Development at PGL
We have a number of options in place to help you get the most from your time with PGL, espcially if you are looking to gain experience, build up your personal competency, qualifications and progress on the career ladder.
You will be given every opportunity to drive your own development - it's up to you to take what's on offer and go for it!
Your Personal Development Plan
Senior Centre-Based Roles at PGL
The Senior Reward
The PGL Mentor Scheme
Within PGL's Training Team, we have a staff development team who concentrate on encouraging all staff to complete Personal Development Plans (PDPs).These help you to set yourself targets and realistic ways to go about achieving them.
PDPs also help our training and recruitment teams to identify talent and work with individuals in supporting their efforts to develop themselves.
The team also stages numerous in-house courses throughout the year for senior staff to support their additional responsibilities. Examples of these include: Building effective teams, time management, delegation, and feedback/reviewing skills.
Once you join PGL, if you are interested in attending one of these courses, you should discuss suitability with your line manager who will recommend that you fill in a PDP, to demonstrate how the training intervention fits in with your continuous development goals.
You will also be able to borrow books from the Training Team's library and access learning materials via our company intranet site.
We are keen for our staff to drive their own development through regular review meetings with their line manger. This gives you the chance to identify your development aims or needs and match these to the best plan of action that suits you.
This could be national governing body awards, a training course, shadowing a fellow member of staff, centre visits or providing you with a mentor from elsewhere in the company. Remember, your professional and personal development isn’t just about training courses and filling your CV with a list of qualifications; experiences and work-based learning are equally important for your future.
For those interested in senior roles within the company, we also run a Senior Recruitment Roadshow at a UK activity centre each autumn, giving potential senior staff members the chance to find out more about the opportunities and locations on offer.
Some of our staff wish to develop a career with PGL and take on more senior positions.
Each year, we employ more than 200 staff in senior roles to manage their departments and motivate their staff teams.
We are looking for people who can demonstrate:
• A proven record of achievement, gained either within PGL or external
• Reliability and maturity
• An interest in staff development
• That they will go that extra mile to ensure that our guests have the best experience possible while at PGL and are flexible and prepared to roll up their sleeves to tackle whatever comes their way. This doesn’t mean working all hours under the sun: it can be achieved by being a positive role model and providing an excellent service for both guests and staff.
There is no set time frame to becoming a senior member of staff. Someone with relevant experience gained outside PGL may become a senior in their first year, while it may take someone else several years.
We actively encourage our staff’s career development and many of our senior staff, managers and head office team have worked their way up through the ranks. If you would like to apply for a senior position for the following season, then state this on your re-application form, which will be available from your centre manager.
Please be realistic: if you have just completed your first year with PGL and have minimal industry experience and qualifications, you are unlikely to be offered a Centre Manager position, for example.
If a senior vacancy arises mid-season, your centre and area managers will assess the best situation for the centres’ operation. This may mean a temporary restructure of the existing team; or an opportunity for another member of staff to ‘act up’ until a suitable replacement is appointed.
Where applicable, vacancies are advertised company-wide, using staff notices and the PGL recruitment website, and also external publications and websites if required.
PGL’s Senior Team take on more responsibility and work with the Centre Manager to ensure their teams are motivated, adhering to health and safety requirements and are committed to the happiness and welfare of our guests.
In return, senior staff receive an increased wage, management development opportunities and are usually provided with single accommodation. A senior role helps to increase your management capability and career progression prospects.
Development opportunities are also provided for those who are thinking about going into management positions.Staff are provided with an opportunity to consider whether a career in management is for them and Personal Development Plans are created to aid your development/career progression.
We also operate a mentoring scheme for senior members of centre-based staff which links them with head office staff and members of centre management teams. This offers the opportunity for on-to-one advice in a confidential working relationship and is a great way to learn from people who have been there before you. Your mentor can be from another centre or from PGL’s head office.
Plans are also in progress to extend the mentoring scheme to companies outside of PGL to enhance diversity and our business best practise.