Case Studies

Large Internet Service Provider

As part of the organisation’s strategy to become one of Australia’s largest and most popular internet service providers, it has been acquiring businesses all over the country at a staggering rate. This growth has placed a great deal of demand on the company’s leaders and their ability to quickly adjust to the changing demands. The Chief of Operations and the Director of Human Resources recognised the need to boost leaders’ capability to:

  • Chart the course
  • Raise the bar
  • Inspire and energise others
  • Live the organisation’s values
  • Deliver results

Solution

Optium designed a blended leadership development solution, aimed at pulling together the development pathways of senior leaders, middles managers and future leaders across the organisation. This solution emphasised a three-tiered approach to development with a focus on ‘Developing World Class Leaders.’

The Future Leaders Development Centre is based on assessment centre methodology to identify the competency gaps and future development needs of the organisation’s aspiring front-line managers. The program is blended with individual diagnostics, day-in-the life scenarios (e.g. role-plays, team exercises, in-tray activities), and 1:1 performance development coaching. Whilst each participant leaves the Centre with a well defined development plan in place to support them in their career journey, the organisation achieves greater clarity into the capability of its next generation of leaders.

Duration: 4 Consecutive Days (Off-Site)

The Foundations Program is focused on developing core management and leadership skills, behaviours, and values in the organisation’s front-line and middle management pool. The program is modular in approach, and is blended with individual assessment (psych and 360), on-line quizzes, leading edge management and leadership tools and frameworks, and an action learning project based on a real leadership challenge that is designed to add a return on investment. Each participant is paired with an Optium coach throughout the duration of the program to accelerate behavioural change.

Duration: 6 On-Site Days over 9 Months (On-Site)

Outcomes

  • Improved communications across the business
  • Ability for teams to work cross-functionally
  • Decisions are made quickly, yet are accurate and balanced
  • Continuous improvement across a range of business processes
  • Improved leadership behaviours across the board

The Series has been so successful that the organisation has booked multiple programs to roll out well into 2011 across Australia and New Zealand.

The Accelerate Program is designed to fast-track the development of the organisation’s senior leaders. These individuals are selected based on their cognitive abilities, technical skills, emotional intelligence, adaptive capacity, and a track record of success. Participants are developed to take on the challenges of senior leadership within the company with the view to sustaining and driving the organisation’s success. This program is a blended solution, which incorporates an advanced online business simulation along with a profit improvement project and a live event for all participants. The program is scheduled to ‘Go-Live’ in February 2011.

The online simulation is set up in such a way to enable leaders to work in smaller teams of 4 to 5. The mix of each team will be chosen by the Director of Human Resources to include members from each business unit and different roles / functions. This is promoted to encourage the networking and cross-functional relationship building throughout the program. Of the 6 rounds of the simulation 4 are completed online using virtual meeting and web media technologies to provide feedback from Optium facilitators after each round. The final 2 rounds are completed in a large live session involving the participants in a hotel venue. The profit improvement plan (PIP) is designed to focus each team on generating at least $1 million of extra value back in the real business. This PIP will be launched during round 4 and all teams come prepared to present their plans to the Managing Director and his executive team on their arrival at the hotel venue. After the live event participants are involved in delivering on the PIPs, which will be overseen by the Managing Director and his team.

Duration: 7 Days over 4 Months (both On-Site & Off-Site)