Wirral Life February 2019 | Page 82

W BUSINESS L WESTMINSTER ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL ENDED AND BEGAN THEIR YEAR ON THE WIRRAL With a string of both large and smaller global clients in all sorts of sectors, the team have been revitalising their offerings on their home turf of the Wirral. They began their campaign supporting Wirral Life Magazine as Headline sponsor of their inaugural awards in November 2018, which we know many of you will have attended and enjoyed. There was so much love in the room that evening! Justine McLaughlin continued, “We’re quite a relaxed and informal company so don’t do classroom lectures. I’m pleased to say that Paul and his team made this an informal and really fun and engaging day. However, despite the casual nature, the results for both myself and the team were literally life changing. What they helped us discover could be acted upon immediately and spilled beyond work to friends and family.” Director and Owner Paul Thompson, originally from Bromborough and now living back in Bidston after 28 years away, explained, “We wanted to increase our profile back home and saw the Wirral Life Awards as an ideal platform to reach out to the local population and businesses, with and through an organisation that had similar values to our own. Our message isn’t an easy one to capture in a simple tag line, so this gave us an excellent opportunity to begin to share how we develop people, teams and leaders, so that the businesses they work in grow. And in a way that allows them to bring the best of themselves to work every day.” Deborah Alfa added, “We turned up to a lovely log cabin looking out over beautiful gardens. As we stepped through the doors, we were greeted instantly by Paul whose welcoming demeanour soon settled us and banished any nerves. Paul made this development exercise fun and informal and it gave us a real insight into who we are, and how our different personalities and quirks complement each other to get the best out of the team. I was actually quite shocked at how accurate the Insights Discovery profile was and how fellow team mates saw me, compared to how I saw myself. Taking the information we learned back to the salon, we have also been able to understand our clients more, to get a better understanding of how to best communicate with them, so they get the best service possible. I can highly recommend Paul and his team – Paul is a very ‘real’ person with great qualities.” Westminster Associates help improve self-awareness, beginning with considering everyone’s different ways of working. This helps people to understand their own individual style better but more importantly, to identify that of others, who may behave very differently to them. The outcomes lead to better communication, shared understanding and greater collaboration, with people feeling inspired and motivated to make a positive difference inside and outside of work. The foundation of their work is underpinned by the Insights Discovery model, based on a lifetime of work by psychologist Carl Jung. Developed and refined over the years into a rapidly understood contemporary system of colours by Insights Learning and Development based in Dundee, using Jung's typology, this approach offers a framework for self-understanding and development. Research suggests that a good understanding of self, both strengths and weaknesses, enables individuals to develop effective strategies for interaction and can help them to better respond to the demands of their environment. The majority of business challenges can be solved by improving employee relationships which is why they concentrate on people over processes. Their solutions have been used in a diverse range of clients from Microsoft and Google to the NHS and Team GB2012. Organisations who invest in their people and value the power of communication, collaboration and teamwork to drive business performance, will benefit from their work. The team at Westminster Associates are keen to partner with more businesses, especially on the Wirral and in the North West. Paul said, “We’ve had some incredible feedback already and plenty of interest from businesses keen to transform their people, teams and leaders from good to great.” Westminster started the year with two events for Wirral based award winning firms, Deborah Alfa and Revolution Four, who were joined by partner businesses, Laird Assessors, Whitfield Business Hub and Swiftcase. We’re delighted to reveal that they have renewed their partnership with Wirral Life Magazine for the 2019 Wirral Life Awards in November, so expect to see much more of them over the coming months. Nik Ellis from Revolution Four said, “I can understand how initially people may seem sceptical but having been through some of the initial sessions, we found this an incredibly powerful tool, which is quick and straight forward to grasp and apply in a practical way.” Paul concluded: “We develop great people, teams and leaders. This is what we do. Every day. Get in touch to find out how we can inspire your people to perform…” 82 wirrallife.com www.westminster-associates.com