Technoprint is the UK’s largest independent supplier of patient information leaflets and has been providing an end-to-end printing and folding service to the pharmaceutical, healthcare, veterinary, cosmetic, vape, and electrical industries since 1988.

Jacqui Morris started at the Winsford-based business four years ago, progressing from a Quality Manager role to Quality and Continuous Improvement Manager. Part of a small but trusted leadership team Jacqui was encouraged to enroll in the Productivity through People (PtP) programme by Technoprint Managing Director Alan Ryan, who was on the Made Smarter Leadership Programme, which helps leaders in manufacturing SMEs improve productivity through the adoption of new industrial digital technologies (IDTs).

“Alan knew I am driven and wanted to progress in my career, so has been very supportive,” Jacqui explained. “He knew PtP would compliment what he had learned from the Made Smarter Leadership Programme and he was keen for me to bring back and share what I learned.”

The two-day residential, made up of leadership exercises, focused discussions and peer-to-peer learning, set the tone for the 10-month programme, breaking the ice between delegates and establishing trust and openness. “If I am honest, I was dreading the residential, because of my own battle with anxiety,” Jacqui said. “But it turned out to be an extraordinary experience. Using various games and sessions it brought everyone together and created a strong bond of trust and cohesion. By the end of it I felt like I’d known everyone forever.”

The exercise unlocked Jacqui’s reticence about opening up about the challenges she faced at work. This helped her get the most out of Action Learning sessions, where delegates are challenged to work through real problems in their companies. “Being able to say what I needed to without judgement and with support was really good for my confidence,” she said. “This was an opportunity to not just talk about company problems but personal frustrations. I found myself sharing problems I thought were unique but were in fact very common. It really empowered me to go back to the team and deliver what was needed.”

Leadership workshops were also important for Jacqui, particularly when she was promoted to Operations Manager part way through the programme. The sessions were built around identifying her past managers and their approaches to leadership.

“Analysing the good and the bad helped me understand the importance of adjusting to different situations,” Jacqui said. “My previous role involved managing a team of three and was about regulation and compliance, so it demanded an autocratic style of leadership.

As operations manager I head up a 25-strong team. It was a culture shock for sure,” With so many experienced staff a democratic leadership approach has helped in certain situations, and listening to others views is important, but at the end of the day, it needs a leader to take control. The programme helped me make that leadership transition, there’s no doubt about it.”

Similarly the strategy and change workshops, which looked at the business and how it monitors and adjusts to competition and threats in its market, also left an impression on Jacqui. “It blew my mind,” she admitted. “It helped me develop an awareness of our position as a business and the potential threats in the future. Crucially I was able to take that back to the business and we are now developing an understanding of our competition and potential market advantages.”

Part of the module focused on communication challenged delegates to write a speech addressed to the workforce about ‘change’. The timely insight came at the outbreak of the pandemic when demand on Technoprint increased.

“Production pressure to meet demand for leaflets from the pharmaceutical industry ramped up at the same time staff were frightened to come to work because of Covid-19,” Jacqui said. “In the past those two opposing forces might have instigated a more dictatorial approach, but using what I had learnt on the programme we were able to really consider our communications to ensure staff knew how vital our work was printing life-saving advice, and how we would make changes to ensure their safety.

“We have now embedded a more considered approach to communications. We have learned to take on board more views in decision making and bring that knowledge, experience and expertise into problem solving. The pandemic has driven change at Technoprint.”

The need to improve communications at Technoprint was also identified during the Benchmark Assessment, an intensive organisational analysis exercise which aims to help delegates establish a baseline of information about their people practices and business. “It was a powerful exercise that helped us understand how well the business is doing in comparison to other SMEs,” Jacqui said. “When we added the staff survey results, there were reassurances and some hard truths that identified what areas we needed to improve.

“It flushed out nagging issues the staff were frustrated with which we’ve been able to solve quickly like the introduction of a ‘you said, we did’ strategy to show staff that management was acting upon their concerns, and a new role of team leader on each production shift to support the operations manager. We also have created a roadmap to the bigger challenges.”

While site visits to programme partners BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce were cancelled because of pandemic, Jacqui still benefited from her Rolls-Royce mentor. And it was also fellow delegates that inspired Jacqui.

“It’s fair to say that a few of my action learning group helped mentor me,” she said. “Three of them were operations managers so I was able to tap into huge experience. Similarly I was able to share my insights from a data-centric quality and continuous improvement perspective.

“We still message each other now to bounce ideas off. We’ve all been able to help each other.”

As for the future, Jacqui believes there is a cultural change underway at Technoprint. “As a company we want to understand and establish what our values are so we can encourage our people to buy into that and recognise we are all heading in the same direction.”

Completing the programme has also given Jacqui a sense of huge personal achievement.

“I have suffered from anxiety for much of my life, so I was initially dreading the prospect of putting myself out there,” she admitted. “But honestly, through the encouragement of Alan, the team at LUMS, and my fellow delegates I can hand on heart, say it was the best thing I have ever done. It has been transformative personally and professionally, and I couldn’t recommend it enough.”

Productivity through People is a ten-month programme in partnership with three world class manufacturers; BAE Systems, Siemens and Rolls-Royce, designed to support and invest in the key decision-makers of tomorrow. Gain access to the latest techniques, thinking and research to transform your productivity and working practices

Contact us on 01524 593583, email ptp@lancaster.ac.uk or visit lancaster.ac.uk/lums/ptp to find out more about the programme.

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