A director at Aberdeenshire-based Motive Offshore Group is full of praise for Robert Gordon University’s Help to Grow: Management programme.
Kerry Scott was in the first cohort earlier this year and has already used the experience gained to help win approval for a new learning and development team at the firm she works for.
I find myself referring to many things I have learned about in the programme in general meetings.”
Explaining how she became involved with Help to Grow, Ms Scott said: “Our contact at Skills Development Scotland made our chief executive, Dave Acton, aware of this course. Dave asked if I was interested in attending, as he believed it would be good for my development.
“The programme ran from January to May, with around three hours per week commitment. It was well-planned in advance to enable me to work around this.
“The course has helped me join the dots of all the different elements of the Motive business.”
Recent promotion
Ms Scott has been with Motive, which has Aberdeenshire bases in Boyndie, near Banff, and Kintore, as well as English and overseas operations, since 2016. Earlier this year she was promoted to health, safety, environment and quality (HSEQ), and people director.
She said she hadn’t previously participated in anything similar to Help to Grow, adding: “Other programmes have had the ‘all-or-nothing’ approach.
“But, instead of having to study for a full-blown degree that I would probably only get a small amount from, I have been able to learn key elements useful to my role and to the company.
“For example, how to put together a business plan for a new product line was extremely useful for me for proposing to our board the need for a learning and development team.
“I used the business model canvas from the Help to Grow programme and was successful in getting approval for the new team.”
She feels what she learned on the course will definitely have a long-term positive effect on her work. She added: “I find myself referring to many things I have learned about in the programme in general meetings – such as strategic direction; what gives us competitive advantage; organisational development; and many more.
“It was also a great networking opportunity with others across several different industries.”
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