The South & Mid Wales Chamber of Commerce collaborated with its Corporate Partner, Cardiff Metropolitan University, to offer Welsh SMEs support in improving their productivity. This is based upon leading edge research and places an emphasis on management and leadership.
Following the publication of The Hodge Foundation research report ‘Managing Productivity in Welsh Firms’ by Cardiff Metropolitan University earlier this year, a personalised roundtable event was held on October 22, open to select SMEs across South Wales.
Chaired by Chamber President Paul Slevin, the roundtable was facilitated by Professor Brian Morgan, Director of the Creative Leadership and Enterprise Centre and Jeff Davies, Lecturer in Accounting and Finance at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
The roundtable was designed to allow time for discussion and contribution from the attendees. Following the completion of a questionnaire in advance, the content was tailored to the organisations present. With further support offered at the end, businesses were given the tools they need to go on to address their own productivity within their workforces.
Through these events and other avenues of support such as free productivity assessments, Cardiff Metropolitan University is aiming to highlight new approaches to business growth and recommend ways to adapt to the ‘new normal’.
Productivity Research
Based on a survey of 74 Welsh companies, the report on which the roundtable was based, gathered new evidence on management practices. The aim was to provide a better understanding of how these affect productivity and identify ways to strengthen the competitiveness of Welsh firms.
Nina Slevin, Director of Partnerships at the Chamber, said: “Cardiff Metropolitan University is keen to use their latest research report to give companies the knowledge, skills and mechanisms to improve their productivity, particularly focussing on management and leadership.
“Through this event, the University has been able to gain valuable industry feedback on the report and how its outcomes might best be implemented across industry. This feedback will now crucially be used to feedback to Welsh Government in order to influence and inform policy going forward.
“We were all too pleased to be able to assist our Corporate Partner in facilitating this roundtable and hope that businesses taking part gain real insight in to managing their own productivity across every aspect of their business.
Positive Impact
Professor Brian Morgan at Cardiff Metropolitan University said, “We are keen to complete the circle and ensure our research has positive impact in the business community. These roundtables give organisations the chance to implement the outcomes of the report in a positive way. Managing productivity applies to all businesses, not just manufacturing, and should lead to increased growth and efficiency across all functions within an organisation”
Cardiff Metropolitan University delivers top-class leadership research and training, most notably through its flagship 20Twenty programme, in addition to the School of Management’s professional courses and research projects with local enterprise and SMEs.
Fully funded places are still available for the 20Twenty programme. To find out more and express an interest, visit the courses section.
It also has a partly funded Management Knowledge Transfer Partnership Program (MKTP) which enables you to address complex management and leadership challenges. This creates a unique 3-way partnership between your company, a team of academic experts and a skilled and talented graduate.
A further series of roundtable events starts on November 3 – businesses can register their interest here: Rebecca.davies@southwaleschamber.co.uk
