NEW JOB ROLE: Cultural Change Management Lead - KTP Associate- University of Warwick
Full Job Description
Previous candidates need not apply
Fixed term, full time position for 2 years.
Hours of work: 8am – 5pm Monday to Thursday, 8am – 3.45pm Friday
Do you want to drive real impact within a forward-thinking UK manufacturer? We offer an exciting opportunity to work on a cultural change management project to improve productivity for Allett Ltd. The company are looking for a driven individual interested in business management, who will be responsible for delivering the project; with the support of The University of Warwick, a world leading research institute.
Allett, a fast growing business with around 50 colleagues, specialises in the design and manufacture of precision, single-cylinder, walk-behind lawn mowers, with over 50 years of experience. Their high quality products are synonymous with prestigious events from international rugby to Wimbledon. The Allett brand of professional walk-behind cylinder mowers are leaders within their various market sectors, providing users with expertly built machines hand-assembled by its highly-skilled team at its factory in Staffordshire. Allet are an excellent example of British Manufacturing, winning the coveted Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2019 they have demonstrated exceptional and year-on-year growth in export sales at targeting US, EU and Australian markets.
An increasing demand for their products has led them to review their operational approach to manufacturing and its management, recognising the benefits they can gain from new thinking in management and leadership practices.
This project will develop and implement a cultural change within the business with the ultimate goal of improving productivity thus increasing profit, as the business satisfies the strong demand for its products.
Cultural change is a critical issue to improve business performance. The ideas and experience underpinning the work will lead to important skills that are transferable and in demand from many businesses across a wide range of industries, including the use of changes in organisational culture to drive continuous improvement. The knowledge and skillset developed will be invaluable in this role and for future career paths. Culture matters because it offers a way for employees to understand their organisation, voice their views, and develop connections and a common purpose aiming toward improved productivity. It’s also important to continually assess that culture, as the organisation’s purpose and values will affect the standard of its customer service and influence the engagement and retention of its people.
The University of Warwick is one of the top research-led universities in the UK. Warwick Business School’s mission includes developing cutting-edge research that leads debate and deepens our understanding of the practice of business and management. The candidate will be employed by the University of Warwick as Knowledge Transfer Associate and supported by Dr Kevin Mole (lead academic) at Warwick Business School and Dr Liz McArdle (academic supervisor) at WMG. The candidate will be based at the Allett Ltd in Hixon, near Stafford in Staffordshire.
The successful candidate will have the opportunity to contribute to the growth of cultural change, which is expected to deliver significant economic and commercial benefits for Allett Ltd along with top-tier research publications for the university.
The job also offers the candidate up to £4000 for training and development, boosting the candidate’s expertise and skills for a rewarding career in research or industry.
The project is funded by Innovate UK and Allett Ltd through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) award, a UK Government scheme intended to promote sustained and mutually beneficial relationships between universities and industry.
Interviews will take place at Allett’s site in Hixon on 31st August 2022.
Job Description
The Associate will be responsible for the management and delivery of an Innovate UK awarded management KTP between WBS/WMG & Allett Mowers, focusing on a strategic change management programme within Allett to significantly improve productivity. The project will introduce cultural management within the business to enable it to upskill staff, develop a capability and appetite for change and continuously improve its operational and production processes.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Define, in collaboration with key business stakeholders, the detailed plan for the culture change project, including the objectives for each of the pilot projects.
- Manage and drive the project on a day-to-day basis.
- Develop and apply change metric, including the associated measurement process and conduct a capacity for change gap analysis.
- Work with shopfloor supervisors and management to ensure the most appropriate areas are selected as the focus of the pilot projects.
- Fully participate in each of the productivity pilots, supporting operations staff as required with the associated tasks, including the use of continuous improvement tools.
- Deliver workshops to employees to meet specific training requirements.
- Develop and maintain communication plans for overall project, as part of which interviews eliciting feedback from employees will be conducted.
- Define a personal development plan with the help of Allett and university staff and attend all necessary KTP related courses, events, management and reporting meetings as and when necessary.