Read the following care study and answer the questions that follow
Acorn
Established in 1992, Acorn is an award-winning business that is now Wales’ leading
recruitment and training organisation, with an annual turnover of just under £100m. With
offices across South Wales, the West Country, North Wales, Scotland and the North West of
England the company places 5500 permanent placements each year. It is a previous winner
of both best regional recruitment firm and best national firm at the Professional Recruiter
Awards. Acorn’s Learning & Development Division is highly regarded throughout the UK for
its employer-led approach to training, learning and development solutions. Its team of 30
training and development professionals deliver training to over 3000 individuals per annum.
The company has a particularly strong reputation in the area of Management Development
and the following case study outlines how Acorn has worked very closely with a large leisure
resort employer to deliver a management development programme.
‘The programme is typical of the innovative approach taken by Acorn to meet an employer’s
needs’ explains Sarah John, Acorn’s Commercial Director. ‘In today’s global economy
businesses are under constant pressure to perform effectively to retain their competitive
edge. As a consequence of ever-changing demands the quality of managers has become
pivotal to the performance and long-term success of an organisation. This client recognised
that to achieve a strong market position they needed to invest in the development of their
people. We responded by developing a bespoke approach to ensure the client received the
exact level of support and guidance required. The challenge we faced was that the future
business plans for the client required senior personnel not only to possess practical
management skills but these skills had to evolve to meet changing business needs.
Therefore, in partnership with the client we were commissioned to design and deliver a
development programme for senior managers geared around achieving the client’s business
objectives within a very dynamic market. It was agreed with the client that key performance
indicators had to be built in to the development programme in order to measure
achievement of objectives and to assess the impact of the programme on business
performance.’ This process took four meetings and involved four training and development
consultants over a two month period. ‘It was crucial to get the programme’s objectives
right’, continues Sarah. ‘After much discussion and consultation, which involved interviewing
ten senior managers at the client organisation, we arrived at four key objectives.’
Programme Objectives
1. To provide Senior Managers with the essential skills to develop operational teams in
order to achieve individual, departmental and corporate objectives.
2. Identification of on-going training needs to ensure effective use of management
resources by developing the skills of middle management.
3. Development programme to support the corporate culture of attracting and retaining
quality staff.
4. Programme to be tailored to accommodate the demanding work schedule of the
Senior Managers involved. ‘The client recognised that training and development is a key business driver directly
affecting the company’s performance’, explained Sarah. ‘We used our expertise in this area
to design a management development programme that focuses on enhancing the practical
and relevant skills that are needed to take the organisation forward. We ensured that the
programme was aligned with company objectives and that the client’s investment in its
management team would deliver a tangible return on investment. This was, and had to be, a
very business-driven process – i.e., linked to the business plan, corporate objectives, and the
skills development plan. Following clarification of the client’s requirements, in terms of
identifiable business needs, it was possible to identify three key themes. These were
managing change, managing self and managing resources. To assist with the detailed design
it was agreed with the client to analyse the learning styles of the managers who would be
attending the programme. This was done by issuing “Personal Styles” Questionnaires. This
then enabled us to produce a modular programme that reflected managers’ learning
preferences. This has the advantage of ensuring that the trainers can tailor the delivery of
the programme to have maximum impact on the delegates. As part of our service we always
research possible sources of funding, such as the Welsh Assembly Workforce Development
Plan, Sector Skills Council and Business in Focus. Very often there is support available for up
to 50 per cent of the cost of commercial delivery, although maximum funding is only usually
available for accredited programmes, such as those involving national vocational
qualifications. Once the programme was designed and agreed it was rolled out on-site. We
developed a flexible approach to the delivery of the programme to accommodate the
client’s business needs. All modules were delivered on site and included role play, case
studies and practical assignments, which were all linked to business issues and objectives. In
total there were 12 modules, each lasting one day. So, for a typical manager the whole
programme took twelve months to complete. Evaluation and review was at the end of each
module using ‘End of Module’ Evaluation form linked to key performance indicators or KPIs.
These were then collated and reported in graphical format. At the same time future
requirements were identified.
In terms of the results of the programme, Sarah explains that ‘Managers acquired a portfolio
of skills enabling them to manage change, cope constructively with conflict, develop and
motivate their teams, delegate effectively and solve problems effectively. Skills were
immediately converted into practical experience within the business and action plans were
used to enable managers to achieve business objectives. What was particularly noticeable
was that it increased individual performance and satisfaction levels resulting in improved
team work. More generally, the corporate culture and values were both developed and
reinforced. The programme highlighted the client’s commitment to long-term career
pathways and enabled better succession planning. There was a review of internal systems
identifying areas for improvement and sharing of best practice, for example, the
development of an integrated customer service strategy. ‘Overall’ concludes Sarah, ‘by
investing in the development of senior personnel the client has been able to cascade the
training internally through coaching and mentoring the next management tier. This has led
to a culture of continued learning and development within the organisation’.

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