University of Strathclyde Business School

David Hillier is the Executive Dean and Professor of Finance at the University of Strathclyde Business School.

Founded in 1948, the University of Strathclyde Business School (SBS) is a pioneering, internationally renowned academic organisation that shapes and develops the business minds of tomorrow.

David realised very early on that mentoring not only makes a profound difference to young people, but would also help his staff. 

Why did you want to work in partnership with MCR Pathways?

“My interactions with MCR have left me in no doubt that this is an incredibly effective approach to enable people to optimise their life, achieve their ambitions and to go forward and make something of themselves. It doesn’t just impact them. Impacting someone’s life now doesn’t just affect that individual, it affects their children, their grandchildren and you don’t know what impact it will have long-term. I’m fully behind this initiative.”

“Research has shown that the best leaders are those leaders who can empathise with people. The best way that you can really learn to empathise with people is to work with others… in a very nonjudgemental way.”

“As part of our collaboration with MCR I made the commitment that 20% of our staff will get involved as mentors. This will take some time but we want it to embed itself into what we do as an organisation and as a business school.”

How does your organisation and staff benefit from mentoring?

“It’s very much a two-way approach. It’s what we can do for society, but also, by working with MCR Pathways, we’re actually able to really have an impactful staff development programme through this mentoring. Through the training that MCR Pathways gives our staff, they’ll develop these leadership skills which will put them in a great position for developing their own career as well. By including this initiative into our ‘what we do’, it has a really big impact on the productivity and morale of the staff.”

What would you say to other organisations about MCR Pathways?

“If I was to summarise our engagement with MCR Pathways is that it’s a ‘win win win’ for everyone. There’s a ‘win’ for the community and society. There’s a win for the individual. And there’s a ‘win’ for the staff and our organisation. We’re making a difference, we’re having an affect, we’re having an impact and we’re also improving the lives of young people and also our staff.”

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