Leadership & Coaching With Attitude

A Bank employing nearly 6000 staff underwent major managerial changes. As part of the process to facilitate these changes a Management and Supervision Training Review was carried out. This revealed managers were not clear about roles and responsibilities, which arose from their supervisory role, particularly with regard to:

The need to identify developmental needs in their staff
The need to coach their staff to improve performance
The importance of developing and recommending programmes to meet developmental needs

This review also highlighted that even when roles and responsibilities were recognised, many managers lacked the skills to carry out their role effectively. In addition many managers did not have the opportunity for management training at the most appropriate time in their career. Logistical problems meant that training did not happen when required or was not provided in the most appropriate way.

Kirsty Hayes (working under The Learning Attitude brand) was invited to develop a Leadership Coaching programme after the Bank had investigated many other training and development providers. Kirsty proposed:

The programme convey the necessary teaching points and provide core skills that could be immediately transferred to the workplace.
The workshop be a skills-based course containing practical ideas for enhancing performance and developing staff.
The training methodology reflects the differing learning styles of participants and be appropriate to convey the necessary teaching points.
The Model of coaching is consistent with the Banks existing model of coaching.
The leadership theory reflects the "Situational Leadership" model.
Material and examples reflect the desired culture and practices of the entire banking Group.

Many interviews with the Bank's senior management were necessary to ensure a full and comprehensive understanding of the issues and needs before any work was started.

Once this background was established Kirsty developed a process to maximise the return on investment for a three-day Leadership Coaching workshop, which Kirsty also developed. This workshop was designed to be facilitated over a three month period; days one and two were facilitated consecutively, and day three was facilitated two months later, after participants had completed several on-the-job activities and gathered feedback on their skills.

Kirsty developed tools and templates for managing the invitation, selection, notification, pre-work, delivery, on-the-job assignments, and post work for the workshop. In addition Kirsty designed a 'train the trainer' process to train internal trainers within the Bank to facilitate the workshop at regular intervals on and on-going basis.

Kirsty also developed a comprehensive evaluation system to allow measurement of:

The participant's reaction to the training.
The participant's understanding of the training material, and leadership coaching principles.
The behavioural changes within the participants, and
The impact on the business results, of this programme.

Comments from participants of the programme included:

"I thought the course was excellent value. It firmly established the process for coaching in me and has given me the tools to create a winning team, always striving to succeed. Great interaction on the course, very relaxed atmosphere."

"Taught the importance of coaching, different ways and methods of coaching. Provided great feedback and discussion in group sessions. Provided the motivation and skills to tackle coaching role. Made learning fun. Really beneficial and enjoyable."

In addition to favourable comments by participants, the impact of the training was statistically tested and proven to be significant in changing the behaviour of, and up-skilling the participants to understand and use the coaching process in their everyday work.

The results of this evaluation illustrated the most significant movement in the managers' behaviours occurred in the competency of "Job Performance". This translates to the manager's skill in providing direct feedback on behaviour and on job performance to the team member, and accepting feedback on their own performance improved considerably. It also meant the managers' frequency in providing positive feedback and encouragement, and their reaction when a team member made a mistake also improved dramatically. The next most significant movement in the managers' behaviours occurred in the competencies identified as "Communication", "Team" and "Leadership".

The specific business results most impacted by this training were the number of personal grievances taken by staff during the significant restructuring that followed this programme. In addition the overall performance of managers was recorded to have improved which was verified by the Bank's improved financial results during the period this programme was being delivered.