CPD and training

BRITA

Economic impact study

BRITA Group has a vision to change the way people drink water sustainably, through innovation in filtering, optimising and individualising this vital resource.

BRITA UK identified a need for developing senior management capability within their organisation. The initial University response was to create a bespoke management and leadership development programme, starting at Director level and cascading through the organisation.

The programme focus was on equipping the team with key skills in management and leadership strategy, and managing for high performance, with a view to the managers developing senior management roles.

Central to the programme was BRITA’s competency framework, strategic objectives and values.

The managers had very diverse roles including IT, marketing, sales, and finance. As these individuals progressed to more senior roles, the capabilities they required increasingly converged and management and leadership skills became more important.

BRITA wanted to establish a coaching culture to provide support and to encourage knowledge transfer and a platform of networking between diverse areas within the company. This was achieved and demonstrated by the increased frequency of a coaching approach to organisational challenges.

The programme was so successful that an aligned programme – 'Managing Effectively' – was co-developed with Oxford Brookes to support other team members.

BRITA logo

The Leadership Programme is helping us to create leaders of the future. The impact on our business has been significant. It has provided people with a framework to have the positive and the difficult conversations, helped to support behavioural change around responsibility and empowerment and improved the quality of decision making through coaching.

Sarah Taylor, Managing Director, Brita UK

Sarah Taylor, Managing Director, Brita UK

Key2 Futures Limited

Key2 commissioned the services of the International Centre for Coaching and Mentoring Studies (ICCAMS) which is part of the Oxford Brookes University Business School. An expert from ICCAMS individually coached each member of the management team in coaching skills for managers. Reflections from these sessions were taken to a management team coaching session, facilitated by Oxford Brookes, where the topic of coaching was broadened and expanded upon to include developing a coaching culture.

Key2’s aim is to help their clients, young people needing support, to unlock their potential and open doors to secure their future. This requires a range of offers and options, including a coaching approach with young people, to help them build stable, successful lives. Key2 have identified the importance of developing a coaching culture both for working with clients and for working with staff and colleagues.

Key2 is now positively positioned to develop an effective coaching culture which will benefit both their clients in terms of outcomes, and their staff in terms of realising individual and organisational potential. The organisation has already developed a strong learning culture and open style of management, both of which will significantly help the organisation achieve what it wants to achieve in developing an organisational model which centres on coaching as an approach.

Key2 Futures work from bases in Oxford, Swindon, Northampton, Gloucester and Basingstoke and are keen to expand their services into other areas. Key2 take referrals from social care and housing departments and other agencies. They only use agency staff in exceptional circumstances and employ approximately 35 staff.

Guideposts

Leadership & Management Programme

Guideposts is a charity that delivers a range of information, advice, guidance and community based services which are person-centred and designed to promote independence, wellbeing, quality of life and delay the need for intensive interventions.

Guideposts identified a need to create a bespoke management development programme for their service managers as part of the implementation of a new strategy and business plan. The core focus was to equip this group of managers with key skills to translate the Guideposts strategy into the development and management of their teams and ensure the successful delivery and business development of services. Guideposts approached Oxford Brookes to support the development and delivery of this programme.

From the start we knew we had made the right choice – the team took the time to understand the organisation and the context in which we were operating and what we were hoping to achieve from the programme. Throughout development, delivery and review phases we found Oxford Brookes colleagues to be constructive, facilitative and professional.

Kate Worrall – Managing Director, Guideposts

A cohort of 13 managers successfully completed the programme and, most importantly, Guideposts are already seeing the application of that learning back in the workplace. Feedback from participants is being used to inform development of the programme itself and informs how managers continue to be supported in the workplace.

This process has also assisted in the development of a new learning and coaching culture embedded in the way managers work, which is an ongoing part of the overall organisational development strategy.

Guideposts logo

Contact us

Directorate of Research, Innovation and Enterprise

+ 44 (0) 1865 534200

rieenquiries@brookes.ac.uk