“Why I decided to walk the talk with CMI”

In 2017, BSW Group was looking for a new way to boost its standards of management and leadership. BSW are the leading sawmill group in the UK and wanted to offer their people in all functions and at all levels the opportunity to progress and build on their skills. Across the saw-milling business, in some areas managers could often be appointed simply because they’d been there longer than other people. As a result, accidental management could be an outcome. They needed a way to review not just hands on skills, but how people dealt with people through leadership and management training.

Tony Lockey CMgr FCMI was BSW’s learning and development manager at the time. Tasked with exploring training options, he was impressed by the quality and friendliness of CMI’s provision and realised it was the best option. Soon, he was writing and facilitating its courses for BSW’s internal development programme – on a grand scale.

• Turning on the talent tap

“I worked with over 300 people's training across CMI levels two, three and five,” says Tony, reflecting on his time in the role. “I saw people progress through the levels and then become Chartered as well. Their careers blossomed as a result. It’s been absolutely fantastic.”

Tony took this task of running and facilitating courses very seriously. He confides that his research even extended to “sneaking” into CMI sessions at various universities and colleges, to see how others delivered them. “I wanted to make sure that I was doing it as well as everybody else,” he says. “If not better.”

As a result of this intel, Tony delivered his group courses over two days instead of one, allowing more time for questions and longer to pick up on the details. Bringing trainees to neutral facilities helped them drop their guard, as did ensuring a good mix of teams, genders and regions – “from Fort William to Hull over to Newbridge and down to Southampton”.