The client
A leading UK cancer support charity
The brief
The charity’s HR leadership team had recently been through significant change led by their newly appointed Human Resources Director. As a result, they were keen to investigate what they were doing well and how to maximise their strengths to function as a high performing team. In addition to this they wished to have greater presence and authority within the wider organisation and demonstrate their achievements in line with the business strategy.
The HR Director was keen to support the team by providing each member with time and opportunity to consider their different motivations and strengths, and how build on them. The team was also keen to collaborate to create consistent objectives with clear lines of accountability.
The solution
One of Henry & Harris Partnership’s guiding principles is to be generous with our time and support the wider community, so we were delighted to take on the charity’s brief to strengthen their leadership development programme on a pro-bono basis. After connecting with the HR Director, we created an interview framework to bring structure and consistency to our approach. We used this when working with each leadership team member to consider their perspective on what was going well and where there was scope for improvement. This data fed into an insights map which allowed us to build a detailed understanding of individual contributions as well the overall team dynamic.
We then facilitated the use of Motivational Maps to help everyone understand their key motivations and consolidated this into a team map. This allowed us to see the variety of motivations within the leadership team and to develop a tailored two-day workshop for them.
The workshop which we designed and delivered enabled the team to share their individual maps and talk through the experiences that had helped shape their motivations. The team shared in a way they had not done before, allowing them to bond and understand each other better. We used our own knowledge of the individuals, alongside the team’s insights, to provide a mixture of support and challenge to move them forward and shine a light on what may have been limiting their progress. The team map also helped identify areas of focus and strength, and how to better utilise the differences identified within the team.
We agreed it was essential the learning and action points from our sessions were embedded in the organisation to ensure they led to lasting change. With this in mind, we worked with the team to form an agreed ‘charter of objectives’ that could be shared with the wider organisation and for which the leadership team could be held accountable.
We returned to the organisation a few months later to review the impact of the learning, assess any changes to the team dynamic, and evaluate how the organisation had progressed as a result.
The benefit
Through our partnership, we created a supportive yet challenging environment for the leadership team to review their individual and team strengths and motivations, alongside identifying areas for development. By embedding in a new charter detailing key organisational objectives, our collaboration ensured the charity has a clear roadmap in place, and a leadership team which is committed to delivering it.
Find out more about our leadership development services or contact us today to arrange your free discovery call.
