What was the situation?
Mitie Client Services is the leading outsourced five-star front-of-house company in the UK – and from the day the company was started, its culture and approach to learning & development would be the USP and point of difference between the business and its competitors.

My job was to translate the company’s vision and values into tangible, realistic results.  The business stood for “creating exceptional, memorable experiences… One guest at a time”.  The main way this was done was through Learning & Development programmes – and later through our approach to talent management.

Every training programme was designed to immerse people in what made exceptional, five-star service. Designed to be fully experiential and behavioural in focus, the courses sought to change attitudes, rather than instruct or prescribe certain behaviours.  Having over 40 courses available to the team of 800 people, the results were staggering…

So, what happened? 
The programmes were so successful (especially our four-day flagship programme, the Revolution Academy), that clients started wanting it.  It then went national and later international, with our L&D programmes being recognised for being the best around for creating attitudinal shifts in people in a very short space of time.

The effect on the teams were equally impressive – a turnover rate of 7.2% (against an industry average of around 25%), plus 95% of the team agreed that “we deliver on our vision”.  This approach to culture and people led to a range of award wins (see below)​

What was the situation?
I was brought in to Sky’s ‘Site Squad’ of 850 team members nationally, to manage a cultural transformation programme for the property teams. Following a difficult mobilisation, the team were disparate and disengaged, with low-morale and lack of purpose.  Over a year, I ran a range of interventions to:
1. Instil a sense of purpose and clarity in the values
2. Boost leadership capability
3. Improve internal communication
4. Improve the customer service delivery

…resulting in a greatly improved level of morale, satisfaction and engagement.

So, what happened? 
I surveyed the team members through an anonymous online tool and via face-to-face forums to get a clear understanding of which areas needed to be the initial focus.   After that, I implemented a five-step programme of changes within 6 months, which included team workshops, management coaching, team champions, cross training, audits and talent mapping.  This was supported with a range of measures to improve communication, such as listening groups, team talks and feedback mechanisms.  

What was the result?
The feeling of ‘pride in their work’ went from 40% to 85%, the feeling of a ‘great collaboration’ went from 35% to 65% and willingness to ‘go the extra mile’ went from 57% to 83%.

Churn reduced by 10% and the number of internal communications tripled.  I also conducted over 50 training programmes, we held a number of very well-attended social events and ran the first annual awards ceremony. After 18 months the programme came to an end, with big uptick in results from all of the people metrics we originally agreed.

What was the situation?
Following the relocation of their main call centre from Oman to Bahrain, the airline had recruited a completely new workforce for their international call centre, reservations and ticketing department.  As part of the government’s programme to train the national workforce in Bahrain, the airline was keen to invest heavily in the new staff.

 
The airline was not known for its customer experience – therefore, they wanted to invest in the young (and relatively inexperienced) customer-facing teams. 

What happened next?
Having agreed they wanted a level of training not available in the Middle-East, I designed a bespoke customer service skills course, based around the airline’s Middle-Eastern culture and values  The programme focussed on communication skills, vocal impact, five-star service and international protocol throughout the course, along with sales and team working skills.

What were the results?
The relationship with the airline has continued to grow since the initial training programme was agreed, with additional courses being arranged when new recruits join the team, with almost 3 months of training conducted, covering over 200 people.  Both the airline and trainees have given the programme fantastic feedback and information from the airline has shown a big improvement in the customer service experience, increased customer satisfaction and a speedier booking process with far fewer complaints and higher sales.

What was the situation?
After 6 years working for Mitie, the start-up business was beginning to show signs of being a victim of its own success.  As shown in the Mitie case study above, I’d already done a great deal of work in the Learning & Development arena – making sure the teams were well trained, with high morale and a commitment to delivering exceptionally high levels of Five Star service.

I realised that this needed to be reflected in the way we developed careers, not just people.

What happened next?
A competency framework came first; with the organisation’s vision translated into a set of tangible actions across three tiers of the business.  This was then translated into a competency assessment, and then a succession planning framework.  A rollout plan followed, with the management team of some 70-80 people being trained how to use it.  This then fitted into the Appraisal process and allowed me to see what talent was where in the business.

What were the effects?
The system allowed me to see where the weaknesses were and allowed me to act on them quickly.  This was particularly in the areas of succession and talent planning, so we could have candidates lined up to take a promotion as we’d already pre-empted their development needs.  The system also allowed the responsibility for career development to move into the hands of the team, which created a lot more ownership for individuals’ career planning.  Appraisals became easier and more evidence-based, plus it allowed me & the board to strategically plan the talent pipeline.

What was the situation?
I worked with this large government organisation to successfully implement a cultural change programme in order to improve the motivation, engagement and results of the different streams of their facilities team. They also wanted to make sure the different sectors working under the same department were functioning well together as one – ensuring that the very people who audit other organisations had an impressive standard set in their own teams.

What happened?
It was clear from surveys and assessments that the team that felt they had no development and the culture was very much one of ‘silo’ working.  The different teams were not communicating with one another, and there were personality clashes and a blame culture getting in the way of them being productive and achieving their targets.

