Stramit Building Products is part of Fletcher Building, one of the largest building product groups in Australasia. The company is a major Australian manufacturer of roll-formed steel building products, including roof and wall cladding, guttering, fascia, purlins, flooring and structural formwork

Business Situation

Stramit Building Products’ employer brand ‘Great people – great place’ is based upon its strength in Leadership, Supportive teams, Recognition, Career development and Learning & development.

To develop their staff in these key focus areas, Stramit Building Products engaged Outward Bound Professional to strengthen the team’s confidence, develop a deeper understanding of the team environment and build upon their practical leadership skills. The partnership has also seen Fletcher Insulation participate in courses, with a total of 38 Fletcher employees having attended Outward Bound Professional courses.

Program Objectives

The aims of the program were:

• Strengthen the potential,  confidence and self-awareness of individuals
• Develop practical leadership skills
• Develop an understanding of effective teams
• Develop a deeper understanding of the human factors at play in work and social environments
• Explore personal values and the link between team members’ values and actions
• Explore and improve personnel management of change

Program Outcomes

Stramit Building Products’ participants found that the program had a unique way of reinforcing leadership theory through task based learning platforms and were provided with a real opportunity for personal and professional growth. Initially the activities helped to break down barriers and help us get to know each other and as we got further into the course they helped us develop learning’s specific to each individual. Group members indicated that the ability to apply learning’s so effectively was one of the most empowering aspects of the Catalyst program.

As a team the learning’s we took from the course included:

• Leaderships starts from within
• Communication is essential in teamwork and leadership, but doesn’t work unless it’s effective and understood by all involved
• Good leaders need to be adaptive and identify outside influences and different personalities to help make a team run smoothly

Impact in the workplace

“The course was unique and linked the gap between theory and practice, something not possible in any other training I have undertaken. It allowed for self-reflection and a chance to re-asses my life values and what they mean to me. I gained a greater confidence, and drew inspiration from the course to become a better leader into the future. I learnt that the impossible is possible; you just have to find the right way to tackle it.”

- Leigh McDermott, Account Manager Stramit Building Products, June 2011

“It is hard to explain exactly what it is that made my participation in the Outward Bound Professional program so unique. Why the impact of some learning outcomes were more profound when compared to other self-development programmes I have previously undertaken -It might be the location, the separation from the noise of everyday life or perhaps the fact that the foreign environment offers a certain clarity that amplifies learning experiences. Participation in the program is unique for very personal reasons and I believe that this is what empowers the individual to make real changes in their personal and professional life.”

- Brad Sloan, Stramit Building, Catalyst June 2011

“From the course I learnt the importance of developing a decisive plan of action before a task, then implementing the plan and experiencing the outcomes and consequences and then debriefing to reflect on the effective strategies and improvements that can be made. This will be very useful in future tasks within my role as Account Manager and has given me a clearer understanding of the importance of planning.

I was able to identify what is my dominant leadership style, which is The Visionary because of my creativity and abstract thinking and how I can use this within my personal and business decisions. Also I learnt how to adapt to other leadership characteristics and how to incorporate these into my own inner self to become better-rounded in my personal life as well.

The catalyst leadership course was a life changing experience, the program material really pushed me out of my comfort zone and I was able to reassess my values and beliefs in life and allowed me to rebalance my work life balance. The lessons on leadership were extremely valuable and I will continue to use these skills in my current role and also in future leadership roles.

I would highly recommend this course to everyone and can’t thank you enough for the opportunity to partake in such a rewarding experience.”

- Dwayne Neilson, Stramit Building, Catalyst June 2011

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