APS/Berk case study
The company had a history of investing in training and tended to spend more than its nearest competitors, but felt that the return was disappointing. The senior management team thought that the reason might be that the training had been divorced from the organisation's context and perhaps seen as imposed on those who received it.
We were asked to investigate this and then to recommend a bespoke leadership development programme for its top 50 managers.
Approach:
Phase 1: assessment
The development needs of managers were assessed in relation to:
The assessment was conducted by running six self-assessment workshops. Each of the competency areas was introduced in turn, with some general guidance on the meaning of the four available levels of competence. The elements under each area were then explained briefly and any that required clarification were dealt with.
Results
Phase 2: design
We recommended that a core programme for all managers should be developed, supplemented by a small number of modules to meet some significant, but not universal, needs. We suggested a three-day residential programme with about one day of pre-work, for groups of 16-20 drawn from a mix of all main locations.
We recommended that modular programmes to meet specific but not universal needs should be developed in relation to:
The content of the core module was:
The critical success factors for the course were:
Finally, we suggested that the programme should be “branded”, with a course manual, binder, name cards and certificate of attendance, and we managed the design and production of these.
Results
Phase 3: delivery
Two facilitators ran each course. Each participant was asked to complete part of a written course assessment questionnaire after each main session and then at the end of the course. The feedback was used to modify and continually improve the course as we progressed with its roll-out. We also asked participants for feedback on the planned additional modules at the end of each course.
Results