Thriving in digital business with Help to Grow: Management

The technology sector in the UK is the largest in the EU and the third biggest in the world. Safe to say, the technology industry is growing and as a result, many businesses and individuals are looking to improve their digital skills. Two firms that work to deliver technology education are the School of Coding and ITeC Digital Training.

Despite the similarities in the sector, leaders of these businesses joined the Help to Grow: Management Course with very different goals in mind.

Clare Norton, the Head of Operations in the UK and Europe at the School of Coding, and Helen Necrews, Managing Director of ITeC Digital Training, both took the time to discuss their experiences of the course.

Necrews found out about the course through social media and the timing aligned perfectly. After setting up ITeC Digital Training, she was interested in how to build her business further.

The first thing that attracted Necrews to the course was that it was spread over 12 manageable modules. Additionally, ‘the modules that were included in the course ticked all the boxes for furthering my business.’

Swansea-based Necrews keenly adds that the mentor programme was a draw and a course highlight overall. Speaking about her mentor, Necrews comments ‘as a director, you can feel quite isolated sometimes and a mentor was a critical friend to discuss ideas with.’

Conversely, Norton was prompted to look into the course by the CEO of the School of Coding, Manny Athwal, who had previously taken part in Help to Grow: Management.

At the time, Norton who is based in Wolverhampton was concerned about finding the time to do the course and whether it would be worth her efforts after a recent expansion in her role to look after European contracts as well as the UK. However, ‘it was an absolute pleasure. I looked forward to every Tuesday. The face-to-face sessions were my highlight.’

Once the participants were on their respective courses, they explored numerous avenues to help build their businesses.

Although many of the 12 modules covered in the course were useful to Norton, she notes that ‘Developing a Marketing Strategy” made the greatest impact.

Norton explains that although people often think they can market, it is much harder to do it well in reality. As a result of the course, the company assessed its marketing and how it analyses its potential client base.

The course also allowed the School of Coding, and Norton, to reflect on the offerings they give their employees. To engage and reward employees, Norton introduced tiered service benefits, staff have their birthdays off work after one year of service, after two years they gain two additional well being days and after three, a third benefit of two additional days annual leave, amongst other incentives such as a company-paid subscription for all staff to Reward-Hub.

Changes have been made to the business with the information from the course to hand. For example, Norton has introduced a band structure for pay and hierarchy in the company. Norton notes that ‘Help to Grow: Management solidifies how important it is to continually learn and continually grow’ and this band structure was done to support personal growth.

On the other hand, Necrews looked at implementing a wider growth plan but as the course continued found the ‘Digital Transformation’ module the most useful. At the time, her business was looking at implementing cloud technology and the module helped reaffirm that she was taking the right course of action and approaches. This included ‘purchasing the right infrastructure for data, so it’s secure and safe.’

During the course, a Growth Action Plan (GAP) is developed, on the back of Necrews’ plan a digital marketing freelancer has been hired and is now looking at a project management freelancer to support the organisation with delivering a project management apprenticeship programme.

Safe to say, both participants have harnessed the materials from the course to develop their organisation.

Although businesses in the IT sector may share similarities, it is evident that each business has individual goals.

Newcrews and Norton have very different roles in their organisations, but it’s clear that both benefitted from the ability to step back and work in the business. Through attending the Help to Grow: Management Course, both Norton and Necrews have been able to feed back into their business and take a step forward.

Whether it’s marketing or digital transformation, the course has helped these individuals who focus on education in IT to develop their businesses.

Help to Grow: Management has helped thousands of businesses set new goals that are specific to the organisation and empower individuals to grow their confidence in their management and leadership abilities.

Necrews concludes: ‘If you're in a small business and want to grow, but you're not sure where to go, I would definitely recommend the Help to Grow: Management Course.’

You can find out more about the course and your nearest business school here.