11 managers given the tools to lead

Background
Plymouth Energy Community (PEC) is a charity that helps with fuel poverty in and around the Plymouth area. They have a number of staff that they wanted to train up to be line managers and asked us to share details of all our line management training courses.

Brief
PEC asked us to deliver five training modules that they felt were most relevant to their needs: Managing Hybrid Teams, Delegation, Time Management, Having Courageous Conversations and Coaching Skills. They also asked for a half-day follow-up session, to look at how they might take all of that training forward.

The brief was assigned to associate HR consultant Dr Shelley Poole, an experienced people manager and charity trustee who also lectures at the University of Exeter.

Process
Our first step was to understand what PEC and its managers wanted to achieve from the training. So, as well as speaking to Advice Lead Clare Mains, Shelley undertook a focus group with the managers to ascertain the areas where they felt they experienced challenges, or would like to increase their skills.

Based on this, we agreed that we would run the five modules over two-and-a-half days, then add in the final feedback and review module at the end of the third day. So we ran modules 1 and 2, then modules 3 and 4, and then module 5 with the follow-up. Overall the training ran from January through to April.

This timetable allowed for implementation of the training in between sessions, as well the opportunity for reflections on this, and picking up on any challenges that had arisen. 

Outcome
PEC were really pleased with the training, and we are now talking to them about doing more.

“Shelley helped staff to focus on the mission,” said PEC Advice Lead Clare Mains. “That really helped. We saw a change in how they were able to look at any challenges or issues as they came up. They could be less reactive and more long-term. This training helped people to take a long-term view.

“It was good to have consistency across the entire team of line managers, so everyone has the same framework, receives the same support. It brings people together. It gave them a shared understanding that perhaps wasn’t there before.”

Consultant’s insight
I am always excited when the opportunity arises to work with organisations that make a difference to their communities, and so working with PEC was a fantastic opportunity for me to get to know an organisation closely aligned to my values.

Commissioning training for all their managers represented a significant investment – it is not just the cost of the training but also the time out required – so it was very important that I spent time understanding what they wanted to achieve with the training. This was really helpful in enabling me to design bespoke training content, addressed to meet their needs. 

My highlight was coming in for one session and being told that a tool I had introduced in the previous session had been rolled out by the managers across their teams, and was now part of their way of working.