Six key learning principles
At the heart of our training are our six key learning principles, which apply to everything we do, whether that’s a one-off event, a team build, or an ongoing modular development programme.
There are hundreds of companies that offer online and face-to-face business training and plenty of providers of fun team building activities. What sets us apart, and why businesses keep coming back to GRA, is the way in which our experiential training programmes go beyond typical learning and development packages to include a bespoke blend of accredited learning content, online material, and hands-on experience to maximise learning retention and the transfer of that learning back in the workplace.
Our experiential learning approach provides unique opportunities for delegates to apply theory to real-world situations through practical exercises, in a safe environment that enables everyone to push their boundaries for longer-lasting, more tangible results.
At the heart of our training are our six key learning principles, which apply to everything we do, whether that’s a one-off event, a team build, or an ongoing modular development programme.
1. Make a positive and lasting difference to the people, teams, and businesses that engage in our programmes.
2. Apply a flexible and tailored approach to training and development, recognising that each organisation, team, and individual has different needs and objectives.
3. Make learning experiential with unique and enjoyable challenges for teams to engage in, that bring learning to life.
4. Touch people’s emotions by finding out what really matters to individuals – creating lasting and positive associations with the skills.
5. Create memories that last for years, helping to internalise learning and foster positive outcomes that only strengthen and develop over time.
6. Make it fun! People learn best in a relaxed setting where they're able to be themselves, have fun, and push their comfort zone.
Strengthen your teams, improve productivity, and develop your employees through our tailored training and development programmes.
By speaking to an expert you can:
“Thank you GRA for a fantastic afternoon with our MBA Admits! Our brief was for an interactive and fun event for a group of people who did not know one another, but who needed to quickly build connections and relationships – and you achieved just that. The planning and support up to the day of delivery was excellent, we appreciated your recommendations and clear communication throughout. Delivery was flawless and the participants had a great time. Our objective was to make the group feel like they belonged at London Business School and together and we definitely achieved this. Thank you for all your help and support, we look forward to working with you on many more projects to come.”
- Lowri Sparkes, Associate Director - Engagement. Degree Education & Career Centre, London Business School - May 2022
"The team at GRA were absolutely superb. Listening to our planned outcomes then designing and tailoring an event with us that not only met them, but exceeded every expectation."
- Alexandra Moore, GES Lead UK/Irl, Johnson & Johnson - Aug 2022
"Our Senior Leadership Team took part in two challenges hosted by Grahame Robb Associates. Rich and Sean were excellent, overseeing the competitive group and making sure the team spirit remained high. We did Archery and the Crate Stack Challenge which encouraged teamwork as well as trusting in each other. We would look to return in the future to take on different challenges and would highly recommend this to others. It’s a fantastic day and enjoyed by all!"
- Danielle Newton, Head of Marketing, Reflex Vehicle Hire - Aug 2022
“To deliver a virtual week of induction was definitely unknown territory for us, however, working with GRA, this was easily achieved! The variety of sessions such as self & team awareness and personal branding, were thoroughly engaging and were a perfect complement to our internal sessions.”
- Gill Ireson, Early Careers Development Manager, St. James’s Place
"GRA were brilliant, and I would thoroughly recommend them for anyone who is looking to do a corporate team building event. The staff were so helpful and patient with my colleagues and everyone got so much out of the day."
- Anna Frazer, HR Advisor, Prescient
“Our programme with Grahame Robb Associates, using their experiential business simulation, challenged our leaders and significantly increased levels of trust in a way that enabled great peer-to-peer and coaching conversations. We believe this has been a pivotal building block to support them in achieving their full potential as leaders; enhancing self-awareness and strengthening our leadership community in Tech Data.”
- Michelle Ford, Talent & Development Manager, Tech Data
"Making learners feel comfortable and secure when joining a virtual session is just as important online as it is face-to-face. The team at GRA achieved this by taking the time to familiarise learners with their platform and provide individual technical support as needed without disrupting the flow of the session."
- Sam Hobbs, County FA Support Services Manager - Learning & Development, The FA Group
“GRA’s facilitators have a lovely balance of professionalism and approachability to what they do. We worked together from the start to design and deliver a series of really experiential workshops as part of our graduate programme. Our own facilitators and the participants had nothing but praise for the knowledge, flexibility and responsiveness that the team from GRA brought to our events and the feedback has been fantastic with many saying it’s the best training they’ve been on!”
