Creating a bespoke programme that equipped a global senior leadership team to thrive through challenging times
Senior HR Leader and previous Vice President of Global HR and Head of Global Training for various multinationals, shares their experience of partnering with ASCEND+ to deliver a world-class programme.
Industry: Fintech
Number of employees: 20,000+
Location: Multinational
The brief
While working as the Global HR Business Partner for the global operations function of a multinational fintech company, Senior HR Leader needed to deliver a bespoke programme of work that would prepare the senior leadership team for a significant period of organisational change. With a new Senior Vice President at the helm and restructure just around the corner, the pressure was on for our key stakeholder to unite and strengthen the leadership team.
The initial priorities were to build trust amongst the team, develop their leadership skillset, and equip them with the tools and expertise to lead through the upcoming change. The next stage would be to dive deeper into the organisation, embedding the key leadership principles that the HR Leader and her team were trying to drive. The organisation needed to find a development partner with the capability to truly deliver at a global level – ensuring consistency across multiple different jurisdictions and cultures.
“We needed a partner that could offer a fully tailored programme, with a global reach. We weren’t looking for an ‘out of the box’ solution”
The solution
After considering multiple providers, the Senior HR Leader made the decision to partner with ASCEND+.
“Shay and his team built a multi-layered programme that was bespoke to what we needed, and within our budget. It allowed me to work on tailoring something that would really work for our leaders”
Focusing on consistency and strength across all regions, ASCEND+ began laying the foundations. The team hosted several in-depth sessions with the Senior HR Leader and the function’s Vice President to distill the aims and objectives of the programme, and then ran EQ-i assessments and 1:1 coaching with each of the leaders.
Building on the context and insights gained from the coaching sessions and EQ-i assessments, ASCEND+ then ran a two-day leadership workshop followed by a series of in-person sessions over 18 months across the organisation’s global operational hubs. On top of this, they hosted EQ-i certification workshops to enable internal team members to continue delivering the assessments to the management community across the wider workforce.
The results
By the time the programme concluded, the culture of the leadership team had been totally transformed. A high level of trust and a common language had been established, and the team was ready to begin leading the function through the period of change.
“The team at ASCEND+ were able to build trust with the leaders very quickly. The design of the programme was intentional – having the individual coaching sessions before the bigger plenary session was critical for us.”
The partnership with ASCEND+ had also helped prepare the leadership team for a challenge that nobody knew was coming… “we were very lucky with the timing of the initial programme”, the Senior HR Leader told us. “It all happened just before COVID. The team was a lot more tuned into the empathetic side of leadership, which was critical during such a challenging time. The work we did with ASCEND+ made a significant difference to how the team led the business through the pandemic”.
For a results-driven organisation, investing in this level of leadership development proved to be a critical part of building a team that was able to thrive through an incredibly challenging time. In the years since, ASCEND+ has continued to partner with the Senior HR Leader and the various teams she has supported across various multinational organisations.
Have you equipped your leadership team to meet the future needs of the organisation?
In times of uncertainty, leaders must adapt. ASCEND+ helps you to focus on what really matters, creating leaders who can thrive now and into the future. We are experts at developing and upskilling to meet the evolving needs of the business.