.png?r=a2-bffffff-s124.124-q100)
The Challenge
Whittingham Riddell recognised that their people are fundamental to the rapid growth that they have seen, and that people development is key to their ongoing success. They also recognised that, while technical expertise is essential in the professional services sector, interpersonal skills and personal effectiveness are equally important.
A personal development programme that could be adapted and applied across all levels at Whittingham Riddell was required. The programme needed to get all Partners, Managers, Supervisors and Seniors to understand and adopt a common approach to work, while developing key soft skills and thereby improving the personal effectiveness of all delegates.
The Solution
A generic personal development programme was designed in 2006 with sufficient flexibility to accommodate different levels within the firm with only minor modification.
The first programme, consisting of three interactive half-day sessions, was run with the Partners in 2006 and helped them to adopt an “inclusive” approach to their teams, to develop their management skills, and thereby promote growth of those teams and the business.
Based on feedback from the Partner programme subsequent programmes were modified to accommodate the different skills needed and the different starting points of the firm’s Managers, Supervisors and Seniors.
A programme of five half-day sessions was run for Managers in the Spring of 2007, six-session programmes were run for Supervisors in the Autumn of 2007, and for Seniors in the Summer of 2008.
The Outcome
Every delegate that attended a programme in the series acquired and practiced a range of practical leadership and management tools and techniques, as well as benefiting from significant gains in communication, presentation skills and working together as a team.
What they said..
“In addition to the obvious benefits that we are getting from our people applying their new skills, the programmes brought people together from different offices and different sections, which has created much better understanding between offices and really helped to understand each others’ issues.
By running similar development programmes for all levels of the firm, we have made real progress in improving our soft skills capacity and in getting everyone to adopt a common approach to work. All of which has, and continues to, enhance our reputation for excellence.”
Helen Spencer - HR Associate
.jpg?r=a0-bffffff-s99.99-q100)
