Danske Bank's Aspire programme on the road

Pictured (L-R): From Linden Foods: Victoria Millar - Manufacturing Manager, Andrew Morrow- Continuous Improvement Manager & Richard Carson - Operations Manager. Presenting the cheque from Danske Bank: Angela Rowan, Elaine McGibbon & Danielle Harper

This well-known management philosophy was developed initially in the car industry and in recent years has been integrated into many other industries.

In theory it encourages an open style of operating and leadership where all issues are researched and staff and management at all levels are encouraged to “root cause and clearly communicate” instead of jumping to conclusions.

Participants in the Danske Bank “Aspire! programme” recently visited Linden’s Dungannon retail site as part of their leadership development.

There was an intense day of shared learning and both teams took on new ideas from past experiences. The key focus for the day was to learn about Leading High Performing Teams.

The group heard about Linden’s journey during the last few years as they faced the challenges of rapid expansion to become an organisation at the forefront of their industry, winning many awards for the quality of their products in both national and international markets.

Following this very successful ASPIRE! development day Danske Bank generously donated £500 to Action Cancer, Linden Foods’ charity of choice. Aspire! participants Angela Rowan, Team Manager Customer Contact Centre and Danielle Harper, Business Process Analyst, joined Elaine McGibbon, HR Business Partner, to present the cheque.

“We were delighted to host Danske Bank and their ASPIRE! participants on-site and to share our best practices in Lean Management. We thoroughly enjoyed listening and learning about how the team performed in the banking world. To receive a generous donation towards our designated charity from Danske was very much appreciated,” said Andrew Morrow, Linden Foods.

Commenting on the day Danielle Harper said: “It was fantastic to have the opportunity to better understand how High Performing Teams work in other areas of business.

“This has given me some valuable insights. It is clear that regardless of industry there are some key takeaways that are very relevant in business - focus on value for the customer, improve your internal processes in order to be more efficient allowing more value adding time for your customers and focus on your people.

“A highly engaged, motivated team goes hand in hand with excellent customer service.”