We are incredibly proud of our commitment to growth at Sonderen Packaging. One of our Fierce Behaviors encourages employees to “get excited about learning new tasks and training on new skills. Be committed to personal and professional growth by being open to new or different ways of thinking. Welcome input from others. Continually seek knowledge and ways to improve your character.” This is not just about professional development but also about personal growth, and we value that immensely.

We love to grow our people and hire from within whenever possible. To ensure our folks have the skills and experience needed to advance and succeed, we recently developed an internal training program for high-potential employees who have the passion, drive, and desire to hold a leadership position at Sonderen now or in the future. We named it the ‘Management Skill Development Program’ or MSDP. Succession planning is essential for all companies to be on top of, and the MSDP is one way we attempt to ensure seamless leadership transitions within our company.

There are three primary categories of the MSDP: Learn, Apply, and Responsibility. The participant must complete up to 23 unique tasks within each category.

The ‘learning section’ includes:

  • Reading Radical Candor and NO EGO books.
  • Attending various company meetings.
  • Participating in the Gonzaga University Authentic Leadership retreat.
  • Giving feedback on performance reviews.
  • Hiring new team members.

The timeline to complete the MSDP is approximately 18-22 months.

Recently, our two MSDP participants attended a leadership summit in Chicago organized by the Paperboard Packaging Council. Tyler states, ” I learned a lot about myself and tactics for managing a variety of personalities. It was very helpful, and I will apply what I learned immediately!”

Matt and Keva Sonderen are passionate about education and wanted to ensure the MSDP had a schooling aspect integrated. They partnered directly with the Community Colleges of Spokane corporate training arm. Together, they established the learning objectives, and the school employed two instructors to teach the three-quarter Management Training Program course. We found that there were other high-potential leaders within the company who were eager to invest their time into growing their skill sets.

Currently, there are six Sonderen employees enrolled in this course. The course covers various topics, including computer skills such as Excel, Word, and Outlook, finance basics, communication, business economics, difficult conversations, and performance evaluations. After completing the first quarter of this program, each student was eager to continue learning. “The skills they are learning directly translate to their day-to-day jobs. I think it has given them a greater respect for the challenges managers face and the various ways challenges are addressed. I have seen their confidence grow exponentially”, says Keva Sonderen.