Leadership and management

Thriving at Work
Aspire2Lead
Business Scale Up Programme
Help to Grow: Management
European Union European Social Fund logo
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Thriving at Work – Better Connect

Thriving at Work can help your business to recruit and retain staff as well as increase productivity by creating a working environment where all employees can thrive. This project has a particular focus on supporting inclusive workplaces. Flexible delivery is through specialist coaching, mentoring and training as well as lunchtime webinars and 1-to-1 support.

For more information follow this link or contact Emma Lyons, Thriving at Work Programme Manager via elyons@betterconnect.org.uk

For more information, visit: https://betterconnect.org.uk/our-projects/thriving-at-work/

The video below showcases the amazing work done by The Blue Dolphin Holiday Park near Filey with the support of Autism Plus to make their workplace inclusive for neurodiverse staff.

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Aspire2Lead

Run by The Opportunity Centre the Aspire2lead project can offer management and leadership support to businesses who want to lead by example and adopt gender inclusive policies and procedures with the aim to attract and build a more diverse workforce.

You can get help with:
  • Supporting female staff returning to work from a career break, adapting job roles to provide more flexibility, or offering part-time roles
  • Gender pay gap analysis activities to identify how your business deals with recruitment, promotion and staff development, and tackling specific business challenges/barriers to reduce gender pay issues
  • Organisational Transformation which allows your business to examine and understand the impact of your working practices and environment on recruitment, retention, and progression of women
  • Designing and delivering Sponsorship Programmes which you’re your senior male colleagues with junior female colleagues to champion their progression within your business
  • Tackling Gender Stereotypes- Targeting SMEs in male-dominated sectors to design and deliver on action plans that address gender imbalance issues and increase the number of women within the workforce and in senior positions.
This image features 4 logos: Aspire2Lead, Department for Work and Pensions, The Opportunity Centre and European Union European Social Fund.

This Programme is part funded by the European Social Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

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Business Scale Up Programme

The Business Scale Up Programme can help SMEs realise their growth ambitions by supporting leaders and managers with flexible and tailored training and coaching that will;

  • Provide online or face-to-face sessions in topics such as improving productivity, leadership coaching and feedback courses and learning when to ‘lead’ your team and when to ‘manage’ it.
  • Support Strategy & Planning systems – to identify performance/gaps, create or review short, medium or long term business goals, develop a strategic action plan to deliver growth with guidance on implementation, roll out and review.
  • Embed HR systems and processes that will enhance your ability to meet regulatory requirements around inclusive and supportive working environments. This includes support with, for example, addressing workplace bullying and harassment, diversity training and effective approaches to performance management. 

In order to be eligible for support through this Programme you must:

  • have business premises in the York, North Yorkshire, East Riding region (including the former Craven, Harrogate, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough, Selby, York local authority areas).
  • be a Small to Medium Enterprise (SME): employ fewer than 250 full time equivalent staff and have either a turnover of less than €50 million, or a balance sheet of less than €43 million.

Access more information on the website.

40% funding is available towards a range of training and/or consultancy from our Specialist Skills Providers.

Two logos: European Union European Social Fund and Business Scale Up Program

This part of the programme is part funded by the European Social Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

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Help to Grow: Management

The Help to Grow: Management course supports managers of SMEs to boost their business’ performance, resilience and long-term growth.

The 12 week programme can be completed alongside full-time work and follows an in-depth curriculum that will help you build your skills in leadership, innovation, digital areas, employee engagement, marketing, responsible business and financial management. By the end of the course, you will have created a business growth plan to help you lead your business to release its full potential.

The cost to attend this course is 90% government funded.

By the end of the course, you will:
  • Develop a Growth Action Plan uniquely tailored to helping you lead and grow your business.
  • Develop your leadership and management skills, enhancing employee wellbeing and engagement in the process.
  • Recognise what drives productivity and growth in your market.
  • Learn how to drive responsible business practices, including creating an inclusive and greener workplace.
  • Understand how to innovate your business model by investing in digital technology.
  • Develop strategies to improve efficiency and save time and money.

For more information on these programmes, get in touch and we’ll connect you to the expertise and resources you need.

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