Bathroom Brands – Two Tier Modular Programme with ILM

Background & Organisational Objectives 

In early 2022, we were approached by Bathroom Brands to design and deliver a two-tier leadership programme for two distinct groups:

Aspiring Leaders – high potential, future leaders of the organisation

Senior Managers – experienced people managers, with greater responsibility 

As this was the first initiative of its kind at Bathroom Brands, it was vital that it would introduce a consistent approach to management & leadership across the organisation.  It also needed to help this rapidly growing company move a little away from its entrepreneurial roots and establish some of those practices more common in mature organisations. (whilst still retaining the culture and values that had made it so successful).

It was vital that the programmes were aligned in terms of their messaging but pitched appropriately for their specific audiences.

Programme Format

Following consultation with the key stakeholders, we agreed upon the benefits of delivering the programmes face to face, with each one made up of one full day and 3 half days.

The modular format also allowed plenty of opportunities for implementing their newly learnt skills before reviewing what’s working and what perhaps isn’t with the group and the trainer.  In addition, we agreed to use our Learning Transfer Platform – PROMOTE – to increase the levels of self-directed learning and participant accountability, as well as providing the stakeholders with great visibility of the groups’ progress.

The final element we included was to give the participants the chance of securing an ILM Recognised Certificate.  This increases levels of engagement in the programme providing a clear goal to work towards.

Results

As we would hope, both programmes were extremely well received by the participants throughout but more importantly the evidence we collected on the PROMOTE platform showed us exactly how the learning had been implemented on many different levels.

Furthermore, both programmes concluded with an outstanding ILM Presentation event during which all the participants delivered some truly memorable presentations detailing the impact of the programme on themselves, their team members and wider organisation.   They presented in front of some of the most senior employees at Bathroom Brands with everyone rising to the challenge brilliantly.

In terms of engagement in both programmes, the participants completed an average of 94% of the tasks and activities on PROMOTE, with well over 300 reflections and comments also posted.

All 24 participants secured the ILM recognised certificate, achieving the required pass mark through a combination of their presentation, evidence portfolio and self-directed learning.

Let’s take a closer look at the impact of the training from the participants themselves….

‘To make things easier for both my direct reports and I, we have spent a significant amount of time analysing the tasks and where their developmental stage is in regards to those tasks.  We have also identified what we expect a colleague in ‘D1’ to be capable of in terms of performance’

‘As a result of the training, I am asking myself ‘have the right goals been set’, are they SMART, are the objectives understood and are they achievable?’

‘I have started to use the ‘development’ levels as a way to encourage open feedback and it has worked brilliantly – it has given my team the confidence to speak up when they are unsure about the expectation around a particular task.’

‘While conflict was something I’d previously always try to avoid, since the training I now think about it from a different angle, making me feel much more comfortable to address it positively.’

‘I used to feel intimidated by team members speaking negatively about things but now when I see this happening, I get involved in the conversation right away to prevent any negativity spreading.’

‘Having self-reflected upon my current management style results, it has prompted me to look at my wider motivational strategy with a broader lens recognising both the range of experience in my team, as well as their personal drivers – one size certainly doesn’t fit all!’

‘One of my team had become demotivated by completing the same tasks over many years.  Having now spoken to them, I understand their desire for change and we agreed for him to move areas and I set him new weekly/monthly targets.   He is now performing much better, and his levels of motivation have improved greatly.’