Sarah Fidment couldn't be further from the stereotype of a dusty academic stuck in an ivory tower of theoretical thinking and out of touch with every day life.
The 40-year-old is an example of the modern approach being taken by university business schools that are striving to meet the demands of industry.
She's a key player in Business Advantage, a joint project by Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield Business Schools that works closely with organisations to help them develop.
"University business schools have changed. In recent years there has been a shift towards being more understanding of and exploring business needs rather than us prescribing solutions," says Fidment, business engagement manager and principal lecturer in organisational development with Business Advantage.
With a background that takes in significant academic achievement and experience working in industry, Fidment is well placed to bridge the perceived gap between academic theory and the real world of business. She describes her role as fulfilling three requirements:
• To understand: "I have to go out there and understand what organisations or sectors need in terms of development."
• To explore: "I need to get underneath their skin and find out the DNA of the organisation."
• To implement: "Working with the organisation as a partner, we create a solution and implement it."
She adds: "We work closely with the organisation to identify their needs and come up with solutions. They know their business and have a good understanding of their development needs."
Fidment and the rest of the team at Business Advantage act as a 'fresh pair of eyes' when they come into an organisation.
"In this role, you need to be able to listen and understand," she says. "It's about understanding the culture of the organisation and what they want to do in terms of moving forward, what their strategy is and what they want to do long-term. We help identify and set long-term goals."
Other skills she identifies that are important to her role working in an academic institution with businesses include coaching, effective questioning, negotiation, persuasion and influence.
"You also need credibility – to come from a background of being a business practitioner as well as an academic is important when you are having conversations with business people," says Fidment , who has a degree in business and finance as well as a Master's in Human Resource Management and in Leadership and Management from SheffieldHallam University. She has also worked within a development team in an SME (small to medium-sized enterprise) and as a management consultant.
Business Advantage is currently working with 41 organisations from the public, private and third sector. Some clients want coaching and mentoring through a handful of half-day workshops while others want a two-year development programme.
Fidment says: "Because each organisation is so different, we have to be agile and responsive to its needs."
Their clients so far range from South Yorkshire Police, Mobil Industry Lubrication, an SME related to a large corporation, to Sheffield City Council.
Fidment says: "Our track record has been transformational and that is a result of that dedicated time at the beginning of the project to really understand the organisation. One client that we are working with had issues around their logistics operations. We ran a series of workshops for them and at the end of the project they managed to save £660,000 by looking with a fresh perspective at how they run their business."
Fidment believes that the academic input is key to Business Advantage's success as a management consultancy.
"What is unique about our arrangement is the collaboration between the two universities, which gives a larger pool of expertise and a wider range of subjects. We also have the dynamics of an old-style redbrick university, the University of Sheffield, working with a post-1992 vocational university, SheffieldHallam."
Business Advantage director, Lynda Hinxman, adds: "As the product of two academic institutions, we have wealth of knowledge and research – be it blue sky or real life – that we can bring into the workforce development arena. Most people who want to get involved in academic life are reflexive thinkers and critical thinkers, so we bring those qualities to the table, too. We bring the best minds from academic institutions and apply them to business. But it's not about us being the experts and telling everyone what to do – we work together with good organisations to make them great organisations."
Sarah Fidment certainly enjoys working in and with organisations to help them grow in these tough economic times. But, like all jobs, there are challenges too. Staff in an organisation can be resistant to change and sceptical about the role of the academic in business.
"What I enjoy most is getting out there and working with businesses, breaking down the perception of universities as stuffy ivory towers who have done all this research but don't know how to apply it practically. Sometimes we have groups of people who don't see the need for staff development. That's the challenge we have to convince people quickly that their time with us is not wasted and we are adding value."
She adds: "Historically, universities were seen as places where people had to come to be taught, but now we are moving away from this model. I love being part of this new approach. It's a dynamic and exciting role. My job is rewarding because it's so varied. I have to respond to a client's needs so there are no 'core hours' for example. I have to be flexible and that's part of the attraction. It's a privilege to be in this job."
This article has been sponsored by Business Advantage.
