Rob Nock of Hacche Retail talks about his experience on the General Management Certificate of Achievement (GMCA).
Rob Nock had an unusual start to his career, focusing much of his earlier life on playing professional badminton. After graduating from the University of Gloucestershire Rob Nock joined what was then Meld Group and stayed with the company through a number of management and ownership changes. In 2016 the existing company resurrected itself as Hacche Retail with Rob in position as Managing Director.
With the support of Hacche’s CEO Rob attended the General Management Certificate of Achievement (GMCA) at Cambridge Judge Business School to help equip him and the board of directors for the challenge of managing the company through the company’s next chapter.
Rob Nock comments: “The company had gone through a number of changes and had faced its fair share of challenges; I was keen to learn more about how we could help both stabilise and steer the company through its next phase of life.” In particular, Rob was keen to feedback his experience and involve his talented Board of Directors, who have overall responsibility for the finance, production and creative elements of the business.
Rob was specifically interested in the Creating High Performance Teams programme. Rob comments: “The course taught me the different leadership styles and their different strategic values. I could immediately see how this thinking could be applied to our board. Having since shared the learning with colleagues, we’ve all experienced a step change in how we work together.”
In addition, Rob was keen to develop the emphasis on culture within the business and was looking for a programme that would help with strategy and culture change. Rob adds “We have retained the feel of a small company but effective communication has suffered as we’ve expanded; I was looking for some fresh thinking around how we ensure communication and culture is fostered as we grow.”
Rob’s experience on the GMCA led to a fundamental shift in the way the board approaches the running of the company: “By improving my awareness of the issues around leadership and how solutions can be applied, we have become more equipped as a board and a wider business to expand and flourish. The programme offered a balance between top quality teaching and a pragmatic ‘real world’ view of leadership and all its complexity. It’s had a very positive effect on me as a leader and my ability to positively influence the business.”