Supporting Apprenticeships for the team at Prosperon

Prosperon supports the Learning and Development of our team through a variety of methods. Many of our employees have benefited from our sponsored apprenticeship programs to enhance their learning and develop their careers. Our Technical Team Manager Ian shares his experience of the Institute of Leadership and Management Diploma.  

I studied an apprenticeship with the Institute of Leadership and Management. The course was the Level 5 Operations/Departmental Manager with a Diploma. For me, it was a rewarding experience as I got to build on my practical skills with a wide range of theoretical and knowledge-based topics that allowed me to reflect on my current leadership and management styles. 

The apprenticeship was a big commitment and one I took seriously. With an apprenticeship, you do get work time to study, but in my experience, if you want to make the most of it, you also need to spend a portion of your own time learning. However, if you’re connected to and passionate about what you’re studying, that shouldn’t be a problem. 

Motivating myself to complete the course or sections came in waves, which is to be expected, as some subjects spoke to me more than others. But, if you have the grit and determination to complete something you have started you can use that to plug gaps where motivation wanes. Finding that drive to achieve comes back to why you started in the first place; if you can remind yourself of why you started and see the positives, you can easily kickstart using grit and determination and ultimately feed your motivation! 

At work, I have become a more well-rounded manager, able to utilise the knowledge and skills gained on the course to better inform decisions and action, both in my own personal work and in how the company is achieving its goals. The course has boosted my confidence and enabled me to seek improvements in areas I may not have done before. The list is fairly long, but some of the highlights are: creating more efficient processes, managing change effectively and providing direct and meaningful feedback constructively. 

I would recommend my course to anyone thinking of taking their management skills to the next level. My only advice would be that you get out what you put in; this is not an instructor-led course, so you will need to be able to self-motivate and find meaning in the course aligned with your work. Be curious, keep asking questions and reflect!