Young Wilmar employees took part in Emerging Professionals course to improve leadership skills.

Participants from across the Wilmar group took part in a series of workshops focusing on communication, priority management, personal resilience and teamwork.

Learning and Development Manager Tina Klekar said it was the second year that the course had been run in its current format, expanded from the previous Graduate Development programme to include multiple career entry points.

“This year’s group represented a variety of disciplines including engineering, trades, finance, human resources, grower marketing and drafting,” Tina said.

“There’s a real benefit to the business in developing home-grown talent; people who are able to understand Wilmar’s core values, aims and objectives from the get go.”

A final project management challenge held on 20 and 21 November saw participants split into two groups and tasked with building an arcade game that embodied Wilmar’s values and communicated key business messages to the general public.

Pioneer Mill Technical Assistant Robert Wilson said the final challenge was a good pressure test. The groups had to present a concept design on Tuesday afternoon, and the finished arcade game by midday Wednesday.

“Our team went into the challenge with a set game plan and had a really good mix of skills that we could draw on,” Robert said. “It was really good meeting other young professionals from across the business, and great exposure getting to present our projects to and interact with the Cane Products Leadership Team.”