Building from Within: Forum Plastics’ Investment in Supervisory Training

Appreciating the importance of cultivating and retaining a skilled workforce, Forum Plastics strategically invests in its internal talent by broadening their knowledge base and further developing their skills.

They understand the pivotal role of effective managers in driving organizational value and significantly boosting team performance.

Recognizing the future potential of a newly promoted manager in their Engineering Department, who worked at the company for six years, and a newly appointed supervisor in the Tooling Department, a ten-year Forum veteran, the company took proactive steps.

Forum’s leadership made the business decision to seek out training for their newly promoted leaders to gain a deeper understanding of their supervisory roles and enhance their problem-solving and managerial skills.

Reputation for results and industry knowledge drew Forum Plastics to work with CONNSTEP. Company leadership chose to enroll their new manager and supervisor in CONNSTEP’s Winter 2024 Supervisor Bootcamp.

This workshop series aims to develop better leaders by providing participants with essential knowledge and skills for effective people leadership and management through a series of half-day classroom sessions exploring various aspects of supervision, from leadership and communication to delegation and conflict resolution.

A combination of presentations, interactive activities, and best practices provides Supervisor Bootcamp participants with practical tools and strategies to manage their teams effectively and achieve their goals.

Forum’s Human Resources Manager described the participants’ Supervisor Bootcamp experience as “transformative,” noting that their new leaders gained a deeper understanding of their roles and a renewed sense of confidence.

The comprehensive curriculum, both theoretical and practical, helped the participants navigate problem-solving techniques and cultivate more effective teams. They learned time management skills, Lean awareness, and how best to coach and motivate employees for improved performance.

Forum’s new manager and supervisor returned to their teams demonstrating improved communication skills, including active listening and effective feedback exchange, which fostered healthier working relationships.

Utilizing real-life examples, they learned conflict resolution strategies, allowing them to create more cohesive and productive work environments.

A particularly valuable exercise focused on their supervisory styles: through a series of tools and assessments, each participant gained awareness of their management styles, identified their strengths and development needs, and learned how to use different styles and techniques to motivate top performance.

Supervisor Bootcamp was invaluable in helping these two new leaders transition from peers to supervisors. Having fully embraced their training, they applied their newly acquired skills in their roles and have continued to develop professionally, resulting in stronger teams, departments, and improved operations for Forum.

The beneficial results of this experience propelled Forum to enroll two more leaders in later Supervisor Bootcamp workshops, which produced similar positive outcomes.