Business Empowerment Scholarships

CLOSED FOR 2025

These scholarships help you to enhance your business skills.

Before applying, make sure you have read the application guidance document (here). Please take note of what we ask you below to “tell us” in your application.

Please note - if you apply for a scholarship but don’t meet the criteria for it, you won’t be offered the chance of a different scholarship.

You can only apply for one scholarship.

Please make sure you have gained approval from a senior manager for your application.

All scholarship content specifics are subject to change. Any changes will be in keeping with the feel of the original scholarship idea.

Scholarships in this section:

Resilience / People Management - Supervisory / People Management - Management

Art of Leadership / Women in Tourism and Hospitality Leadership Programme

Resilience

What: Resilience awareness and practical tools

What will you learn: This series of workshops will strengthen your Mental Fitness, by understanding what makes you resilient and which practical tools can help you stop feeling stressed and back in control of your life, in order to feel more resilient, happy, stress free and working to your best mental abilities. You will be more effective at work, having better working relationships and feeling happier. Over the 3 sessions you will learn about:

how your mind works (Saboteur to Success)
understanding who are your inner critics
what does resilience mean for you
ABC resilience plan
coping strategies
practical PQ tools to build your daily mental muscles

Who is this suitable for / criteria: This is especially for anyone who currently feels a bit overwhelmed or stressed at work, and is looking for tips to help them feel less anxious and cope better.

Where: Online, interactive

How Long: 3 x 90 minute course, with some pre-reading required before each session. Plus the suggestion of short daily practices to help create new mental fitness habits. You need to spend time away from this thinking about the material, what it means, and trying the support exercises to allow you to get the most from this.

When: Once a week, for 3 weeks. Confirmed dates: Tuesday 4th March, Tuesday 11th March, Tuesday 18th March 2025 (1.30pm to 3.00pm)

Structure: These workshops are created and taught by an experienced leadership trainer and Mental Fitness Coach. Ahead of the session, you will be invited to a private learning platform where you will get access to the weekly materials. There will be pre-reading and videos to watch that must be done ahead of each session, this will take between 30 – 60 minutes. There will be no need to print anything off. The weekly live sessions will be online via Zoom and will be interactive with you being expected to contribute your thoughts and ideas. You require access to a laptop/tablet with a camera and microphone so you can be seen and heard, and a quiet place to take part where you won't be interrupted.

Number of scholarships: 1 group of 25 (max)

Tell us: Why do you want to do this scholarship? How do you hope this scholarship will help you?

CLOSED

People Management - Supervisory level

This is the same Tourism and Hospitality Talent Development Programme Supervisory course that we ran in 2022

What: This course will introduce you to foundational concepts and practical skills and techniques to help you manage change, make better choices and decisions, delegate effectively and manage performance within your team.

What you will learn: The content has been designed to provide new skills, insights, tools and techniques to allow you to get the best performance from yourself and the rest of your team. You will learn to:

Appreciate the mindset and qualities required to move forward in your first management position
Recognise your own management style, qualities and strengths whilst improving your confidence when managing people
Build resilience and inspire trust in yourself and your team
Explore and create a culture where everyone thrives
Improve your own productivity and master how to get results through others
Improve your problem solving and decision-making skills
Provide effective and actively seek feedback
Embrace change and support others through the transition.

Who is this suitable for / criteria: For those who have had no ‘people management’ training. Participants will be new team leaders or supervisors who want to build confidence and develop their management style. Also suitable for those who are about to take that first step into supervising a team.

Where: Online (the sessions are live and interactive)

How long: 6 x 4 hour sessions (you must be available to take part in the whole session)

When: Feb/March/April or April/May 2025 (will be either 9am to 1pm or 1pm to 5pm), this will be once a week for 6 weeks. It will be the same day and same time each week, to allow the business to schedule time for you to do this course. You must take part in all 6 sessions.

Structure: This course has been created for us and is taught by experienced training company We Are Extraordinary (Training) Ltd. The weekly live sessions will be via an online learning platform called GiraffePad, and will be interactive with you being expected to contribute your thoughts and ideas. You require access to a laptop/tablet with a camera and microphone so you can be seen and heard, and a quiet space to take part. This is a series of modules that builds on each other. This is all live but online, if that is not a suitable learning environment for you, then this is not for you.

Number of scholarships: 1 group of 25 max

Tell us: Tell us about your experience so far as a supervisor/manager, what your current role involves, and how many people you currently manage (if you do!). If you are not yet in a supervisory role, tell us about your hopes for your career. Tell us why and how you think this will help you and your business.

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People Management - Management level

This is the same Tourism and Hospitality Talent Development Programme Management course that we ran in 2022

What: The purpose of these work-sessions is to enable aspiring leaders to get the best performance from themselves and the rest of their team by gaining new insights, skills, tools and techniques needed to help them feel more confident, motivated and self-assured.

