Pilot Program

Summary

A vegetable producer in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, faced significant challenges with departmental silos, conflict between teams, and declining post-pandemic engagement across their 70+ person workforce.

The organization recognized an urgent need to transform from fragmented departmental thinking to a unified “One Team” approach that would support business agility in their fast-paced market environment.

Challenge

• ‘Them vs us’ mentality — siloed approaches had emerged across departments where cooperation and sharing of work and resources was frequently resisted
• Declining engagement — increased disengagement observable in post-pandemic years, with rising staff turnover
• Leadership focus imbalance — managers heavily focused on operational requirements often to the detriment of people management needs
• Conflict and competition — teams did not actively r share work and resources leading to inefficiencies and competition between areas
• Lack of strategic alignment — no strong focus on identifying strategic goals and aligning teams to common performance outcomes and behaviours
• Deteriorating psychological safety — emergence of blame culture between departments threatening employee wellbeing

Our Response

Working closely with the Executive Team, we designed and delivered a comprehensive ‘One Team’ Culture Program with 5 key components:

• Extended Leadership Team Development — built the leadership team (Executives, General Managers, and Mid-level Managers) as a highly effective “First Team” to collectively drive cultural change.
• Cross-Department Staff Workshops — facilitated a series of half-day workshops with mixed department groups to cascade ‘One Team’ behaviours, build relationships, and develop collaborative problem-solving skills
• Behavioural Framework — co-created 6 key ‘One Team’ behaviours including proactive information sharing, cross-team collaboration, positive communication, and mutual support
• All-Staff Integration Activity — designed inclusive 2-hour team-building event incorporating all employees, including those from linguistically diverse backgrounds, to formally launch the new culture
• Sustainable Implementation Strategy — developed comprehensive accountability framework with policy integration, recognition systems, and progress tracking mechanisms

Results

1. Transformed Leadership Culture with Extended Leadership Team committed to modelling emotional intelligence, relationship building, communication excellence, and collaborative leadership behaviours
2. Reduced Tension Across Departments and significantly more cooperative sharing of resources between teams
3. Enhanced Proactive Leadership with team leaders becoming more strategic in advising of changes that impact other departments downstream
4. Organizational Accountability Shift from narrow departmental focus to shared responsibility for organizational outcomes
5. Revised Organizational Values integrated into all staff programs and performance frameworks
6. Increased Senior Leadership Visibility with leadership team members more present and accessible across the organization
7. Strategic Job Movement enabling team leaders to move into roles where they could be more productive and have greater positive impact
8. Clear Implementation Timeline with structured 6-month progress targets and comprehensive measurement framework including staff feedback, operational metrics, and cultural indicators
9.  

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)

Summary

A Victorian educational organisation had identified an opportunity for the provision of a structured framework of support for School Principals approaching retirement age.

Brockhurst Consulting was approached to engage with these Principals to support them in preparing for their life beyond principalship.

Challenge

• Workforce profile data showed there was a growing cohort of School Principals who were approaching retirement age
• Late career Principals hold significant and valued knowledge and wisdom which leaves the organisation when they retire and yet robust succession planning was not often in place
• It is not understood how “well” past Principals were managing their retirement; there was anecdotal evidence to suggest that some retired Principals may be experiencing challenges past employment which could be addressed with better support during the retirement process
• Given the potentially sensitive nature of retirement planning, the creation of a safe environment for the Transitioning to Life Beyond Principalship Program was vital where confidentiality was maintained and all conversations with the participants were conducted and reported in a way which ensured anonymity
• Retirement is a complex issue which tends to invoke mixed emotions during a period of uncertainty and change, so understanding the mindset and perceptions of the Principals before rolling out this program was seen as a critical factor in the successful delivery of the Program’s objectives

Our Response

• We engaged with long-serving Principals/ex-Principals and other key stakeholders through focus groups to assist us in the design and development of the Program
• Surveys and strategic discovery sessions with the organisation’s Leadership and other key stakeholders were conducted and provided the opportunity for a broader cohort to contribute to the Program design
• Given no such Program had been previously offered, a small group were invited to participate in an 18 month Pilot Program
• A ‘Transitioning to Life Beyond Principalship’ Program was conducted that included:
  • A participant manual with resources, tools and activities
  • Individual coaching conversations prior to and during the Program
  • Two group workshops*

*The second workshop focused on sharing learnings and reflections as well as supporting the progress of participants’ individual plans.

Results

1. 100% of program participants rated their experience as extremely or very valuable, “this was an invaluable opportunity to take the time to reflect and to help shape my future”
2. 100% of participants stated they benefitted from the Program’s learnings and had acquired valuable new skills for preparation to transitioning beyond a Principal role; participants were encouraged to think about their transferable skills, hobbies, interests and how these could be integrated into the next stage of their life
3. The participants all commented that they felt far less isolated in their concerns about retirement and aging having been in a safe facilitated environment discussing sensitive issues with their colleagues
4. The Program reinforced with participants the importance of starting to plan early and ‘kickstarted’ participants to take action in all four ‘life dimensions’ of the framework (Identity, Routine, Network and Health & Wellbeing) shared with them. It also encouraged them to talk to family, friends, their extended network, and colleagues who have retired
5. An intentional strategy and vision for the “employee experience” of a retired Principal was created; it is expected that the positive messaging around the Program and the feedback on the support received will encourage a larger succession pipeline of Principals
6. Based on the positive feedback, further Programs are planned to be run for the organisation’s large mature age Principal cohort