npower Case Study | Leading The Way

The Brief

In June 2007, in recognition of the tough, competitive times ahead, npower approached NKD to play a key part in their initiative to drive higher performance levels and productivity across the company. Whilst recognising process, paperwork and relevant training were all in place to support managers with the ‘technicalities’ of managing performance, npower knew this was only part of the story; what needed to happen first – with NKD’s help – was reconnecting managers with the performance agenda in a more engaging way, leading them to think and feel more positive about managing others as well as giving them the confidence to take decisive action when needed.
 

The Solution

Three 1-day ‘Leading the Way’ events were run for around 100 key leaders, designed to engage them both emotionally and intellectually with the realities and practicalities of driving a High Performance agenda.

Prior to the events, NKD met with relevant business stakeholders to understand their perspective, desired outcomes and what, in their opinion, got in the way of leaders managing performance effectively. Understanding the existing levels of ‘skill’ and ‘will’ led NKD to design a highly interactive session, using a blend of external research and benchmarking, film, diagnostic tools and discussion to engage both the heads and hearts of the Leadership team.

Working in small groups, the design allowed leaders to discuss openly how they saw, and the importance they honestly placed on, managing others. This frank discussion about mindsets helped managers recognise shared concerns and allowed them to explore the impact this was having on their teams and business. The focus was on how they needed to think and behave going forward to change their own and their team’s performance to deliver improved bottom line results.

The event was also attended by a member of the Senior Leadership team who, through a short presentation, explained why Managing Performance was so critical to bottom line performance and underlined the Senior Team’s commitment to creating a High Performance organisation. Throughout the day, leaders captured their insights, ideas and specific actions they would take to improve how they managed others back at work.
 

Results

The feedback from all three events was first-rate, with delegates commenting that after the event their commitment and engagement with managing performance had significantly increased. Delegate feedback said leaders understood more clearly the connection between their mindset and behaviour, their teams and the bottom line results of the business. Following the Performance Management workshops, npower client feedback reported leaders went into subsequent refresher training (the process and paperwork) with a more positive attitude and willingness to take action. Also, the HR department reported an increase in the number of managers approaching them for support to manage the more difficult people issues that would previously have gone untackled.