Ground-breaking programme at Nissan
In spring 2020, just before the pandemic took hold across Europe, MF partnered with the Learning & Development team at Nissan to deliver the first ever Women in Leadership programme for the organisation.
It was a programme with a difference, because – as you would expect from one of the leading coaching organisations in Europe – it focused heavily on follow-up coaching to embed and enhance the learning from the face-to-face training. The participants were 16 high potential women managers from across Nissan Europe. The programme format was as follows:
• 1 x full-day face-to-face workshop
• 2 x 2-group coaching sessions in smaller groups of 5-6
• 4 x 1-hour one-to-one coaching sessions
We had always intended that the small group and one-to-one coaching sessions would be carried out virtually, so we were able to continue with the programme despite the Covid restrictions.
Evaluating the success of the programme
We were very keen to understand the impact of this ground-breaking development, so we commissioned a bespoke evaluation programme from our research partner Green Mineral Marketing. One-to-one interviews were conducted with nine participants to determine:
• The impact of the programme on the women and their performance
• The wider context and impact of the programme within the organisation
• Any improvements that could be made to the programme for the future
Research conclusions
The collated research highlighted the following themes:
• Significant benefits to the participants, including self-confidence, decision-making, communication, networking, self-awareness and problem-solving
• Direct benefits to Nissan, including retention, employee wellbeing, performance management and enhanced leadership skills
• Targeted areas for further improvement, including initial communication and line manager endorsement
• Unequivocal proof of the programme benefits, to be used to secure budget to run similar programmes in the future.
Client observation
"The Women in Leadership programme was undoubtedly a huge success and the follow-up research was also invaluable. The findings have given me the tools to showcase the benefits of the programme internally, which will help me secure budget to run it again. As well as highlighting the small changes we can make next time, the research has allowed me to draw general conclusions about how we can improve our training provision, the benefits of which go far beyond this programme. We are delighted to work with MF, who not only deliver world class programmes, but help us to measure their impact too." - Clare Mason, AMIEO L&D Section Manager, Nissan
To learn more about how Management Futures can help you enhance inclusivity in your organisation, contact us on 020 7928 4841 or info@management futures.co.uk