A leadership and development programme launched by MorePeople last year in conjunction with retail giant Tesco and its fresh produce suppliers has just seen its first wave of graduations.
Run by MorePerformance, the learning and development division of MorePeople, the final afternoon session of the 12-month long training programme was held at New Tesco House and saw the first 11 ‘graduates’ joined by managers from their sponsoring organisations and Tesco staff to present their course projects.
The course is designed as a personal development programme to help delegates better understand the needs of their colleagues and interact more effectively with their customer, Tesco. The scourse is aimed at anyone working within the Tesco supply chain, from commercial managers to people involved in the technical and procurement side.
Opening the afternoon session, Steve Murrells, Tesco’s commercial director of fresh foods, said: “This initiative is unique within its category and is an important step in ‘raising the bar’ within the supply base. Strong businesses need strong suppliers, mediocrity is no longer good enough and schemes such as this are an important factor in helping us keep ahead of the other supermarkets.”
The programme, he continued, provides an excellent chance for suppliers to understand Tesco as retailers, and vice versa. “Twelve months for the delegates should only be the start of their Tesco learning process,” he said.
Around 30 people attended, with Mr Murrells commenting, “it’s great to see the room so full and it’s great to see companies where the whole issue of nurturing future talent is being taken seriously”.
Simon Telfer, HR and logistics director of Branson Potatoes, said: “I have benefited hugely from sharing knowledge and understanding within my peer group and have developed networking relationships that I’m sure will continue for many years.”
Two more programmes are currently in operation, with more scheduled for the spring, summer and autumn, set to be attended by delegates from across the full range of Tesco’s horticultural supply chain.
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