Client Profile
CITB is at the heart of the construction industry in England, Scotland and Wales.
CITB is an advocate for the construction sector, advising on training, regulation and future change. They need to be responsive and agile for both partners and Government.
Ensuring managers and teams can deliver throughout change is critical to their success.
The challenge
In 2017 CITB started an ambitious programme of change and reform. Moving head office, downsizing, and changing some of its business services. With 10 years of staff surveys, they knew that managers did not always handle change well.
With unprecedented levels of change planned, CITB wanted to be sure their managers and teams were able to deal effectively with putting the new plans into practice. They asked CLS to design and deliver workshops so managers handled the long period of change successfully.
CITB briefed us two weeks after we won the tender. We delivered the first, pilot workshop four weeks later. Roll out to the rest of the management teams began two weeks after the pilot. When a client needs us to move fast, we step up to their schedule.
The solution
CITB decided to bring in a change management training programme for 200 managers. This kind of training has been done before and it did not always deliver. This time, CITB focused on choosing a provider who provides practical solutions and tools for their managers.
- Provide practical tools for managers at all levels of seniority.
- Give managers support and practice to apply their learning with their teams.
- Give coaching to each manager for personalised support.
- Encourage peer support and networking.
- Build managers' confidence in their abilities to manage the change well.
“We needed practical skills for managers to manage an unprecedented level of change and do it well. Getting this change process right is essential to our future work.”
Participants
The managers who took part were all ages and levels of experience. When you manage people, you deal with many different demands. During a prolonged period of change, your skills as a manager can be tested many times.
Both experienced senior and inexperienced junior managers went through the learning program. All found it very beneficial.
The Solution
Stakeholders were impressed with the practical nature of the CLS training so that‘s what the workshops focused on. We facilitated a two day workshop which concentrated on building and practising a number of skills to use with teams. Managers developed coaching and listening skills, learned ways to develop their own and their teams‘ resilience. Following the workshop, every manager had access to one to one coaching, to discuss applying their learning to their teams.
As often happens with CLS training, we ran a pilot workshop, evaluated it and then made some changes. It is only once training has started, that CLS and the client can make an informed decision about whether the training is delivering the outcomes everyone wants.
The learning program included coaching and ran over a two year period.
Outcomes
Managers drew on their experience and used the practical tool kit to develop their skills further. The coaching sessions following the training gave them opportunity to talk through specific issues.
“I don’t see the point of doing training unless you put the learning into practice” said Beth Gray, Office Manager. Beth found the change curve tool incredibly useful for helping team members to understand and deal with their emotions about the change. She used some of the tools to help deal with the changes she was facing too. “I’m in a new role now, with a new team and I’m still using the tools. We are planning a meeting on how our personalities impact on team performance and how to keep being a team, even though we are all different. It’s been 18 months since I did the training and I’m still putting it into practice.”
Mark Fuller, Training & Development Manager says that CITB always evaluate the training their staff receive. “The ratings our staff gave the CLS training were very high, higher than comparable training we have had previously. We think the training has helped our managers be successful at managing an incredible period of change.”
