The Taylor Clarke Partnership. Realeasing Potential In Organisations

Client Requirements

The role of the FCO is to deliver UK policies abroad. The FCO finances and manages some 233 overseas diplomatic posts (e.g. Embassies and High Commissions).  They are linked to the headquarters in London in a single, global network employing some 6,000 UK-based staff (who work in the UK and overseas) and 10,000 staff recruited locally overseas.  In London, the FCO gives foreign policy advice to Ministers and other Government Departments and ensures that the UK’s international agenda and priorities are taken into account in Whitehall’s policy process.

The FCO required an innovative and challenging learning experience for their first line managers, and one which met the following Priority Objectives:

· Makes a step-change in participants management behaviours and builds their confidence as managers

·Uses a 360 degree tool, and/or diagnostic tools to raise self-awareness and support coaching

·Produces individuals with personalised action plans

·Provides highly experiential learning activities

·Gives individuals feedback on their management capability

·Is tailored to fit different skills, experience levels and learning styles

·Values all participants equally and builds on their diversity

·Meets the needs of participants with special needs or disabilities

For middle management within the organisation, the following was required:

·Manage their team to deliver the highest standards of customer service and policy delivery. Understand how to delegate, monitor and manage in order to get these standards.

·Ensure individuals and teams can relate their work to wider FCO and Whitehall objectives.

·Be role models of best management practice and customer focus.

·Communicate high performance standards, set clear and achievable objectives and provide teams with the support, training and direction they need to achieve them.

·Manage flexibly, recognising when to coach to deliver results and when greater direction is needed.

·Define indicators of success and communicate the high standard required and be clear what is not acceptable.

·Give robust and incisive feedback to teams/individuals. Recognise non acceptable achievement and address underachievement.

·Manage poor performance effectively.

·Proactively contribute to FCO change programmes, showing flexibility and commitment to the corporate agenda.

·Act as a diversity role model. Recognising, valuing and developing a diversity of skills and backgrounds.

·Recognise the impact of personal style and develop flexibility of management style to achieve results and motivate and develop teams.

·Understand the need for dynamism and flexibility to meet the challenges of rapid change in a global context.

·Understand that effective managers never stop learning and have ideas about how to build learning into their day to day work.

The Taylor Clarke Partnership successfully tendered for these two organisation-wide management development programmes in 2006. 

Our Contribution

A 5-day residential programme was developed for the middle managers, along with pre-programme work and post-programme coaching from a dedicated facilitator. 

A 4-day non-residential programme was development for the first line managers, along with pre-programme work and post-programme coaching.

The middle management programme and first line manager programme were rigorously piloted and evaluated by the HR/L&D department and ‘critical friends’ in November 2006 and January 2007 respectively.  The evaluations and feedback resulted in only minor changes being required.  Thirteen programmes in total will be delivered in 2007, each accommodating 16 participants.  Taylor Clarke has fronted a 10-strong team of facilitators/coaches.  We work with the participants, as much as possible, on a ratio of 5 participants to one facilitator/coach.  This fairly intensive development support has been strongly welcomed by the client and the individual participants, and to date, is resulting in extremely impactful learning experiences, and behavioural changes back-at-work.

Both programmes follow the Taylor Clarke learning model: we involve line managers of participants at the outset, to help ensure support and reinforcement of learning back at work.  We are currently evaluating the exact impact of this approach.  Each programme also uses 360˚ feedback diagnostics – another mechanism for emphasising ‘the need to change’ (or ‘holding peoples’ feet to the fire’ as we like to call it).  Finally, participants have three follow-up coaching sessions with their dedicated facilitator, over a period of 2-4 months.  The aim of this is to support them in embedding their learning, making changes back-at-work, and continuing to tussle with the challenges of making real, long lasting changes, in their management style and capability.

During the 4 or 5-day programme, we employ highly experiential learning methods, with intensive peer- and facilitator-feedback (and in the case of the middle manager programme, video-taped practice sessions with actors).  Appreciated most, by the participants to date, is the Taylor Clarke ‘style’ of delivery and facilitation.  To summarise this: we listen to participants’ real concerns and the reality of their working environments; we engage with them, in conveying our theory and models around leadership and management, in a way which stimulates their interest, and enables them to test out for themselves, the workability of our approach.  Through the intense nature of the programme, they really learn something valuable about themselves and about themselves as leaders of people, which they can immediately translate to their back-at-work lives.

By the end of the contract, we estimate that 750 FCO managers will have attended the programme.

The Impact

End-of-programme evaluations consistently show high ratings – against programme objectives, pre-programme activities, course design, and facilitation.  For example, on a 10 point scale, the first three middle management programmes averaged ratings of 7.9 and the two 1^st line management programmes averaged ratings of 7.8.  ‘Increasing awareness of your personal impact (on your team’s performance and/or motivation levels) was rated top for both programmes.  ‘Learning to flex your management style, from directive through to a coaching approach’ was second top for both programmes.   It is still early days in the programme roll-out, with many participants still participating in post-programme 1-1 coaching with their dedicated facilitator.  However, we are in the process of gathering evidenced behavioural changes – from the workplace – for all programme participants, and will report this back as soon as we can.

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