(3) Manufacturing - International

Themes:

International leadership development, multi-module program, work projects, vision, team development.

Industry:

Industrial manufacturing, Mid-size Company - International

The Task:

The board-level management had set up a new company vision and strategy process that was subsequently communicated to the entire organization. The employee survey confirmed the motivation of the staff and their commitment to deliver results. However, the new strategy and vision had not been implemented and employees were critical of the lack of cooperation between teams and their leadership.

The task given to Coverdale was to enable second level leadership aligning the organization, so that the new strategy would be executed and the vision of becoming the international market leader in their segment would be achieved. 

The Solution:

As a first step Coverdale interviewed leaders from the first and second level management in order to identify and verify development needs. As a result Coverdale custom designed a program consisting of three multi-day modules that targeted the entire second level management.

Module 1:

The first module focused on the company vision. Utilizing Coverdale's facilitation and team coaching approach participants created a process to "translate" the overall company vision for their departments. This process resulted in actionable aims supporting the vision as well as into leadership behaviors that model the company's values for their teams. Participants reported that these tangible results generated enthusiasm in their teams as well as additional questions.

Module 2:

This module, based on Coverdale's inductive learning approach, focused on leadership skills. Skills around themes such as useful feedback, delegation, and clarity of aims were developed experientially. Participants discovered how leadership styles could be adapted to any given situation and to the skill level of their direct report. Only when aims are clear and clearly communicated can alignment be achieved.

Module 3:

The final workshop culminated in drawing conclusions from the program and preparing a process plan to apply the learning back at work to their teams and departments. Participants had gone through a team development process over the course of the two modules and the work project that ran during the entire third module. Participants learned how to set up and steer a team development process, turning their departments into high performing teams.  

The Outcome:

The first groups of participants have returned as "ambassadors" for the new vision and strategy to their departments. The feedback from the staff is positive and re-ignited the momentum towards reaching the new vision.