Talent Management at Work

How do you manage talent? What, in practice, do organisations that are managing and developing their most talented people actually do? One example is provided by Jo Robbins and her team at VT Plc, who devised and successfully implemented a major new programme to establish a coaching culture in the VT Group. This programme continues to provide the business with greatly enhanced skills and leadership, as well as other benefits, including, for example, improved retention of key staff, better collaboration across business divisions and a focus on managing performance.

The Business Need

Becoming Number One

The VT Group was one of the UK’s leading shipbuilding and support services companies with an illustrious history dating back to the 19th Century. The priority and vision for the VT Group’s future was to develop this large, traditional business, employing 13,000 people across five business units and several international locations, into the number one international government services group.

Achieving this vision required the company to develop the skills and leadership of its people. They needed to be better able to: successfully enter new markets (e.g. the USA); realise new commercial opportunities to expand (e.g. in education and training); compete in volatile, fast-moving sectors (e.g. defence and communications); succeed with major public sector clients and, above all, to change and develop their culture and approach. This meant continuing to change the mindset of the people in the business from that of a traditional manufacturer to one that is more flexible, dynamic and entrepreneurial.

Succeeding across business divisions...

This would be a challenge for any organisation but for the VT Group it was complicated by several factors. First, the scope of their businesses, including:

  • VT Communications – designed, built and operated communications infrastructure for military and civilian customers, worldwide.
  • VT Education and Skills – provided training and support for government, educational establishments and businesses across the UK.
  • VT Services Inc – delivered facilities management for the US Government and for civilian customers.
  • VT Support Services – provided military training and facilities management, as well as managing assets for customers such as police and fire services and airlines.
  • VT Shipbuilding – building ships for the Royal Navy and for overseas customers for nearly 150 years.

These businesses blend longstanding profitability and reliability (e.g. shipbuilding) with relatively new enterprises (e.g. education and skills) and all had great potential to grow.

Becoming the number one international government services group has the added complication of entering or expanding in highly-competitive overseas markets – for example, the US defence sector. Combined with this is the need to realise the potential presented by long-term economic growth in several sectors, such as education and training, facilities management and communications. A familiar, tried and trusted UK-centric approach is unlikely to meet these aspirations or realise the company’s potential.

...required clear values and strong leadership

To address these challenges and realise its potential, the company needed to further develop the skills and leadership of its people. The VT Group was very clear about how it needed to develop in order to achieve its vision, and their approach was simple and readily understood. The company’s approach was clearly demonstrated by their values:

  • Being passionate about people.
  • Being performance driven.
  • Partnering with customers and suppliers.

Making this vision a practical reality for people was vitally important. It required two closely-related developments: first, leaders who consistently realise their own potential and develop that of others; second, continuing to develop VT Group as a dynamic, entrepreneurial and competitive business. Achieving these two ambitious changes was the focus for the Coaching for High Performance Programme.

The Solution

Coaching for High Performance

Chief Executive Paul Lester recruited Jo Robbins as Group HR Director. Her priority, memorably outlined by the CEO, was to improve the performance of everyone in VT “by a couple of notches”. With Paul Lester’s active, explicit support, Jo Robbins conceived the coaching programme for VT’s leaders.

  • The first stage began in 2006, with the VT Henley Certificate in Coaching for the Group’s most senior managers. 45 senior executives from different businesses and locations then completed this programme.
  • The second stage began in April 2007, when the next tier of 200 leaders from across VT began the two-day Coaching for High Performance Programme – developed by VT in collaboration with Roffey Park.

The programmes’ objectives were comprehensive and business-focused...

The goal of both programmes was to establish a coaching culture throughout the VT Group. Coaching became part of the manager’s tool kit supporting the core values of People, Performance and Partnership. Also, coaching was closely linked to talent management and succession planning. Because learning how to coach supports personal development, it also helped to retain valuable employees and prepare them for roles within VT.

In addition, coaching was closely tied to the strategic objectives of the business, with the focus on improving performance and team-working across the organisation. Coaching was also actively sponsored from the top of the organisation by the Group Executive Committee and the Board.

In the final stage, a supervision programme was provided for the 200 Roffey Park middle managers across the business, with the support of senior managers who had already been trained with Henley.

“We have worked with the VT Group’s most senior managers and have been consistently impressed by the ways in which they have embraced coaching. Sometimes starting with scepticism, without exception, we have found a willingness to get stuck in and a great generosity of spirit towards each other and the organisation. We have seen many, many examples of managers developing a high level of skill and a keen sense of how to use and apply coaching for practical, business-focused outcomes. A strong coaching culture is developing, spearheaded by the champions who have been through this programme.”

Patricia Bossons, Director of Coaching
Henley Management College

...with clear programme objectives

VT’s coaching programme ensured that every manager spent time coaching their direct reports and improving performance in their teams. Above all, the programme provided a cadre of ‘coaching-enabled’ managers, building a coaching culture in VT.

The programme’s content was of the highest quality

The VT Henley Certificate in Coaching included pre-programme work and the FIRO B questionnaire, as well as post-programme work (including coaching practice, reflective essay and feedback).

The Coaching for High Performance Programme combined VT trainers with Roffey Park consultants and used the GROW model together with other coaching skills – such as building rapport, checking for understanding, pacing and leading. Also, senior VT managers already trained in coaching (from the VT/Henley programme) worked with the participants. As part of the coaching process, participants used their MBTI profiles and development plans from the talent management process they had completed. Both programmes included a code of practice, examining issues such as:

  • What it takes to be a great coach: core skills
  • Questions around coaching
  • Rapport-building as a coach
  • Directive coaching

The Result

Improved Business Performance

The programme’s results were measured and detailed data provided to executives within VT Plc. In particular, several significant comments were made by senior executives and managers about the programme:

  • Coaching encourages a greater degree of personal responsibility and autonomy and this significantly benefited VT. For example, more people than ever before had personal development plans and a keenness to actively implement and discuss them.
  • Improved team-working, mutual support, collaboration and influencing resulted in greater innovation: more ideas, and of a higher quality.
  • People who previously worked in ‘business silos’ now worked across businesses.
  • Talented executives reaffirmed their desire to remain with VT Group.
  • Realistic succession plans were developed and implemented.

During the financial year that the programme ran, Group revenues rose by 19% to £1,004.6m from £847.1m, with underlying profit before tax increasing by 21% to £74.2m from £61.5m.

The Future

Continuous Improvement

Progress was regularly reviewed by the Group Executive Committee and reported to the Board. Increasingly, responsibility for coaching became owned in each business, with support from the centre. This enabled coaching to be tailored to meet the specific needs of individual businesses.

Each development session was reviewed with Henley Management College and Roffey Park, with feedback from individuals, and business objectives were then built into the next element of the programme in a flexible, iterative process. This ensured that development activities remained on track and highly relevant. Also, Henley and Roffey Park shared individual feedback and the broad strategic overview.

The next steps after the programme were to continue integrating the talent process so that all managers (and especially the most talented) maximised their potential, developed others and supported VT's strategy. Also, each business continued working with the centre to build coaching and talent processes into their business plans for the coming year. This ensured that the people strategy supported each business’s plans.