiday parks beginning with Bunn Leisure in Selsey, which is now known as Seal Bay. As more parks were brought into the business, Antony said finding a way to develop leaders across very different workplaces was paramount.
“We looked at how we could develop our people as senior leaders and how do we do that working with our local communities,” he said. “Our CEO said to me ‘have you thought about contacting the university?’. We met Rob and Paula, and they designed the five modules for the Leadership and Development Programme.”
The first group started in 2021 and focused on the practicalities of leading in the here and now of the participants’ workplace. Each person was asked to bring an idea that would benefit the park or the whole business, and they would be offered guidance in how to flesh out a business plan and present it to senior management.
Antony said one particular story stuck out to him – that of Laura Starr (pictured above), who was an accommodation team leader at the Gwel an Mor park in Cornwall.
“Laura was quite reserved, but through the modules on the course, she really developed her confidence and questioned her own leadership style. She developed a business plan for a disability and sensory play park and presented it to the directors. They said yes, you can have the money, there and then. To see that was unbelievable.”
Another example was Luther Ginman, who started out as a glass collector at Seal Bay, then worked in the bar and became the bar manager, before he was spotted by a senior leader. After going through the University of Chichester programme, he’s now an assistant sales manager, and a rising star in the company.
“If you come in with the right attitude and put yourself forward for training and development you can go far,” Antony said.
He said offering the course was a huge benefit for team members and gives people the opportunity to propel their careers – even if they have no educational background.
“You’re getting world-class coaching linked to the University of Chichester,” he said. “It means so much to people.”
The programme includes the essentials of leadership, emotional intelligence and change management, and Dr Warwick said: “Antony approached us and said a group of aspiring managers did not have the techniques or networks to find out what a good leader looks like.
“We’re almost facilitating a wider leadership network and creating really good conversations and learning – it’s investing in the relationships that people have in the organisation.
“It’s bespoke for Cove. We designed it with them for their particular needs and what it is they want to achieve. We have done it with the Southern Coop, Pensions Regulator, the NHS. It’s about practice-based learning.”
To find out more about what the University of Chichester can offer, visit: www.chi.ac.uk/business-school
