Leadership development drives “zoom-zoom” at Mazda

Citation

(2006), "Leadership development drives “zoom-zoom” at Mazda", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 38 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2006.03738bab.002

Leadership development drives “zoom-zoom” at Mazda

Mazda Motors UK is running a leadership-development programme for its entire management team. Designed by executive-education specialist Roffey Park, the six-day programme is helping Mazda’s 30 most senior executives to enhance their personal effectiveness and to improve the capability of their teams.

“This is the first development initiative we have run for our managers”, said Jemma MacLean, HR manager at Mazda Motors UK. “We believe that we can enhance our sales volumes and improve our corporate performance by ensuring that our team members focus their energies in the right place. The programme helps each person to develop his or her own leadership style and to use strategic tools to improve his or her performance and that of others. It encourages individuals to apply thinking to their work and commit to an action plan to further their development.”

Two groups of 15 managers are working through the programme, which features three modules – strategic leadership, developing individual performance and leading through personal effectiveness. Each module lasts two days and is delivered at Roffey Park’s dedicated learning centre in Horsham, West Sussex.

“We chose Roffey Park because we liked its approach,” said Jemma MacLean. “Its consultants are experts in personal and leadership development and they helped to shape the content of the programme around the key themes we wanted to address.”

The first module ran last July, the second last October and the third in January.

“The feedback has been excellent,” said Jemma MacLean. “The learning opened people’s eyes to new ways that they can benefit the business, through strategic rather than operational thinking. It is not often that our entire management team gets to spend time together outside of work. Getting team members away from the office has helped them to improve their working relationships and to focus on their learning.”

Jemma MacLean said that leadership development was seen as a strategic investment at Mazda – and that it should be for any organization that is serious about innovation and growth. “Organizations think nothing about upgrading their computers to stay up-to-date with the latest developments”, she said. “You have to do the same with your people. We’re investing time and money in making our leaders feel valued and, in turn, this is helping us to get maximum value out of them.”