What a Massive Shift!
Client: Mass Discounters HR team
What did we set out to do? In November 2008, at the behest of Yugan Naidoo (Leadership Specialist at Mass Discounters), Leadership Solutions embarked on a project to help the HR Department of Mass Discounters reposition themselves in their relationship with the organisation. Being positioned as “order takers” and the keepers of HR stats, they were frustrated that they had been unable to serve the organisation in line with their capabilities, and were hamstrung by the organisation’s negative perceptions of the HR team. What the team wanted was to be regarded as strategic partners to Operations – to be involved in the thinking that informed Mass Discounters strategic direction; to be consulted before decisions were taken; to have the skills to assist Operations people to think things through well. They wanted to position themselves as internal Human Resources Consultants who would be in a position to work with the leadership of the organisation to:
The expectation was that Human Resources Managers would develop into robust and highly competent internal coaches who would be able to:
What did we actually achieve? In the words of Mannie Prithirai, Senior HR Manager at Mass Discounters, “No Operations Director or Store Manager makes a decision without consulting their HR Manager. We are truly regarded as their strategic partners in running the business.” HR Managers within Mass Discounters now spend far more time coaching their Operations colleagues than they do handling administration and reporting. Whereas HR Managers used to be brought in to handle performance and relationship issues, they now coach Operations Executives and Store Managers to handle these for themselves. The result is that Operations Execs and Store Managers are far better at handling people issues effectively.
What did we do well in the project? The project consisted of a 3-day workshop, 4 group coaching sessions and 6 personal coaching sessions for each manager. There was also an online forum where participants could share ideas and challenges with each other. The key to the success of the programme was the personal coaching. Participants had the opportunity to both be coached on their coaching and to be coached on their challenges with repositioning themselves with Operations. Not only did they enjoy the benefits of coaching, but also had a model of good coaching to refer to in their own coaching. In addition, the 6-weekly group coaching sessions enabled the HR team to stay focused and develop both a common language and a common strategy in winning over and earning the respect of their Operations colleagues.
What did not work so well? The online forums may have been a little ahead of their time – people are far more inclined to network online now than they were 2 years ago. The group coaching involved people in 4 centres using videoconferencing technology. The technology made things a little difficult – it was difficult to hear which made it difficult to get the group engaged in effective coaching conversations. Time frames were not adhered to, and this meant that the project took 4 months longer to complete than had been planned.
What have we learned? Coaching as a style of engaging with colleagues is an extremely powerful way of enabling HR people to resist taking on other people’s monkeys. Because coaching raises the quality of the coachee’s thinking, HR Managers were able to make a meaningful impact on the leadership effectiveness of the Operations people they coached. When an HR Manager is able to coach Operations people to greater effectiveness and satisfaction with their leadership roles they raise their own credibility. It has also been reinforced that the experience of being coached well is essential if you want managers to become effective coaches. Furthermore, it is important to maintain momentum – so time frames need to be adhered to. An 8 month project ended up taking closer to 12 months.
What will we do differently next time? Firstly, it is important that the technology works, so we would get the videoconferencing facility working well. I would probably set up the online conversations using LinkedIn. I would also make sure that the time frames were adhered to so that momentum is maintained.
All in all, this has been an enormously successful project!
If you'd like to know more about how we can help you, contact us using the form below.
Client: Mass Discounters HR team
What did we set out to do? In November 2008, at the behest of Yugan Naidoo (Leadership Specialist at Mass Discounters), Leadership Solutions embarked on a project to help the HR Department of Mass Discounters reposition themselves in their relationship with the organisation. Being positioned as “order takers” and the keepers of HR stats, they were frustrated that they had been unable to serve the organisation in line with their capabilities, and were hamstrung by the organisation’s negative perceptions of the HR team. What the team wanted was to be regarded as strategic partners to Operations – to be involved in the thinking that informed Mass Discounters strategic direction; to be consulted before decisions were taken; to have the skills to assist Operations people to think things through well. They wanted to position themselves as internal Human Resources Consultants who would be in a position to work with the leadership of the organisation to:
- understand what they are trying to achieve
- help them diagnose the obstacles to goal achievement
- coach them to find solutions that will address these obstacles
- support them in the implementation of these solutions.
The expectation was that Human Resources Managers would develop into robust and highly competent internal coaches who would be able to:
- provide executives and managers in the organisation with unequivocal feedback;
- coach them so that the quality of their thinking would be constantly improved, and to achieve new levels of effectiveness;
- impact on the culture of Mass Discounters so that the leadership maturity (EQ) of the organisation would be progressively raised, making Mass Discounters a great place to work for all its people.
What did we actually achieve? In the words of Mannie Prithirai, Senior HR Manager at Mass Discounters, “No Operations Director or Store Manager makes a decision without consulting their HR Manager. We are truly regarded as their strategic partners in running the business.” HR Managers within Mass Discounters now spend far more time coaching their Operations colleagues than they do handling administration and reporting. Whereas HR Managers used to be brought in to handle performance and relationship issues, they now coach Operations Executives and Store Managers to handle these for themselves. The result is that Operations Execs and Store Managers are far better at handling people issues effectively.
What did we do well in the project? The project consisted of a 3-day workshop, 4 group coaching sessions and 6 personal coaching sessions for each manager. There was also an online forum where participants could share ideas and challenges with each other. The key to the success of the programme was the personal coaching. Participants had the opportunity to both be coached on their coaching and to be coached on their challenges with repositioning themselves with Operations. Not only did they enjoy the benefits of coaching, but also had a model of good coaching to refer to in their own coaching. In addition, the 6-weekly group coaching sessions enabled the HR team to stay focused and develop both a common language and a common strategy in winning over and earning the respect of their Operations colleagues.
What did not work so well? The online forums may have been a little ahead of their time – people are far more inclined to network online now than they were 2 years ago. The group coaching involved people in 4 centres using videoconferencing technology. The technology made things a little difficult – it was difficult to hear which made it difficult to get the group engaged in effective coaching conversations. Time frames were not adhered to, and this meant that the project took 4 months longer to complete than had been planned.
What have we learned? Coaching as a style of engaging with colleagues is an extremely powerful way of enabling HR people to resist taking on other people’s monkeys. Because coaching raises the quality of the coachee’s thinking, HR Managers were able to make a meaningful impact on the leadership effectiveness of the Operations people they coached. When an HR Manager is able to coach Operations people to greater effectiveness and satisfaction with their leadership roles they raise their own credibility. It has also been reinforced that the experience of being coached well is essential if you want managers to become effective coaches. Furthermore, it is important to maintain momentum – so time frames need to be adhered to. An 8 month project ended up taking closer to 12 months.
What will we do differently next time? Firstly, it is important that the technology works, so we would get the videoconferencing facility working well. I would probably set up the online conversations using LinkedIn. I would also make sure that the time frames were adhered to so that momentum is maintained.
All in all, this has been an enormously successful project!
If you'd like to know more about how we can help you, contact us using the form below.