As one of the Sailing for the Disabled’s platinum corporate sponsors, Nedbank Private Wealth is entitled to a number of sailing days each year. Last year, they used one of these to deliver a bespoke training programme to some of their staff and, following its success, decided to make it a regular annual event. This year Lynn Kelly, the bank’s senior training executive, worked in conjunction with both Sailing for the Disabled and Corporate Personal Development, to design an intensive programme of team collaboration events. Corporate Personal Development is a social enterprise from another local charity, The Children’s Centre, and is a leader in the field of experiential learning.
Lynn Kelly explained, “The objective of the course was to bring staff from our Jersey office and our Guernsey Trust Company together with their colleagues in the Isle of Man in order to explore some of the difficulties that can be associated with working in multi-locational teams. This was a great opportunity for colleagues to get to know each other better and forge stronger working links”.
The training was run over two days. On day one a team of 12 staff spent an intensive day at The Children’s Centre Community Farm participating in the experiential workshop developed by John Knight, the CEO of The Children’s Centre, and Mark Payne, the head of experiential learning at Corporate Personal Development. Mark Payne commented, “Programmes such as this make a real difference to communication and how teams work together in the workplace, and they also offer an opportunity to support a local charity.”
Day two arrived and the participants were due to put the learning outcomes of the day before into practice on board the Pride of Mann II, the Sailing for the Disabled’s ocean-going yacht. Sadly, the weather was against them, to such an extent that all Steam Packet sailings were cancelled that day, and even walking down to the marina was a challenge. However the skipper, Roger Clague, did not let this stop them, and after he had got them suited and booted, he set them some very challenging team collaboration tasks, including getting eight people across the harbour on a two-man dinghy to get him a cup of coffee from the Velvet Lobster!
The programme was a tremendous success and thoroughly enjoyed by all the staff who participated. It also offered a unique opportunity to experience some of the inspiring services provided by two of the Island’s leading community organisations.
Photo - A team from Nedbank Private Wealth on board the yacht.
