FAQ

We work with management teams and groups of managers in organisations who need to change how they do things. We work with them over a period of up to a year to help and support them implement changes in themselves and their teams.

Whilst the programme duration may seem long, we take up as little of their time as possible. Changes are made progressively and cumulatively.

Levelstone’s coaches bring a structured approach to learning how to make the job of management easier and highly effective that is implemented by the management team together. They tread the same journey, face the same difficulties but each has the support of their own experienced Contribution Mentor and a common language that allows conversations to happen that otherwise wouldn’t. We also present you with the cold facts about avoiding the issues that haven’t been tackled previously and support you through confronting them. We are a catalyst for change.

The results stick. What managers learn by implementing the changes needed in their own context never leaves them and this programme is the basis of culture change. The programme is highly pragmatic, as un-intrusive as it can be made and is completely relevant to the specific context that the participants work in. The learning and changes are part of normal work, there is nothing that is not relevant or usable straight away or takes up time they haven’t got.

If you want us to provide an accurate prediction of payback time, we can’t do that but we would point you the findings of research carried out by Next Phase Leadership over four decades, quoted below.  Whilst others meet the question of cost and value for money with a glib “can you afford not to?” we would simply point out that the benefits of managers learning to maximise the differences that their people make are manifold and not easily evaluated but are clearly essential to an organisation’s survival.  This is what you get:

• Managers who share a clear vision of business success, are clear on what they are there to achieve, why and how to do it.
• Managers who understand their people and know how to motivate them, who understand what the business needs and the vital roles they play in making it successful.
• Managers who work as a team, communicate well and collaborate to achieve improvements for the business.
• Managers who can recognise what isn’t working, how to diagnose it and hold the conversations needed to put things right. They understand that £1000 of cost saved in efficiency and avoidance of wasted time or materials is as good as £1000 profit.
• Managers who acquire the skills to develop others and focus on getting them to make the business successful bringing with it the pride, enthusiasm and loyalty your business needs from its people.
• People who understand and care about their customers and make sure they get what they want every time.
• Managers who trust and empower their people so they are engaged and give their best.
• Managers who prepare the business and its employees for the future
• Higher levels of employee satisfaction, fewer HR issues and reduced staff turnover.
• More discretionary effort.
• Higher productivity and attention to quality.
• An ethical and safe “can-do” culture.
• Happy customers. Happy regulators. Happy shareholders.

Extract from “The Managers’ Quest” – Phase 3 refers to managers who have learned how to increase their contribution. These statistics are quoted from Next Phase Leadership’s research findings.

“Phase 3s give you:

• A 73% increase in communications and up-selling to all stakeholders
• A 31% decrease in waste through improved up-front planning and in completion
• Up to 200% increases in net total profit by project/function
• 2 to 3 times greater retention of top talent over untrained managers
• A 47% increase in successfully influencing up, down and through the organisation to create and maintain alignment
• A 300+% increase in coaching interactions and gentle guidance, to motivate employees
• An increase in customer satisfaction of 69 percentile points
• An increase in “employee commitment” of 43 percentile points
• 42% improvement in strategic initiatives resulting in successful outcomes
• 63% improvement in alignment due to “bringing clarity” out of ambiguity for cross-functional teams
• Engagement of the collective ideas of others toward greater creativity
• Reduction of 28% in time to achieve business results
• Future leaders to populate your succession planning needs

The list goes on, but suffice to say that these Phase 3 leaders ARE the lynch-pin in your contribution value, the central and most important creators of a profitable future for your business.”

The full programme is designed for large companies but is scalable to suit the budgets of smaller organisations and smaller numbers of managers. Smaller organisations generally have less complex management challenges and implementing change is often easier. We recently provided advice and support to just one manager on a specific single but very difficult issue. This resulted in a very good outcome for the business and the manager has acquired new skills that will stay with her and be passed on to her team.

We offer a range of short Topic Modules, which together make up the programme. These Modules can be selected, combined and adapted to provide you with as much possible that is of value to you within the budgetary constraints you face.  Topic Workshops form part of some of the Modules and some organisations see them as a means to up-skill managers in particular areas. We are happy to run these Topic Workshops as stand-alone classes, on request.

Drop us a line to say who you are and how to contact you and we will call you to talk about your business’ needs and how we can help you.  We will then arrange to meet and hold a more in-depth face-to-face discussion about what is involved and how we will proceed. We are happy to make a presentation to senior stakeholders to describe the value of our programme and provide testimonials from previous clients.