The Shepherd Group
Name and Title: Neil Shepherd, President/CEO & Michelle Tremblay, Operations Manager
Website: www.theshepherdgroup.ca
Location: 9-140 Wendell Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
Industry: Insurance P&C
Number of Employees: 9
1. What attracted you to Actionable Workshops in the first place?
We first heard of Actionable when I received an email from Chris after the Art of Leadership conference that we attended. As soon as I visited the website, and took a look around, I knew this was something that we could use in our office to assist us in effectively developing our staff. I thought, “Who is this Chris Taylor guy, and this has to be too good to be true – there must be some sort of catch here!” (I actually think I told him that when I spoke to him for the first time.)
2. What do you like most about Actionable Workshops, now that you’re using it?
Oh, there are so many things I love about Actionable – do I have to choose just one? The website has everything I need available to me at my fingertips, I have clear, concise leader notes, as well as the videos that explain exactly how to run the workshops and what they should look like. With this information at hand, I can take these and run them exactly as outlined and instructed, OR I can tweak them a bit to tailor them to be specifically relevant to our industry, and or my staff issues, concerns etc., specifically. I also love how much information is available for such an affordable fee.
3. What did you hope to get out of the Actionable Workshop Sessions?
We have already gotten so much out of the sessions. Neil and I really just wanted to expose our staff to ideologies and thinking that are business focused, and not necessarily always industry focused. We get a lot of ‘stuff’ thrown at us in this industry that doesn’t necessarily develop us in the ‘business’. Professional Maturity, Collaborative Work, Creativity, Innovative Thinking etc., are not always present in our industry day to day – especially from anyone other than Management. With these workshops though, I get my staff thinking, energized, and their creative juices flowing. Thus creating a more dynamic team environment which reflects in all areas, especially to our valued clients. It also breeds and fosters the open door communication environment. Our staff feels comfortable coming to us to discuss anything, and during the workshops, they know they can say whatever is on their mind without being penalized for it in some way.
4. How frequently do you intend to run the workshops?
I usually run 1 or 2 workshops per month. It really depends on what issues we happen to be dealing with at the time.
5. What else do you do to retain and develop your team members?
We have an internal education program, where each staff member is assigned a topic and once a week they are to learn about the topic and teach it to their peers. This is usually an insurance related topic and is often one that the particular employee assigned to it is not familiar with. We also run monthly book clubs. We choose a business book per month, purchase it for the staff to read and come together at the end of the month for an hour or so to review the book. Everyone provides feedback, thoughts, comments and suggestions on how we will apply some of the lessons or “Insights” as Actionable has so aptly named them, to our daily work and/or lives.
6. Tell us a story of your favorite Actionable Workshops moment…
We’ve had a lot of fun times with our Actionable Workshops. I can’t think of a specific moment that stands out for me as I feel like each workshop has had its shining moments. I would just say that for me, it’s that enjoyment I get when everyone is actively interacting, discussing the topics, and really getting excited and passionate about it. It’s an amazing thing to see someone get that “Ah Ha” moment when the light goes on for them. I also love how the workshops bring a team together, and bring some of our more introverted shy staff out of their shells . Plus, the workshops give our more gregarious staff some time to take the floor as well.
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