MCP in WCE

As a part of My Cook Pathway (MCP), William Cook Europe (WCE), located in Denmark, established a partnership with Køge Handelsskole (Køge Business College). The college has a wide range of courses, which allowed WCE to offer employees classes on labor market training and management, among others.

Operations

Around 200 Zenith production employees have taken a course developed by Cook and Køge Handelsskole that is focused on communication, cooperation, and Lean processes for continual improvement. The range of development courses was based on the employees’ job descriptions, and the goal was to ensure that their competencies were developed to make them even better at handling the daily challenges of their work.

Before the first Zenith team started its course, Zenith Associate Jette Jensen was asked if she would take on the job of being the course coordinator.

“I was anxious if I could perform the task,” she said. “But my leader believed in my abilities, and Human Resources (HR) helped me get started, so I seized the opportunity. It is really an exciting task, and after the first beginner’s problems, it turned out that I could easily accomplish the job.”

Now, Jette has full responsibility and works in close cooperation with Køge Handelsskole to coordinate the course.

So far, the program has been a success.

“Our teacher was very active and had great work experience,” said Finn Jørgensen, Zenith Quality Control (QC). “She was good at seizing our ideas so that the material became relevant, and she managed to get everybody on board.”

“After the first communication course, we reflected on what we have learned, and we regularly use those methods in our daily communication,” added Jette. “Our colleagues who have not yet participated in a course are looking very much forward to it as they can see that we have had a nice experience that has given us energy and joy. Our communication has become clearer, and the cooperation across has been strengthened.”

“I am proud of Cook and impressed that HR, together with Køge Handelsskole, has been able to come up with a program for us so soon!” said Jette.

Leadership

While the Zenith department development courses were being held in one room, a class for some of WCE’s leaders was taking place in another space at the facility. Coaching competencies were the focus for this training. It is the first of a number of courses designed for leaders. In the coming year, classes about change management, motivation, and feedback will be offered. The courses are optional for each individual leader.

“Cook has offered leaders a wide range of courses targeted at our needs,” said Bente Weber, manager for Raw Balloons Development.

“Among other things, I see coaching as a tool for focusing on motivation in an ever-changing workday,” Bente added. “The course has been very positive with many interesting discussions. It is very inspirational as we can learn from each other’s experience. The tough part is to incorporate the tool in the daily work. I have completed a couple of coaching interviews, and it is very satisfactory to find out that it works and can add value to our work.”

“As the next step on My Cook Pathway, I have chosen change management,” she added.

Our initiatives are only a part of the wide competence range within employee development, which is one of Cook’s six strategic business areas. In this way, the increased, global focus supports the framework we have for the development of our employees.

We are very excited to see how we can utilize and develop My Cook Pathway. This launch is a big step for our competence development, and this is just the beginning of our journey, or if you like, our own pathway.

What is My Cook Pathway?

My Cook Pathway is a program that focuses on connecting employees to resources for their overall well-being while creating opportunities for growth and development. This program is currently focused on providing opportunities for employees to further their education, whether it is completing a secondary education degree, a vocational course related to our work at Cook, or a higher education degree. Cook is working to build partnerships with educational institutions in all of our global communities to expand our My Cook Pathway offerings and reduce the financial investment that can be a barrier for people wanting to pursue educational opportunities.

Cook Learn

With My Cook Pathway, Cook, and in particular HR, have earmarked resources for working, focused on competence development. In addition, we are focusing on expanding Cook Learn, so that, in future, it can form a joint platform for training and education.

Cook Learn is a system we are currently transitioning to that will serve as our full learning management system. This means it will have the functionality to house and track employee training records and make assigning people to trainings easier. It will also serve as on-demand learning platform for employees.

 

Photos by Jens Neumann, a Photography specialist at Cook Denmark.