Project: Senior management development programme for the sector skills council for retail.

Brief: Following a rebranding and restructuring exercise, the Chief Operating Officer and heads of department team required a cost-effective programme to develop their core skills.

Approach: We worked closely with the senior team to identify:

• A shared statement of the overall purpose of their management activities
• A set of shared core values
• Key behaviours and norms to be used in support of those values

Priority training needs for individuals and the team were then identified using a 360° skills assessment tool. A modular programme was designed and delivered including workshops and one-to-one coaching in:

• Team working
• Conflict handling
• Meetings
• Influencing
• Communication

Outcome: The modular approach delivered a targeted development programme within budget. The senior team now has a clear set of skills against which to benchmark its ongoing development and which can be used beyond the life of this project.