Congratulations to Pomerleau’s Leadership Excellence Graduates

As CANS wrapped our 30-hour Leadership Excellence Program, CANS interviewed Lorin Robar, Regional Vice President – Atlantic Canada, for Pomerleau’s perspective and feedback following the course.  Below is an excerpt from that Q&A session.

1. Tell us a bit about why Pomerleau decided to invest in leadership training. Why does your organization value soft skill development? And what impact do you think this type of training has on the construction industry?

“At Pomerleau, the diversity of skillsets, levels of experience, and tenure of our employees – as well as the high stakes involved in large-scale projects – demand that our approach to training is adaptable and innovative. Our employees have different and unique needs, and we look to partner with external vendors for programs to meet the needs of our business.

“A key focus in the past year has been providing the right training and opportunities to help develop our leaders. Most importantly, the focus on soft skill development at Pomerleau is designed around the ability to help employees build and foster stronger relationships. CANS Leadership Excellence Program was tailored to meet these needs.

“Building and developing strong leaders with the right skill set and focus on developing people is impactful to the construction industry in many ways. We have noticed a shift and focus on a more collaborative and inclusive approach as well as progression towards a less adversarial industry. We are allies and peers. We seek to be a leader at developing our talent and making a positive impact to our industry and the communities we support.”

2. What was the ROI for this training? Have you seen any impact on your leaders?

“There has been a notable impact on the way our team is now able to handle difficult situations and conflict management approaches have changed. Self-awareness of participants has also increased, whether it’s raising a hand to ask for help, or sharing practical knowledge with an employee to troubleshoot a problem. We have also been able to update our in-house training content to be more inclusive and adaptable to different learning styles.”

3. Why did you trust CANS to deliver this training?

“We chose CANS to deliver this training as they were able to create customized learning opportunities for our team. As an organization we identified specific development areas which required growth and felt CANS was a trusted provider in making this happen.”

4. What sets CANS Education apart from other training providers?

“CANS has been an excellent partner in the support of training and development programs for our teams at Pomerleau. The quality of programming has been exceptional. As a service provider they have taken a flexible approach to understand the needs of our business and have done an exceptional job of organizing and planning options that meet our needs.”

5. How was your experience working with CANS?

“The experience has been impressive! Each opportunity to connect with a member of the CANS team has been a pleasant interaction. The teams are available, respond quickly, and listen to understand our unique needs as an employer.”

6. What would you tell others about this training and your experience with CANS Education?

“As an organization, we would encourage others to invest in their employees and to find courses that promote the knowledge acquisition and support the values of their business. We would highly recommend CANS as a partner for this, whether in helping others to support the pursuit of certification, or in creating customized learning offerings for employees.”