Summary
Challenge
- Newly promoted team of business managers
- Needed to enable them to lead teams and deal with senior stakeholders effectively
- Wanted to empower business managers to handle issues without escalating
Solution
- 6-month line manager development programme from Connor
- Focus on leading self, leading teams, and leading within the organisation
- Culminated in graduation ceremony in front of senior Whirlpool leadership to demonstrate new skills
Results
- Business managers effectively leading and empowering their teams
- Senior managers able to focus on strategy due to reduced escalations
- Whirlpool keen to roll out programme to other business units
New structure, new team – same challenges
Every organisation restructures from time to time – and so when a restructure creates a new management level, the burning question is of course how to make sure those new managers are operating effectively as soon as possible. This was the situation Whirlpool found itself in. A restructure of the contact centre had created six new business manager roles – all of whom were promoted internally.
“The business managers had all previously been supervisors in the contact centre, so there was a big learning curve,” explains Lee Cumberland, Senior Operations Manager in Whirlpool’s UK and ROI contact centre. “On the one hand, we needed to ensure that the business managers stopped managing the business through their existing networks of agents and start empowering their teams of supervisors to lead effectively. On the other hand, the new team was understandably nervous about interacting with senior managers in the business – so we needed to enable them to thrive in that setting, too.
“Connor took the time to really understand what we wanted from the programme, and what the individuals wanted out of the programme for themselves.”Lee Cumberland, Senior Operations Manager, Whirlpool
Bespoke programme for a unique environment
Though middle management is nothing new in the world of business, we know that every organisation is different – meaning that the support new managers need to thrive in their roles is always unique. That’s what made Connor stand out to Lee when he was looking at training providers to support his new business managers. “It was clear from the very first meeting with Connor that they recognised the need for a bespoke programme, not something off-the-shelf.”
As is standard for Connor, before we initiated the training we met with the key stakeholders for the project and with the business managers themselves. “That impressed me,” reflects Lee. “Connor took the time to really understand what we wanted from the programme, and what the individuals wanted out of the programme for themselves.”
Because we understood the hopes and drivers of both the business and the individuals, we were able to create a programme that would truly engage the business managers, giving them and Whirlpool the very best ROI.
