Citation
(2003), "Pitcher, Piano and professional development", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 35 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2003.03735fab.005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited
Pitcher, Piano and professional development
Pitcher, Piano … and professional development
Pitcher and Piano has reaffirmed its commitment to continuous personal development and its drive to be the benchmark for top-class management within the hospitality industry, with new training programmes for assistant, deputy and general managers.
People-development company, Brathay, has been working with the Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries-owned brand for the last eight years, providing a unique experiential-development programme that compliments Pitcher and Piano's own three-year "Academy" bar-management training.
Brathay delivers around three one-week residential courses for the company every year, at its custom-built headquarters on the shores of Lake Windermere, in the English Lake District. Each programme contains ten of Pitcher and Piano's highest-potential managers, selected from its 29 bars nationwide.
Tristram Hillier, training and development manager at Pitcher and Piano, explained why its work with Brathay forms such an integral part of the Academy programme. "The week-long residential-development programme at Brathay has become part of the folklore and culture at Pitcher and Piano. It provides the perfect environment for some of our most talented managers to push the boundaries of their potential and to maximize the impact they have on the business.
"Aside from the shared experience and the sense of employer investment that participating in a Brathay programme gives an individual, the increase in energy and impact on the business is marked on their return. It also results in a step change in mindset, with managers having a much greater understanding of their role with the organization. It has become an essential part of their ongoing personal and professional-development plans at Pitcher and Piano."
The residential programme includes a range of activities designed to build a strong team ethic, push the boundaries of individual self-belief, improve motivation and provide each manager with the foundation skills with which to ensure continuous development back in the workplace. Activities include a range of assessment and evaluation sessions, team-development exercises and the "pamper pole" – a 35ft high telegraph pole on top of which participants stand, supported by their peers. "Completing the pole", says Tristram Hillier, "has become a rite of passage among Pitcher and Piano management".
Godfrey Owen, Brathay deputy chief executive, said: "We have developed a close relationship with Pitcher and Piano over the last nine years, to develop both the individuals and the organization with our leadership-development programme. Our experiential approach to development provides an ideal complement to the three-year Academy plan, ensuring that the company has become the breeding ground for the hospitality industry's stars of the future".