Farscape Development — Reach Your Goals Faster

Case Study Airbus

Synopsis

An 18-month senior leadership team development programme, which delivered the single biggest improvement of any team across the company (based upon Gallup Employee Engagement Scores) and elevated the team to one of the Top 6 performing teams in the wider organisation.

What were the challenges?

• As a senior leadership team within a critical manufacturing part of the business, managers were responsible for delivering high quality components to the Final Assembly Line. In this high pressured environment, targets were tough and demands upon individuals were significant. Important targets were not being hit and morale was low. Managers needed a change in approach to improve performance and re-engage staff.
• A culture of measurement and control had led to a lack of ownership and personal responsibility. Managers needed to identify the 'life-blood' of the team in order to start winning back people's commitment and loyalty.
• Many of the senior leadership team had worked their way up through the company and were extremely technically proficient. However not all of them had the appropriate leadership skills to get the most from their teams and needed an opportunity to develop their leadership behaviours and skills.

What happened?

Farscape developed an 18-month programme for the Senior Leadership Team, which involved a series of interventions throughout the 18 months with interim coaching.  The programme focused on and included:

• Use of employee engagement survey and a bespoke team survey to identify how the team are performing both from their own perspective and also from the perspective of their reports; other internal teams; stakeholders; and customers.
• SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of where the team are now and where they need to be.
• A personal journey to help delegates to discover their own strengths and weaknesses (including psychometric profiling and feedback).
• Identification of personal values and drivers to help individuals understand themselves and others in order to communicate more effectively.
• Identification of what good leadership looks like in order to agree a set of principles or behaviours that they will show and be measured against.
• Identification of the team 'brand' or identity to establish how the team will communicate with each other; their reports; other internal teams; stakeholders; and customers.
• Learning about different approaches, models and frameworks in order to develop a tool box of skills for use when leading (including coaching and briefing).
• Practicing different skills and techniques to identify what styles are appropriate for different people and situations.
• Giving and receiving feedback about individual and team performance in order to practice having difficult conversations.
• Reflecting on personal attitudes and behaviours in order to identify where changes need to be made to improve performance (including creating a personal action plan).

What were the outcomes?

• The team’s Gallup Engagement Score increased from the 25th Percentile to 75th Percentile, showing the single biggest improvement across the company.  The team are now considered to be one of the Top 6 performing teams in the organisation.
• The team’s behaviours are embedded and are noticed by people outside the team – unsolicited feedback from colleagues and reports has emphasised the impact of this change.
• Individuals recognise the importance of behaviours in leadership and are taking the time to focus on people as well as process.  This is leading to improved performance and morale.
• Self awareness has grown and individuals now understand what they need to do in order to improve their own performance as senior leaders.

 “Our UK Manufacturing team is challenging and Farscape have been brilliantly flexible in their approach in engaging them.  The requirements of the team are complex and Farscape have designed a programme which is firmly focused on the outcomes and results that we need.  As an HR Manager/Employee Engagement Specialist I look for providers who really listen to our needs rather than pull something off the shelf and act as if it’s 'just for us'.  In this respect Farscape have been very strong.  The training that Farscape have delivered so far with our senior leadership team has already had an impact.  The team are now focused on developing the right behaviours; understanding how they impact on the people around them; and they are committed to making the changes that they need.  By the end of the programme I feel confident that Farscape will have delivered focused results.  Farscape are professional; they know their stuff and are passionate about what they do – I recommend them wholeheartedly.”
Matt Collington, Head of HR Employee Engagement, Reward, Organisation Design and Vitality, Airbus