Building resilience and capability: Shaping the future of Morgan Sindall Construction

Case study

Jonathan Shales Business Unit Commercial Director Yorkshire North East and Cumbria Time with business: 22 years, 3 months

I changed roles within the business last year and, when I moved into my new role, I was asked if I wanted to join the Senior Business Leaders Programme. I’ve found taking part in the programme very beneficial. Not only have I developed relationships across the business, but the topics we have covered have given me lots of tools and information that are helping me in my new role. I’m using elements of the strategy, finance, horizon thinking and economics learning on a daily basis. I’m more confident in challenging others’ decisions in a constructive way now, and getting them to think differently about what things mean and what to do in different situations. I’m also bringing stakeholders along on the journey, making sure they are involved in decisions and that they have a greater understanding of what we’re doing, rather than just expecting them to follow what we ask of them. In my previous role, I was in a central function that involved working with all the regions, so I already knew a lot of the people on the course with me, but it has been good to work more closely with them and get to know those that I didn’t already know. I can also see the benefit other people in the group have gained from getting to know what is happening in other regions. We are a decentralised business and there are massive benefits to maintaining ownership and responsibility within regions, but it is also important that we capture and learn from what other people within the business are doing. As a business, we need to be looking outside of our industry and forwards at the challenges the future is going to bring, such as how we support the next generation to enter the industry and prepare for their needs in doing so.

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