What you will learn: We will share proven strategies to help you shift your mindset from manager to leader, focusing specifically on communicating your vision, goal setting and achievement, clarifying expectations, planning and prioritising, constructive feedback and how to inspire yourself and others. You will learn to:

Clarify what leadership means, to you and others
Appreciate your own leadership style, qualities and strengths and adopt a leadership mindset
Build resilience and inspire trust in yourself and your team
Explore bias and identify ways to raise awareness and manage unconscious bias in the workplace
Influence others, improve communication and manage up effectively
Cultivate a culture that opens up conversations and develops capabilities
Adapt a coaching mindset and techniques and understand the importance of feedback
Influence others, improve communication and manage up effectively
Embrace change and support others through the transition

Who is this suitable for / criteria: Participants will ideally already be managing a team, or have previous experience of managing a team. For those who are looking to enhance the performance of their people and move them, and themself, from good to great. For those moving from being a functional expert to leading people for the first time, you will want to find ways to motivate, engage, coach and have conversations that matter.

Where: Online (the sessions are live and interactive)

How long: 6 x 4 hour sessions (you must be available to take part in the whole session)

Number of scholarships: 1 group of 25 max

Tell us: Tell us about your experience so far as a manager, what your current role involves, and how many people you currently manage. Tell us what training you have had in people management so far. Tell us why and how you think this will help you and your business.

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Art of Leadership

What: The Art of Leadership

What you will learn: ‘The Art of Leadership’ helps managers understand how to go from managing a team, to leading a team. It looks at leadership theory and behaviour, putting the theory into practice, with various methods for building relationships for successful business results through effective communication. It looks at leadership competencies and the essential role of HRD in times of crisis, critical leadership skills, your leadership style and how to adapt it to suit a situation. It looks at coaching and how to lead a successful team. The participants will have an opportunity to develop their own personal action plan. This course also lets you experience how hospitality is taught in this world renowned hotel management business school, and is great for networking with the other scholars.

Who this is suitable for / criteria: This is aimed at middle managers and HODs who already have experience managing others and have completed some training in people management, who are confident in their ability to get the best performance from themselves and the rest of their team. You will have been in a middle management position for at least 2 years. You must have a team responsibility so you can put the learnings into practice. This is suitable for people who wish to move into a more senior role as a leader.

Where: EHL Hospitality Business School, Lausanne (EHL), Switzerland.

How long: 2 day course, you are away for 3 nights 4 days, and stay in Lausanne.

When: April 2025 (dates TBC)

Structure: This course has been designed by EHL Advisory Services, the consulting arm of EHL, especially for our HIT Scotland group, and is facilitated at the EHL campus in Lausanne, Switzerland. This is an interactive programme, with facilitation methods that offer real life examples and industry good practice filled with discussions and group presentations. Participants will all be encouraged to practise giving and receiving feedback during the sessions. There is group homework on day one, where you will be expected to read a case study and prepare a presentation for the next day, this is done after class. At the end of the session, participants will take away key leadership skills and practices to navigate in their work environments and add value to their organisations.

Number of scholarships: 1 group of 16 max

Tell us: Tell us about your experience and training as a manager, especially within the area of people management, what courses have you done and what have you learned? Tell us how long you have been a manager at this level, what your current role involves, and how many people you currently manage. Tell us why and how you think this will help you and your business, and your plans for your career.

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WiTH Leadership Programme

What: A leadership programme for Women in Tourism & Hospitality.

Research shows that despite comprising the majority of the industry's workforce, women are not reaching as many senior positions as men. This programme is designed to empower and uplift women in hospitality and tourism.

What you will learn: So, what can you expect from the WiTH Leadership Programme?

Learn about yourself as a brand; Who are you as a leader? What is your USP? And what do you need to do to grow?
Understand what it means to have Vision, to Align a team behind it and to Execute successfully
Develop the personal agency to stand up for what you believe in, and give yourself freedom to live by your values
Understand the power of a strong and supportive network; Expand your professional network and access mentorship opportunities to foster career growth
Break through the glass ceiling and overcome barriers that hinder women's advancement in the industry.
Develop a strategic mindset and hone decision-making abilities.
Nurture resilience and adaptability to thrive in a dynamic and competitive industry.
Build confidence and assertiveness to negotiate for equal opportunities and recognition.
Listen to and learn from key inspirational speakers both within the industry and beyond

Who is this suitable for / criteria: This programme is designed for women who are intent on growing in both a professional and personal capacity within the tourism and hospitality sectors and who aspire to advance their careers. Usually in the middle phase of your career, with around three to 5 years’ experience in a management or people leader role your aim is to transition into a senior leadership role. We’re looking for a head of department level or equivalent, with experience managing a team.

Where: In-person (Edinburgh / Glasgow) and Online (live)

How long: 4 x full day in-person sessions. 4 x half day live-online coaching sessions.

When: April to November 2025 (specific dates TBC)

Structure: This course has been created by and is facilitated by We Are Extraordinary (Training) Ltd; an organisation with strong roots within the Tourism and Hospitality sectors, who believe everyone has the potential to be more. This is not a skills based programme, it was created with passion to enable learning, ownership, and change. Using a mix of discussion, peer and experiential learning, with coaching, some sessions have a guest speaker; a role model who will share their own career path into a leadership position.

Number of scholarships: 8 max

Tell us: Tell us about your experience so far as a manager, what your current role involves, and how many people you currently manage. Tell us why and how you think this will help you and your business.

Thanks to We Are Extraordinary for providing this programme for our scholars. Find out more about them at their website here

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