Corporate Learning & Development at Mountain Valley
Mountain Valley provides world-class consultancy, training and development for you and your business either on site at our own conference and development centre, or at your chosen location.
Our consultants have worked internationally in the UK, Europe, the USA, Asia and Australia on carefully tailored consultancy and development programmes for clients such as Barclays Bank, Merrill Lynch, Reuters, Pfizer, Shell, Aventis Pharma, Optus, and a wide variety of government bodies and NGOs. In New Zealand we have designed and delivered programmes for Genesis Energy, Shell NZ Ltd, Amcor, ANZ, ASB, Westpac, Farmlands, Starfoods, and a wide variety of local businesses in our region.
We specialise in three key areas:
- Inspirational Leadership - Enabling the cult of inspiration
- Elite team development - Maximising the performance of your team
- Performance coaching - Unlocking the potential of individuals
Our approach is pragmatic, and stems from'real world' experience of these subjects gained through the armed services, worldwide expeditions to the developing world, hands on business experience, and ten years of world wide consulting activity. It is one which demands that ideas be put into practise, and that theory be tested in action.
Our model of developing people for 21st century business is based on solid principles. We learn most by doing. Our programmes therefore incorporate a carefully considered mix of theoretical input, interactive discussion, appropriate use of psychometric instruments, underpinned by challenging practical exercises and scenarios to reinforce the learning. The final and often overlooked component is transferability. How does this learning relate to you and your people in your own business environment?
We also believe that offering 'off the peg' programmes have limitations. Although many of the principles of a a core area of capability are transferable, each business and organisation places its own unique demands on the leaders, teams and individuals within. Based on this belief, we seek to work in partnership with you to clearly define, design and then deliver the finest solution for your business and the people within it.
Mountain Valley provides an exceptional setting for individuals, leadership teams and groups to examine and develop their capabilities and readiness for the challenges of meeting their corporate visions, missions and targets.
Programme Principles
Our programmes seek to mix debate, theoretical input and psychometric evaluation where appropriate, with stimulating outdoor based activities and challenging reviews to underpin key lessons and successes. The final key element is to make the vital transition from 'programme to practise' whereby our participants work on development & action plans to ensure learning is taken home and used effectively in the workplace. We also recommend a process of follow up to further embed new skills and ways of operating which may at first require significant personal and/or corporate change.
Our Process
Many businesses in the area of corporate and personal development produce a standard programme or programmes to offer to the marketplace. Although this approach meets some needs, we believe that each organisation has its own particular requirements, and that these must be reflected in the design and delivery of any external 'intervention'. Our process therefore incorporates four key elements:
1. Define
The first step demands discussion with the principal players to gain an understanding of your business, and to clarify the desired outcomes of the workshop or programme. From here key issues can be identified and a clear idea of the scope, scale, cost, content and required duration can be identified. This also assists with the management of expectations of both Mountain Valley and the client. Armed with this information, we will then prepare and provide you with a proposed programme and quotation.
2. Design
In most cases, we find that some reworking of the proposal is required to ensure the optimum 'fit' for you or your organisation.Once we reach agreement on this, we then move into designing the programme for you here at Mountain Valley. This involves sourcing and preparing materials and questionnaires, writing manuals and handouts as appropriate, plus designing and resourcing the outdoor elements of the programme.
3. Deliver
Programme delivery normally takes place at Mountain Valley, although if you choose we can deliver at another venue of your choice. Our recommendation is that for maximum impact and to remove unwanted distractions, delivery does not take place at the participants' workplace. Delivery will take place according to the agreed proposal, and any collective outputs or notes are generally collated by us and forwarded to you for use back in the business. Personal learning is captured by individuals as part of the necessary acceptance of responsibility for one's own development, and used in any follow up coaching or activity.
4. Follow up and Review
In order to maximise the impact of a workshop or programme, some form of follow up activity is strongly recommended. This might involve 1:1 coaching or mentoring, 'action learning sets', team review sessions or further workshop activity. In addition to this, and to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme, we seek to gather feedback and evidence of the successful achievement of the original objectives and outcomes. This in turn helps you to evaluate your perceived return on investment.
