Mitchells and Butlers
We have been working with Mitchells and Butlers for over two years. The Regional Service Centre in Birmingham is the place for all the great work to happen in support of M and B’s brands. The idea was to offer a people manager development programme to help managers manage. Sounds simple. And we wanted to keep it that way. We designed a programme intended to help new people managers develop their skills and confidence in managing their team, and created a five-day programme to give people this learning. Each person was offered a coach to partner in their learning journey, as we firmly believe that group learning and coaching are excellent development partners.
Two years on and we are working with our 11th group, and have a waiting list of eager learners.
The programme has the following aims:
- To give new people managers practical tools and frameworks to bring out the best in their teams
- To develop self-awareness and an understanding of the importance of manager presence
- To enhance the confidence of new people managers to be more effective with their own and their team’s productivity.
The modular five day programme covers all major aspects of team engagement which include:
- Being personally productive
- Engaging people in doing their best
- Understanding and motivating people
- Giving performance clarity in expectations – objectives, outcomes
- Having challenging discussions on performance – giving meaningful feedback
- Following through on outcomes, feedback and success.
- Coaching for performance
- Engaging stakeholders and working collaboratively across functions
- Managing successful change.
Here is some of the feedback from the first four groups.
How has the programme met the aims? (Rating scale 1-10 << A little – A lot >>)
Avg.
To give new people managers practical tools and frameworks to bring out the best in their teams
9.5
To develop self-awareness and an understanding of the importance of manager presence
9.2
To enhance the confidence of new people managers to be more effective with their own and their team’s productivity in Mitchells and Butlers.
9.2
(Rating scale 1-10 << Little use – Very useful)
Avg.
How would you rate the overall programme for Mitchells and Butlers ?
9.5
Which parts of the programme where most useful to you in your role?
- How to give feedback to others and how to support them whilst helping with development rather than just doing to task for them.
- Learning the difference between impactful 121’s and status updates. Team contracting. The will vs. skill element. Giving feedback. Understanding the key elements of being a successful manager.
- Areas that covered building relationships with people, as this can be applied more broadly in my current role with other stakeholders I work closely with, but do not manage.
- Giving Feedback Evaluation of team members
How have you used the tools and programme content in your role?
- I have used feedback skills learnt and how to coach others on a daily basis.
- Tried to implement the 3 actions out of every module. We’ve managed to get additional resource within the team as a response. I’ve also structured by meetings around the frameworks and taken the contracting element on board.
- Yes
- I have adapted some of the tools I learnt to my current role, so that I’m now more able to “manage upwards” in terms of my relationships with stakeholders that are more senior than me.
How has the programme impacted on your work performance?
- Feel my confidence has grown and feel it’s added some structure. I feel like in the last 3 months I’ve moved away from the day to day doing, and more into people management
- I have had great feedback from others since starting the course and it is clear that my confidence and leadership skills have grown.
Please give one or two sentences that describe the programme to a colleague
- I was only a few days into management and I couldn’t have succeeded without the course guiding me. The tools and skills provided can be used instantly within the work place and I would highly recommend this to anyone new to management.
- An excellent tool not only for new people managers but for existing managers also.
- I would highly recommend this programme to a colleague, not only for the new tools & skills that you will learn but in some areas it also gave me reinforcement in what I already believed. During some of the group exercises both myself & fellow participants were able to apply real life work issues to some of the tasks which helped us resolve these which was great!
- A brilliant programme, particularly if you’re just moving into line management. I’d recommend this course is completed before the first move into management although it can be done at any time. Helen’s a great trainer and really engaging and the course material and be implemented in your day to day role with immediate effect – so it’s really practical and applicable to our roles.
- For a new manager / team leader, this programme is an excellent introduction of how to manage a team effective and also how to get the best out of each team member, based on the different behaviours and personalities. It will help to increase your confidence in all areas and provide you with the tools to continually develop as a manager.
(Rating scale 1-10 << Not likely at all, neutral, extremely likely)
Avg.
How likely is it that you would recommend this programme to a colleague in a similar role?
10.0
We have refined the programme as we go, adapting and updating as we get feedback and as the business changes. People now contact us for more resources, more development and just chats – a job well done.