Client
M&G Investments are a funds and investment company based in London. Their parent company is Prudential. They have around 2000 employees in five different business areas. M&G are a very successful fund management company who had minimal impact from the financial crisis.
The company is vibrant and warm, people join and rarely leave as it values a job well done and still fully expects employees to leave on time and have a life outside of work.
Purpose
M&G run a talent leadership development programme called Catalyst, which prepares rising stars for promotion and leadership. In January 2011 they held a review and discovered that there was a gap in the programme. The delegates wanted to develop greater personal resilience and impact. We were invited to present our ideas on how we would achieve this and subsequently won the contract.
Our idea focused on knowing what having resilience and impact meant. This was developed into a two day module, with day one focusing on knowing what makes you tick and what you want to be known for, and creating the belief that it’s OK to be who you are. Day two is about tackling conversations where you want to have greater impact and practicing upholding your personal brand to keep your resilience.
Outcome
From immediate feedback we received and the visible difference we could see, we know that the delegates leave the workshop completely clear on who they are and what they are about. This gives them an internal strength to go forward and deliver. The delegate’s confidence in their ability to be impactful and resilient increased.
Specific examples include, before the course, when asked about their ability to push back on unreasonable requests, 60% stated their skills were poor and 40% said good or very good. After the course, 80% stated their skills were good or very good and 20% said excellent.
Also, before the course, when asked about their ability to engage with difficult people, 80% said poor or good and 20% said very good. After the course, 80% said good or very good and 20% said excellent.
This workshop Personal Impact and Resilience has now become an integral part of M&G Catalyst programme.
