LEO to head off a brain drain

Jun 17 2009 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

AN innovative programme aimed at preventing the drift away from the region of talented professionals who have lost or face losing their jobs will be launched on Teesside.

With many businesses forced to let go staff who had been destined for big things within the organisation, policymakers are concerned that the skills shortage that existed before the downturn will intensify among upper management.

The Leadership Enterprise Opportunity (LEO) programme is the brainchild of Lorna Moran, the architect of the Entrepreneurs Forum, and will be delivered through her recruitment business, NRG.

Accredited by the universities of Teesside and Northumbria, the intensive four-week programme will help participants to analyse their skills and consider the opportunities available to them - which could include starting their own business or moving into a new sector.

There will be a focus on educating people about the changing nature of the North-east economy, so that they are aware of which sectors are growing and may offer the brightest opportunities over the long term.

Delivered through peer group sessions and one-to-one coaching, the programme, which is endorsed by One North East and Business Link, also promises to offer participants access to major employers, influencers and decision makers.

Mrs Moran said the programme was open to professional people from any sector.

“There is a real danger that if we suffer further talent loss then, as a region, we will be less attractive as a place to do business than we were previously,” she said. “Often, other areas come out of recessions more quickly than the North-east and, if that happens again, people will go to those areas in order to find new jobs.

“This is a programme that encourages those taking part to look at the landscape of the future and we also want to try and make people become much more enterprising and consider working for themselves.

“Life has given these people an enforced career break and the business world they go back into will not be the same as the world they have left.”

LEO is supported by the CBI, North East Chamber of Commerce and the Entrepreneurs Forum.

Participants for a pilot, which is expected to launch before the end of this month, are now being sought with the full programme beginning around September. The cost of the month-long programme is £5,000 with bursary funding available.

Visit www.leoprogramme.co.uk