Success Story – Leadership and Management Development Program

The National Composites Centre was set up to bring together dynamic companies and enterprising academics to develop new technologies for the design and manufacture of high-quality composite products. The first year of operation involved meeting challenging targets with 25 initial staff rising to 130 over 2 years.

Natural Talent was chosen out of 5 providers as having the most detailed proposal, and the most proven experience in the design and delivery of such programs, in particular during constant change and growth, having already delivered many Competency-based Management Development Programs to AXA Technology Services during times of great change, and Executive Coaching Programs to Odenberg Engineering during 3 mergers and acquisitions.

Business Issue

Due to the speed of expansion, a reorganization, and an increased number of managers, an external Learning and Development Consultancy was required in order to build on a number of initial in-house courses. The key objectives of the modular Leadership and Management Program were to assess and identify high potential managers, to change behaviors to enable the Managers to become more effective to better lead their teams in a very fast changing environment, and to align their behaviors and goals with the business strategy.

Solution

Natural Talent designed and delivered a bespoke Leadership and Management Development Program which was introduced to the CEO and senior management team in a one-day interactive session.  Subsequently, modules were also rolled out each month to the two management teams.

At the beginning of the Program, each Manager and Team Leader had assessed their Leadership and Management Competencies and completed the Strength Deployment Indicator in order to identify their key personality traits and identify how and when to adapt their approach to improving their working relationships. In addition, the Natural Talent Leadership and Management Development Consultant also assessed each Manager against the Competencies.

Natural Talent worked very closely with the HR team to design and develop a Leadership and Management Development Program which covered 7 Modules over 7 months:

1. Managing Yourself and Leading Others (Increasing self-awareness, adapting their approach to improve working relationships, reviewing effective Communication, and identification of the difference between Management and Leadership and choosing the relevant Leadership Style according to the situation)
2. Building Effective Relationships, Negotiating with key Stakeholders, Coaching your Team, Building Self Belief and Self Esteem (Consultative Sales Skills techniques, the TGROW Coaching Model, Assertiveness, Confidence and the power of PMA)
3. Performance Management, Appraisal Best Practice, Giving Feedback, Talent Management and Succession Planning
4. Creating High Performing Teams, Dealing with Conflict and difficult Team Members and Challenging Situations
5. Recruitment and Assessment, Talent Measurement Tools, Psychometric Tests, Learning and Development Styles, Equality and Diversity
6. Managing Change and Uncertainty, Stress Management, Building Resilience, Planning and Organizing Techniques, Delegation and Empowerment Models
7. Strategic Awareness, Creating a Culture of Innovation and Growth.

All the Training was delivered in a highly effective Coaching Training style with each Manager identifying his strengths and key development areas and the Leadership and Management Competencies he needed to work on. Some 1:1 Coaching sessions also took place for those who required additional support.

Outcome

At the end of the Program, the Managers completed a test review of the content in order to assess their progress and identify any ongoing development needs. These results were then discussed with their Line Managers and combined into their Personal Development Plans with Goals aligned with the overall business strategy and with SMART Action Plans completed for ongoing development. Certificates were also distributed and the Program is to be considered for accreditation by the University of the West of England.

As a result of the Program feedback has been consistently over 9/10 and senior Managers have reported significant improvements in the behaviors and relationships of many participants. Many of the Managers and Team Leaders have significantly changed their behavior in order to be more effective and have been identified for promotion. Overall there was a shift towards a more open culture.

‘Jill is professional, smart, engaging and very knowledgeable. She built rapport quickly with both Senior Managers, engineers and support staff and sustained good relationships. Jill was reliable and tenacious in her approach to her work and delivered 2 successful management development programmes for NCC. She is also great fun to work with. We always looked forward to the days she was coming in.’  Head of HR

‘I thoroughly enjoyed the management training delivered by Jill covering subjects such as Strategy, Leadership and Communication. Jill’s style is direct and to the point, giving you what you need to know as concisely as possible. I also found Jill to be helpful with real work-based problems and was kind enough to give advice outside of the classroom if requested. I would certainly recommend Jill if you require business or personal development training.’  Technology Program Manager