VA Consultants worked in partnership with the Travis Perkins Group between 2015-2018 to deliver an inspirational, high impact Senior Manager Development Programme. The programme focused on developing senior managers and strengthening leadership capability across the organisation.

Travis Perkins Group is a national retailer made up of 21 industry-leading brands, more than 2,000 outlets and over 28,000 employees across the UK and Ireland.

The Challenge

The organisation’s strategy focused on improving customer appeal, expanding its branch network, increasing efficiency across the group and maximising investment opportunities across its brands, including Travis Perkins, Wickes, Toolstation and Keyline.

As part of this strategy, the business identified employee development as a key priority. In particular, there was a need to increase leadership capacity within the senior manager population. This included strengthening innovation and creativity, improving the ability to enable performance in others, and developing leaders who could drive commercial and cultural change.

The Solution

VA Consultants partnered with the Group Leadership Development function to design and deliver the Travis Perkins Leadership Development Programme. This six-month, multi-module programme was designed to build leadership capability, improve engagement and create a stronger leadership culture across the group.

The programme focused on several core themes, including:

• Leadership self-awareness

• Coaching and managing performance

• Leading change

• Innovation and creativity

• Building high-performing teams

• Resilience

The programme was marketed internally by the central Group Leadership Development function. Its strong reputation and relevance to the needs of individual business units quickly drove high demand.

It was delivered three times per year, and demand for places soon exceeded availability. The CEO later described it as the “Crown Jewels” of development programmes within the organisation.

The Result

The programme delivered significant impact across the organisation.

Between 2016 and 2018:

• 62 participants completed the programme
• 50 have been promoted or are in roles of more responsibility
• Only two participants left the business

The programme significantly increased engagement among a key group of senior talent. It also strengthened connections across the group and reduced attrition, ensuring valuable skills and knowledge remained within the organisation.

With sponsorship from the executive team, participants also worked on live business projects. Success was measured not only by the project outcomes but also by how effectively the teams collaborated, demonstrated creativity and innovation, and engaged the wider business with their recommendations.

Participant Feedback

The programme received outstanding feedback from participants:

“So far this course has been life changing.”

 “I definitely feel that I benefited from the experience, and through discussions with the group was able to challenge what I want to achieve in the next 12 months.”

 “Very engaging and thought provoking. Always leave with promoted consciousness of new ideas.”

 “Sensational content – thought provoking and inspiring, and at this stage, layering on previous modules.”

 “Helping us how to understand change has been as eye opener and something I will need in my career.”

 

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