Last month, EC’s senior management met in Malta for their annual conference. This year’s conference entitled “Getting Equipped for Success” was organised by the HR Team and had a learning and development theme. CEO Michael Xuereb opened the conference by giving a preview of the company’s ambitious strategy for the next three years. This was a unique opportunity for senior management to comment and discuss this important vision before it is presented to the Board of Directors. He was followed by Nathan Farrugia, a Maltese extreme endurance athlete involved in various charities, who gave a truly inspiring keynote speech showing how clarity of purpose and strong commitment can overcome almost any challenge.

The rest of the conference included various training sessions on topics ranging from effective time management to personal well being, from team development to neuro-associative conditioning. David Brient, who has been involved in various training programmes for the company, ably led all these interesting sessions. Mr Brient took his audience through a variety of exercises and tools to set personal and team goals that are aligned to the company’s vision.

The conference also included a session with Simon Preston who has been facilitating the company’s Leadership Development Programme during which participants brainstormed for new ways in which EC’s primary purpose could be achieved in concrete ways in all EC schools. The climax of the conference was a very engaging Q&A session with members of the EC’s Board of Directors, chaired by EC’s chairman Andrew Mangion.

The conference was a great opportunity for senior managers to meet with participants from 27 different teams spread over EC’s 15 locations worldwide representing nine nationalities. It allowed participants to challenge and be challenged, share ideas and learn new ways of doing things, but most importantly to consolidate the relationships among all senior management staff within EC. Mr Xuereb said, “It was a fantastic week: Our long-term aim is to make EC a world class organisation and the employer of choice within our industry. To achieve this we need to make sure that we have the right people in the right jobs, and keep them happy and engaged. These events are a great opportunity for talent development and engagement.”