Tomorrow’s Future Leaders Delivering Results Today

What if you could identify the skills and behaviours your leaders will need in the future? And what if you could put something in place that develops those skills in the here and now and at the same time gain significant results for the business.

That’s what we have been working on with ISG over the last 6 years – it’s called the ‘Futures’ project and it’s incredible to reflect on what’s been achieved in that period.

A forward thinking organisation with forward thinking development solutions

ISG is one of the fastest growing organisations in the UK – a forward thinking construction and engineering company that is in the process of re-writing the way sustainable and ethical construction is delivered across the globe.

Each year the organisation welcomes applications from across the business who aspire to progress to a senior management position in the future. Applicants are then selected on their potential to develop the Judgement, Drive & Influence™ that future leaders in the business will need to demonstrate.

Akenham then work with the future leaders in two ways:

Firstly, we have designed a programme of learning that helps them assess and develop the necessary skills and behaviours required to lead at this level. They are then provided with mentors within the business who can help them transfer what they have learnt back into the workplace.

Secondly, we help them identify an aspect of the organisation that they believe can be improved and then work with them over a 6 month period to turn their ideas into reality.

Bringing together this combination of awareness, development and action-learning rapidly increases the confidence and abilities of each individual and the group as a whole. Not only that but the group help move the organisation forward in small but significant ways.

Triple return on investment

All in all, we work with the group for a year, helping them refine their skills and manage their projects. The board is involved at every stage, listening to their ideas, providing guidance and implementing their solutions when they are fully formed. So far, the business has embedded solutions to: digital document management, flexible employee benefits, on-site environmental management and resource efficiency, career management, health and safety management, alignment of processes in pre-construction, cross-discipline lessons learnt and team wellbeing. Each of these solutions advances the business in new ways, improving ISG’s ability to deliver high quality projects and provide excellent customer and employee experience.

The future leaders gain hugely from the process as well. They report feeling that their potential is significantly amplified. In particular they note improved levels of confidence in their ability to lead people, deliver change and manage a wide selection of stakeholders.

Lastly, but just as significantly, is the fact that the first intakes are now leading figures in the business, adding real value to the organisation and returning to the programme as mentors of the next generation of leaders.

What is your business doing to improve the potential of its future leaders and adopt fresh ideas into the organisation?