Case Study – Leadership and Culture Change – Television Production Company

Summary

In April 2023, an independent production company was experiencing rapid growth, employing over 100 staff and making 42 hours of television content. The company had recently moved into a new building presenting an opportunity to examine and improve their ways of working. With growth came the need to establish robust leadership structures, clarify roles and responsibilities, and develop a strong company culture to support their expanding operations and workforce.

The Managing Director recognised the need to reduce reliance on her leadership and establish a more distributed leadership model through the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), while addressing several operational and cultural challenges that were impacting efficiency and staff engagement.

Brockhurst Consulting, as an expert in leadership and cultural transformation, was invited to partner with them in their journey. 

Challenge

• Cultural foundation — the company had not clearly articulated their Vision, Mission, Values and expected Behaviours
• Leadership – the management team was not always operating as a cohesive leadership team and had had limited training in effective leadership
• Role clarity  – some grey areas in responsibilities were reducing efficiencies and communication was not always as effective as it could have been
• Staffing challenges — attracting, recruiting and retaining skilled high-quality staff for this sector and the company’s location was a major challenge. As such, they needed to ensure they offered a safe, happy and fun place to work with opportunities for staff to learn and grow

Our Response

Working closely with the Managing Director, Brockhurst Consulting guided the development of a comprehensive Leadership and Culture Strategy which had 4 key focus areas:

• Discovery and Leadership Program — conducted ‘Discovery Conversations’ with each SLT member to understand what was working and areas for improvement, then designed and delivered a tailor-made holistic leadership program including training workshops, coaching and ways of working forums
• Whole Brain Thinking – introduced as a framework to leverage cognitive diversity and optimise an inclusive approach to doing business, enhancing self-awareness and team effectiveness
• Vision, Mission and Values Development — developed clear company mission, vision, strategic goals, values and behaviours through a ‘Capturing Our Spirit’ process that involved all staff contribution and workshops
• ‘Grow our Own’ strategy — created a robust Pathways framework for career and professional development conversations, restructured leadership portfolios, created a new COO role, and provided comprehensive leadership training to Series Producers, Line Producers and Production Managers through multiple training workshops

Results

1. Enhanced leadership capability — more than 20 leaders have received leadership training and are feeling more confident in managing their staff
2. Psychologically safe work environment — established both in the office and on set where open and honest workplace conversations take place regularly
3. Improved performance management — difficult conversations are being held in a timely manner, preventing issues from escalating
4. Strategic focus — the Senior Leadership Team is now more focused on business strategy and supporting their teams rather than operational tasks
5. Inclusive culture — a ‘whole brained’ approach is embedded in ways of working to leverage diversity and optimise inclusive practices
6. Strong team culture – regular social events are well attended where staff catch up with colleagues and recognise achievements
7. Employer brand — developed a strong reputation as a great place to work with high levels of staff retention and interest in job opportunities
8. Significant business growth — now making over 55 hours of TV content with almost 200 staff (nearly doubled workforce)

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