In Your Shoes - Ian Peart

Ian is responsible for Learning and Development at Michelin Tyre PLC in the UK and the Nordics. Learning and Development is an exciting changing world driven by the voyage of discovery that all of us go on in our daily lives. As people turn a corner, they find an unsolved problem that they need the right competencies to resolve. Enter stage left, the L&D team. Learning and Development provides essential knowledge for someone new into their role or supporting continuous lifelong learning and as people are the heart of Michelin therefore it is vital to ensure they are equipped with the best skills to succeed.

Stockholm

Having a regional role, my life is about travelling to where support is needed. I begin the week at the launch of our new Stockholm offices experiencing their amazing office redesign project with every space in the offices built around the idea that our working spaces should be adapted to the activity we need to do today in our work space.

Apprentice training team

I head back to Dundee to spend time with our engineering apprentice training team. It is always great to be surrounded by people who are completely engaged in their work. The Training Centre in Dundee provides training for Michelin and other local employers and it was good to meet to discuss what has been happening recently and also to look ahead to the new intake of apprentices who will begin their engineering careers mid-August. The team has once again created an opportunity for an older candidate changing career and this is a fantastic example of lifelong learning in action.

Sailing

Whilst I was in Dundee I took advantage of the great summer weather and got my sailing dinghy out onto the River Tay. I am a member and Director of the Royal Tay Yacht Club which provides excellent facilities for experiencing life on the water or relaxing in the club house with friends and families taking in great river views. I am a new sailor, having attended the RYTC’s ‘go sailing’ training sessions and I encourage others to join in too!

InTouch

My weekly voyage takes in a new view as I find myself now in our Stoke on Trent location supporting the launch of an exciting new project that will provide employees with a unique way to track their personal development. We soon go live with our new human capital management system called InTouch that connects employees, managers and teams on the topic of development. The digital tool is provided by a software company called Workday and helps everyone understand the competence development needs required for today and for the future. It then provides transparent and open information on how to access learning solutions. This is a tremendous change project as it is about helping people change their mind-set to be forward focused as well as providing simple and attractive digital tools for all. I have been delivering training sessions on using the system and it is fantastic to see a project that I’m passionate about finally come to fruition.

Friday training

My week ends up sourcing learning solutions for our management teams in support of the development of our leadership model. We are moving towards the idea of servant leadership (see Robert K. Greenleaf’s book on the topic) whereby the leader’s role is to serve the needs of the team. This requires an active learning culture whereby leaders act as coach for their employees to support their development. This is another exciting development and one that I look forward to leading as I serve the needs of my colleagues! As I said, seldom a dull moment. After all as my children never tire or hearing me say, every day is a school day!