I helped them to implement a series of short term ‘quick wins’ including management development training as well performance management tools to help the team feel valued and communicate better.

As a long term project, I facilitated the implementation of team customer services and communication skills training, succession planning, and reward programmes.

What were the results?
There is a clear difference in the working environment and team dynamics, the teams are now working well together and the internal conflicts have been resolved. Every team member has a clear development plan, making them feel valued and developed.  The managers have a better understanding of how to adapt their management styles to get the best out of each team member.

Not surprisingly, the client is delighted and has since booked further training to build on the success of the programme.

What was the situation?
Complete Management Solutions (CMS) had a document outsourcing business, but started a new customer service outsourcing company in New York, winning their first client and the right to run the hospitality in the prestigious 1211 News Corp building in Manhattan.

I was brought in to help them design their approach to customer service – assisting with the design of their core values, mission, vision and approach to talent – in order to establish the values needed for a truly Five Star organisation.  

What happened next?
I ran the cultural induction and training programmes that got the newly-recruited team up to scratch.  In the two weeks I spent there, we had successfully implemented the service standards to ‘create the future of front-of-house services in New York’.   The team launched successfully and Cushman & Wakefield, the managing agent, are now looking to emulate this approach in all their buildings in New York.

What was the situation?
This leading asset management company were looking for support with their complete change of direction. They wanted a completely new strategy which focused solely on their residents – making them the most customer-centric business in their sector.  Through employee surveys, it was clear that the organisation was also suffering with extremely low morale and high turnover. After losing several prestigious contracts, the newly-appointed CEO was determined to turn this around and implement new organisational values and behaviours, resulting in a large-scale mindset shift in the teams.

What happened next?
I was brought in to manage and steer this cultural transformation, at the request of the CEO and COO. I facilitated a series of Leadership training sessions, and a bespoke two-day customer service programme called the ‘Mainstay Revolution’.  I also chaired the steering committee, leading meetings to facilitate widespread change; namely factors affecting recruitment, onboarding, learning & development, customer facing processes, communication, reward & recognition and team building.  This is an ongoing commitment, with monthly sessions to make sure the culture is kept alive.

What was the result?
We started seeing results before the programme had even reached everyone.  The news of ‘The Revolution’ had spread and the effects of it have been wide-reaching. Team members noticed the difference in senior management behaviour and have really adopted the new ways of working.  The buy-in to the new culture has been encouraging and the organisation is now taking evermore meaningful commitments in its pursuit for exceptional customer service.  This was reflected in the most recent results of the employee survey, as well as customer feedback and retention rates.  It’s too early to tell about the long-term effect the cultural shift has had on the business profits, but the change in strategy to being a more customer-centric organisation has already reaped rewards. 

What was the situation?
The relationship between the newly-awarded contract between Sellafield and its main supplier had broken down; the resultant difficulties in the changes in leadership, blame culture and lack of focus on service was beginning to take its toll.

What happened next?
I was brought in to change the culture of the 600 team members that worked nationally; mainly based in the Cumbria plant.  The blame culture originated at the top, so a series of mediation and facilitated vision creation sessions were needed at first. The intended destination was to get the teams working together in the spirit of true partnership – which proved a challenge due to the engrained mindsets of the leadership team and the subsequent low morale of the delivery team.

There was a huge lack of trust, so I created a programme of culture change based around PRIDE (people, responsibility, integrity, delivery & expertise), with all the factors that would support it.  This involved creating a shared vision with all parties that related to pride in the workplace, and getting them bought into the idea. Leadership development programmes then followed (Leading the Pride), with a range of solutions relating to reward, recognition, internal communications, team building, process improvement, and customer service & team building training.  

What was the result?
The programme came to an end after a year, after it was extended a number of times.  The results were mixed (as the deep-held resentment at the top had to be addressed by making personnel changes), but the effects on the teams was marked.  The annual engagement scores rose by 21% in that year, the churn was down and the rate of internal recognition exploded.  There was also a major change in the amount of anecdotal positive feedback in general attitude and demeanour.

What was the situation?
The team at Rolls-Royce’s suppliers were looking for an approach to re-engage and re-inspire the team, following a long period of change, which resulted in very low morale.  There were a range of very dysfunctional behaviours and the best way to resolve it was a range of workshops with focused on shifting the attitudes and mindset of the team

What happened?
I created a half-day programme of training, to be rolled out to every one of the supplier’s 900 staff.  This was then rolled out to 15 different locations nationally, the length and breadth of the UK over a three month period. This was done a time when maintaining morale and service levels over this period was crucial. 

What were the results?
The feedback for the training programmes was above 90% (which, during a period of intense change and strong disengagement) was exceptionally good.  Another tranche of training was then commissioned and undertaken within the next 3 months, alongside a range of leadership development programmes.  Two years later, I was invited back to lead another rollout of training as the follow-on, as well as lead some work on improving internal communications and reward & recognition.