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Women in Leadership: Victoria Hickman from Forsyth Barnes

Victoria Hickman gives her verdict on the latest Women in Leadership course delivered by Nottingham Business School.

    Victoria Hickman, Forsyth Barnes
    Victoria Hickman, Head of HR and Internal Recruitment at Forsyth Barnes

    This support is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund

    Through the Priority Skills for D2N2 SMEs project*, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access free bespoke, employer-led training, career coaching and advice to up-skill their employees in vocational and high-level technical skills.

    NTU offer a free, 3-day course which is designed to help women in SMEs to develop their careers and their capability to manage and lead within their organisations.

    Victoria Hickman in group

    Victoria Hickman, Head of HR and Internal Recruitment at Forsyth Barnes

    Forsyth Barnes are an executive appointments consultancy business that operates out of Nottingham, London and Leeds.

    Servicing both the interim and permanent markets, their customers include everyone from smaller locally-based businesses, to large blue-chip corporates operating on a global scale.

    Victoria Hickman joined Forsyth Barnes in 2016 as their tenth employee and now heads up the business’ human resources and internal recruitment function.

    After attending another event about NTU’s UpScaler project, Victoria got talking to someone from the university about the short course that Nottingham Business School were running for women aspiring to, or currently in, leadership and management roles in small businesses.

    After doing research of her own, Victoria decided this course was for her and took a proposal to her manager.

    Victoria said: “Due to the nature of my role I felt I would have lots to learn from this course in terms of my own personal development, and it could also contribute to future business growth, so I was thrilled to be able to sign up.”

    The course Victoria attended ran at NTU’s City Campus over three non-consecutive days with two weeks in between each date to enable reflection.

    When considering whether she got what she wanted from the course, Victoria said: “I definitely got what I wanted from the Women in Leadership module. It has helped so much with understanding development and progression.

    “We covered recognising personality traits and types within your team and how each can react to different situations which I feel is really important for managers so we can get the best out of people.

    “The part of the course I enjoyed the most was around authentic leadership which really digs down into understanding yourself and your role as a leader and advisor to consider how you might be perceived by others and how they can work with you.

    Victoria felt that although there are lots of things to digest and consider for long-term development, there are some things she can use straight away.

    “I now feel like I can be more self-aware in a business setting and understand how different personalities can work well with one another, so I’m hoping this insight can provide some immediate benefits.”

    Interested in signing up?

    The Women in Leadership course is running a number of cohorts throughout 2020. You can register your interest and a member of the team will be in touch to discuss eligibility and suitable dates.

    You can also contact us via any of the below channels:

    * The Priority Skills for D2N2 SMEs project is part-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and is part of the High Level Skills programme. The programme is delivered by NTU as part of the High Level Skills consortium which also includes Derby College, Nottingham College, the University of Derby, and Nottingham City Council.

    Supporting social mobility and widening participation

    NTU is at the forefront of social mobility. The university recruits a quarter of its home undergraduates from households with a combined income of £15,000 or less, and has an impressive graduate employment rate. The university is a signatory to the Social Mobility Pledge, and is also a co-lead on a national centre to research and develop best practices for universities on how to improve social mobility.

    The Priority Skills for D2N2 SMEs project is also committed to supporting local people from under-represented groups including women, people with disabilities, BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) people, people aged 50 and over, and those who have not had access to traditional educational opportunities. Our Women in Leadership course is a contributing factor towards this.