Testimonial / Case Study
Carol Pike – SVP & Director, Corporate Office
_____________________________________________________________________
February 2012
Testimonial / Case study Introduction aap3 are a Global IT and Business Solutions provider for all business entities, operating across four verticals; Consultancy, IT Engineering, Web Solutions and Recruitment. Their main focus is on customers, ensuring app3 understand the difficulties their customers face on a continual basis and what they aim to achieve as an end result. Using a broad product portfolio, aap3 provide tailored solutions that solve their customers’ many business and IT related problems and support their continued success. As Senior Vice President and Director, Corporate Office, Carol Pike leads a vital function within the business, that of protecting and enhancing aap3’s corporate position in the marketplace. Her role, and therefore the responsibilities of her department, are far-‐reaching, and include advising the leadership team and senior management on branding issues and building relationships with the media, community and independent organisations. The function is also responsible for Communications – internal and external, PR, Corporate Social Responsibility, Marketing and Creative Services, Quality and Accreditations, Governance, Executive HR and Support and Business Expansion activities. Here, Carol allows us time in her busy schedule to tell us of her experiences of working with Bespoke and the tangible value aap3 have gained from the training that has been designed for and delivered to her team.
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Testimonial / Case Study
Carol Pike – SVP & Director, Corporate Office
_____________________________________________________________________
February 2012
“Professional, flexible and creative. Those would be the three words I would choose to describe the experience I personally, and aap3 as a business, have had in partnering with Anne and her team at Bespoke. The development and training of staff is so important to the success of any business, but in a technology led business such as ours, where change is inherently fast and the requirement to move quickly and stay ahead of the game is key, training – both technical and professional -‐ is essential. As a business, aap3 strive to add continuous value to our customers’ proposition and provide the right service and quality; developing our people in softer skill elements to enable them to develop, is of equal importance. For the Management Development programme we were looking to source for our Senior Management team -‐ a large group of highly experienced individuals based across multiple client sites, and facing those challenges not unusual in a remote-‐working set-‐up -‐ we took the decision to embark on a tender process with existing and potential providers. We wanted to gain a clearer insight into and understand the differences in respective approaches to senior management training and development programmes and to select a partner that we considered to be the ‘best fit’. Dealing with Anne (Messer) to initially set out our objectives demonstrated an approach that we really liked and knew we could work together with; the desire to understand our business, really get to grips with our requirements and the team that would participate in the programme, her (team’s?) ability to engage with us a company and to offer a cost-‐effective and professional solution, were criteria on which our decision to select Bespoke was based. Interestingly, the commonalities between aap3 and Bespoke’s respective ethos’ and way of working – customer focus, value creation, ongoing support but most importantly, offering completely tailored solutions -‐ became very apparent as we worked together. Working with Bespoke definitely met with and exceeded our expectations. Our challenge was to bring about a sense of shared and common purpose, whilst at the same time overcoming perceived barriers, amongst a mixed group of individuals operating at a senior level. The techniques used as part of the development programme enabled participants to openly share their experiences, facilitated by the fact that the session took place off-‐site, in a neutral and external environment. In fact, as the Main Sponsor of Southampton Football Club, their venue was the ideal environment for this training. These techniques and learning methods
Testimonial / Case Study
Carol Pike – SVP & Director, Corporate Office
_____________________________________________________________________
February 2012
could then successfully be applied within our managers’ day to day work has been clear to see; there is now greater and more effective interaction within the management group, which in turn has seen the team taking on increased responsibility, allowing the reporting Director to focus his attentions on strategic issues rather than tactical activity. Shared operational goals drive the team’s behaviour, enabling managers to work together highly effectively for the benefit of the individual, group and aap3 as a business. My advice to other organisations considering investing in training and development? A tailored approach is essential – if you want it to work! The fundamental development requirements are similar across most organisations, but cultural awareness of the particular organisation is crucial; that awareness affects how training is delivered and how well it is received. Tailored training and development solutions are what Bespoke is all about.”
-‐ Ends -‐ About Bespoke Training Services Limited At Bespoke we strive to be the best in our field by ensuring optimum return for the investment you make in your employees’ training. We do this by:
• Designing training solutions that are tailor-‐made to the needs of your team • Delivering these solutions in the context of the specific sector or industry in which
you operate • Being driven to engage, stimulate and change your employees’ behaviour • Shelving that sheep-‐dip, one-‐size-‐fits-‐all approach to training! • Being bespoke to you – at no additional cost
We offer a range of training solutions focusing on the following core competencies:
• Personal development training: assertiveness, time-‐management, meeting & minute-‐taking skills
• Management development programmes: influencing & negotiation skills, developing people, conflict management, appraisal skills
Testimonial / Case Study
Carol Pike – SVP & Director, Corporate Office
_____________________________________________________________________
February 2012
• Executive coaching: one to one coaching with individuals to help set goals and achieve them
Bespoke’s commitment to you is an investment in your future.
Find out more at: www.bespoketrainingservices.co.uk About aap3 aap3 are a Global IT and Business Solutions provider for all business entities, operating across four verticals; Consultancy, IT Engineering, Web Solutions and Recruitment, operating in over 30 countries across Europe, the US and the Middle East.
We work with a vast range of customers, from international enterprises through to small scale businesses, delivering either specific services to custom requirements or complete business outsourcing solutions.
Our broad product/service portfolio ideally positions aap3 as a complete solutions company. Known for our ability to supplement the current capability in a business and ramp up and down internal teams, aap3 helps customers to bring IT and other functions together to solve business challenges
We believe that working closely with your business and understanding your requirements, we can create customised solutions to cater for your needs. To find out more, visit us at: www.aap3.com