We’re delighted that Karbon Homes’ innovative ‘Aspire to Lead’ programme has been shortlisted for ‘Career Development Initiative of the Year’ in this year’s Housing Heroes Awards, and also for ‘Excellence in Leadership Development’ in the North East HR&D Awards.
Helping our colleagues to advance their careers is really important to us and the ‘Aspire to Lead’ programme, which we launched in 2024, has proved hugely successful. It allows colleagues to develop the skills and confidence they need to become future leaders. Of the 57 participants who have completed the programme so far, a third of them have already secured leadership roles at Karbon since completing the course.
Rebecca Sales, a colleague in Karbon’s ICT and Digital Transformation team, graduated from the programme in 2024.
Rebecca said: “I applied to Aspire to Lead because I wanted to progress in the organisation and step into a leadership role.
“The programme itself was brilliant. It helped fill in some of the gaps in my skills around leadership and as a result was great for building my confidence in my own ability. I really appreciated the self-learning resources and extra training and got the most value was the mentoring element.
“Just after I finished the programme I was successful in securing a new leadership role, Resource Delivery Lead within the ICT team. I put a lot of my success down to the Aspire to Lead programme and the support of my mentor.
“Since then I have stepped up again and I’m now the Core Systems Delivery Lead, with line management responsibilities for five colleagues.”
Iain Herdman, Group Director of People and Organisational Development at Karbon Homes, said: “I’m incredibly proud of our ‘Aspire to Lead’ programme and the difference it’s making for our colleagues. What stands out to me is the confidence people build. They are not just learning about leadership, they’re practising it in a safe, supportive environment before they take that next step.
Seeing individuals grow, step into their first leadership roles and really thrive is what it’s all about. For us, it’s more than a programme, it’s how we’re building a strong pipeline of future leaders and investing in the long-term success of our organisation.”
The programme is an opportunity that is offered to all colleagues. We currently have our third cohort of learners going through the programme and they are reaping the benefits, from building relationships and self-belief, to improving their ability to make decisions and lead conversations.
The course combines hands-on group learning sessions using real-life business scenarios with additional online modules. Each learner is also assigned a mentor from the senior leadership team to support and guide them.
This has proved a great experience for our colleagues who have acted as mentors on the programme and supported learners by providing feedback, coaching and sharing their own leadership journeys.
We’re delighted that Karbon Homes’ innovative ‘Aspire to Lead’ programme has been shortlisted for ‘Career Development Initiative of the Year’ in this year’s Housing Heroes Awards, and also for ‘Excellence in Leadership Development’ in the North East HR&D Awards.
Helping our colleagues to advance their careers is really important to us and the ‘Aspire to Lead’ programme, which we launched in 2024, has proved hugely successful. It allows colleagues to develop the skills and confidence they need to become future leaders. Of the 57 participants who have completed the programme so far, a third of them have already secured leadership roles at Karbon since completing the course.
Rebecca Sales, a colleague in Karbon’s ICT and Digital Transformation team, graduated from the programme in 2024.
Rebecca said: “I applied to Aspire to Lead because I wanted to progress in the organisation and step into a leadership role.
“The programme itself was brilliant. It helped fill in some of the gaps in my skills around leadership and as a result was great for building my confidence in my own ability. I really appreciated the self-learning resources and extra training and got the most value was the mentoring element.
“Just after I finished the programme I was successful in securing a new leadership role, Resource Delivery Lead within the ICT team. I put a lot of my success down to the Aspire to Lead programme and the support of my mentor.
“Since then I have stepped up again and I’m now the Core Systems Delivery Lead, with line management responsibilities for five colleagues.”
Iain Herdman, Group Director of People and Organisational Development at Karbon Homes, said: “I’m incredibly proud of our ‘Aspire to Lead’ programme and the difference it’s making for our colleagues. What stands out to me is the confidence people build. They are not just learning about leadership, they’re practising it in a safe, supportive environment before they take that next step.Seeing individuals grow, step into their first leadership roles and really thrive is what it’s all about. For us, it’s more than a programme, it’s how we’re building a strong pipeline of future leaders and investing in the long-term success of our organisation.”
The programme is an opportunity that is offered to all colleagues. We currently have our third cohort of learners going through the programme and they are reaping the benefits, from building relationships and self-belief, to improving their ability to make decisions and lead conversations.
The course combines hands-on group learning sessions using real-life business scenarios with additional online modules. Each learner is also assigned a mentor from the senior leadership team to support and guide them.
This has proved a great experience for our colleagues who have acted as mentors on the programme and supported learners by providing feedback, coaching and sharing their own leadership journeys.
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