- Sarah Rudder, Learning & Development Consultant, Thales
“I would like to thank the GRA team for a very enjoyable and productive experience. It is not often that we engage with a company that is so in tune with what we are trying to achieve, it was such a great understanding of the goals and objectives!”
- Gary Marsh, VP for EMEA Sales, Microchip
“On behalf of all of us at HSO we would like to thank GRA for the great support you provided in helping to make our ‘One Team training conference’ a great success. Your professionalism, willingness to ‘make it work’ all helped to make our event at St. George’s Park such a success. Nothing was too much trouble, and your support was brilliant! We have received so much positive feedback about the entire event, a fantastic time was had by all attendees. We look forward to working with you again in the future.”
– Jacky Duggan, HR Team Administrator, HSO
"I would say that the workshop I did with GRA was the most valuable training I have attended since doing a Masters in HR 10 years ago! We have seen a real change in how managers step up to difficult conversations, rather than waiting until the situation gets so bad they need to involve HR. We are really proud of the way our mangers have engaged with the skills and are successfully holding team members accountable in a way that is respectful and gets results.”
Lisa Kumar, HR Business Partner, 1E
“We needed to give our staff the opportunity to get to know each other better. In asking GRA to undertake the task, I knew we’d get creativity and purpose, but the laughter, courage, spontaneity and sheer sense of having fun together exceeded my hopes and made for a hugely successful programme. I have nothing but positive feedback – a real testament to GRA.”
– Tom Hall, Director, Alitex
“The best virtual training session I have attended. I was very impressed! GRA were good at making everyone feel at ease, lowering the barriers to engaging in discussions and creating a very positive and knowledgeable atmosphere.”
– Miki Van Kooji, Msc Student International Management, Kings College London
“The feedback and positive comments that we received from our team far exceeded my expectations and I was thrilled with the day. It really delivered on what we wanted to achieve.”
- Hannah Cooksey, EMEA Team Lead, Commvault
“GRA’s trainers were easy to talk to, challenged us to go more in-depth on important topics and were open to answering any questions, making us feel like our concerns were always valued. ”
– Lola Girot, Logistics Graduate, DS Smith
“GRA’s Outdoor Leadership Centre was a great addition to the things we worked on in training, so it’s certainly something I would do with the team again.”
- Steve McNamara, During his time as England Men’s Rugby League Manager
“Thank you to the GRA team for a great event. Our team had nothing but praise for the team building programme, best one ever!”
- Orleen Knight, Office Manager, Opsview
“The vision programme our senior team attended was extremely effective and efficient, and i have received so much positive feedback about how much everyone enjoyed working with Grahame and his team! We will definitely be staying in touch on future collaboration!”
– Samantha Barrass, CEO, Business Banking Resolution Service
"This was the best executive management team event I have been on. It gave me lots of insights on where I, and the team, can improve."
- Stephen Bateman, CEO, Derbyshire Healthcare
"GRA staff were FANTASTIC and the players really enjoyed themselves! We hope that next time we're at St. George's Park we can spend some more time doing some of the other activities."
- Sam Zapatka, National Teams Coordinator, USA Soccer
“I enjoyed the residential programme we did with GRA at St. George’s Park very much – it was great to learn about our inherent personality traits and their translation to best-suited roles in a team. I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I say that the two days spend with GRA were fun-filled yet fruitful, and relaxing, yet productive. I would like to extend my thanks to you for organising this and especially to Joe, who led a fantastic session. I look forward to further training with GRA and coming back to St. George’s Park in the future!”
- Mrinalini Chakrabarty, Engineering Graduate, Collins Aerospace
“Since attending a Leading Change event with GRA, where I saw a level of skill provided by the facilitators to really draw out the learning from the outdoor events that I had not witnessed at anywhere else, I have been waiting for an opportunity to use them. It presented itself this year and we have just completed out first trainee scheme induction event and plan to run one every year for the foreseeable future as they did such a good job!”
- Lindsey Arnold, Learning & Development Manager, Telford Homes Plc
“When we met GRA, we were intrigued by the energy, enthusiasm and knowledge that the team possessed. We knew instantly that they were the perfect match for Kyocera when they introduced their ‘Challenge by Choice’ policy, providing a safe learning environment for our employees.”
- Julia Allen, Learning & Development Manager, Kyocera
Grahame Robb Associates have been market leaders in customer-focused experiential training since 1989, with two fully equipped Outdoor Centres and a wide range of options available for one-off and modular courses.
To discuss your requirements with one of our experienced teams, or to find out more about our offerings, please call us today on 01962 779911, or click here to get in touch.