Case: The young professionals solve problems that keep the CEO awake at night
The high-tech, well-known industrial company group already had a leadership program for so-called “high potentials” (promising managers), and it had run several times. But the company grew rapidly through acquisitions, and the management felt that it needed something else. After an inquiry, PlanB was chosen as a new supplier of training for business-critical people in the company.
PlanB and the company developed the new program together. It had to be perfectly suited to the needs that existed and the reality the participants worked in. It should not be a traditional leadership program with old fashioned pedagogics – no, the focus would be entirely to drive business.
The participants use the company as its primary “literature”. The content is closely connected to the company’s reality, not to any template. Participants are given a specific case, directly from the company’s CEO, and the task is a top priority for the company’s future. Everything they do in the program – the literature they read, the activities they are doing – is linked directly to the case and its operations.
- They practice leadership actively in the program. Through action learning they proactivly develop new behaviours, linked to the strategic situation for the company. Otherwise, you attend lectures and it all makes sense, but it doesn’t really transfer to the workplace when you apply it back home. And that is not good business, says the client.
The participants are given tools that they use in their everyday lives, and a great overview of the company. They get a feel for the work of the entire company, not just their own part.
- They have a different attitude to the company, they get something concrete that they can use in their communities, and they can implement the processes. Their knowledge grows, they get a systems approach and it becomes an eye-opener. Once you have opened your eyes to see the big picture – you enable long-term change. When they have graduated from the course, they can see their own activities, the entire operation and the entire world. But all the time, it is down to earth.
The pedagogical savvy client was also a colleague in the implementation.
- I had previously not found a sounding board, and it was unique that PlanB really understood it, she says. The program is constantly evolving. The foundation is solid, but because the participants are different, every time is unique.
- You can notice a great difference between those who have joined the program, and those who haven’t. People become more active, and they are fully equipped with tools, with forward-looking ideas. They are eager when they come out.
The client says that the program is well received by senior management, line managers and the participants themselves. Because of the practical, business-critical cases, it has resulted in major changes in the company’s business – including a totally new business area.
The program has existed for nearly a decade, and pioneers from the first round are saying they are still using their knowledge from the program and continue to grow – almost ten years later!
- It has become an established program today, and it is seen as a feather in the cap to go there. It is fantastic.
Read about PlanB’s services: If you work with leadership development
