Business Spotlight: Foundations of Leadership
Avalon Risk Management is a premier provider of innovative surety and insurance solutions for the logistics industry. Recently recognized by Business Insurance magazine as one of the Best Places to Work in Insurance and by the Daily Herald as one of the Best Places to Work in Illinois, Avalon recognizes that employee engagement leads to success and that happy employees lead to satisfied customers. With 120 employees nationwide and a network of offices in North America, including their office in Elk Grove Village, the company assists logistics specialists with global insurance needs including Customs Bonds, Marine Cargo, Professional Liability and Business Insurance, and Commercial Auto products for transportation providers.
Avalon Risk Management has developed its own training program, Avalon University, to provide training for its niche industry of surety and insurance products. Avalon University provides formal classroom training, webinars, and lunch-and-learns for employees. To support in-house training, Avalon partners with Harper College.
In 2010, Harper College for Businesses worked with Avalon to create a customized Foundations of Leadership training program, designed for managers, supervisors, and other key employees whose career path at Avalon may involve leadership. Harper College for Businesses customized the training sessions so that Avalon’s management team would be aligned to support the company’s vision, mission and values among employees, clients and business partners. The sessions were “highly interactive and focused on leadership and coaching skills that our managers could immediately apply,” describes Avalon President/CEO Lisa Gelsomino.
Foundations of Leadership also included sessions that supported Avalon’s career development goals and created a common set of tools and language of leadership best practices at Avalon. These sessions helped the management team to
- Meet the demands of current and future leadership positions
- Boost skills that enhance individual and group effectiveness
- Acquire or refine specific leadership skills, and
- Learn and share best practices with peers.
In addition to the basic Foundations of Leadership coursework, Avalon has also worked with Harper to provide ongoing coaching so the leadership skills managers learned can be applied to real world problems they may face.
Overall, Avalon President/CEO Lisa Gelsomino has the following advice for organizations looking to boost their training and development efforts:
“In these economic times, it’s sometimes difficult to justify the expense without knowing what tangible return it may yield. However, we believe any training, no matter how large or small the scale, demonstrates the confidence you have in your employees and the value you place in their personal development and future with the company. If budget is a concern, start small with internal lunch-and-learns. As the training sessions gain momentum, consider bringing in guest speakers or professional trainers for ½ day sessions to gain a different perspective. Take the time to pre-plan for the training so you clearly communicate the goals to trainers and trainees. We have found the investment we have made in our Avalon University and Foundations of Leadership training with Harper has been well worth it.”
