Leading with vision at npower

Citation

Mann, J. and Phillips, S. (2008), "Leading with vision at npower", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 7 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2008.37207aaf.006

Leading with vision at npower

Leading with vision at npower

Short case studies that demonstrate best practice in HR

From living a Masai life to arts and theatrics, npower’s leadership program deploys innovative techniques. Jane Mann (jane.mann@npower.com), management development manager, and Steve Phillips (steven@ideasunlimited.com), a partner at Ideas Unlimited, explain the rationale.

npower is one of the UK’s largest energy providers, serving residential consumers and business customers. It faces a number of challenges in maintaining and building on its current market position. High on the agenda is differentiating the business in the minds of customers who historically see energy as a commodity.

To this end, npower is pursuing a strategy of creating an unprecedented relationship with its customers and building a powerful brand that is full of character – personal, forward-thinking, rewarding to know and definitely not another boring utility. With a vision of “turning our customers into fans” the organization kicked off its strategy with a program to enhance its leaders’ ability to turn npower’s own people into fans.

The company identified six primary differentiators of future high-performance at senior level. These were defined through a process of interviews and focus groups with the senior team and application of models of high-potential behavior. The differentiators fall into the three categories of emotional, strategic and learning agility.

Philosophy of program design

The leadership program was designed around those differentiators, in addition to the following core principles that were chosen for their relevance in creating a program that was iconic, engaging and grounded in the organization’s world:

1. 1.

   Strengths-based approach. The program was designed to identify and amplify leaders’ strengths rather than imposing an external model of “one right way.” This encourages leaders to focus on their employees’ strengths as a source of higher performance.

2. 2.

   True development – from the inside out. The brand is about character and individuality and the philosophy of development also needs to emphasize each individual’s character and individuality. The leadership program had to be affirming and confidence building rather than analytical.

3. 3.

   Real – embedded in the business. npower is a very operational and fast moving business so the program needed to take place using real business or community challenges as the vehicles for learning rather than invented exercises.

4. 4.

   Generative – creation not just consumption. It is not about providing the answers, it is about encouraging the right questions and enabling participants to generate their own informed approaches.

5. 5.

   Multi-sensory and rich. In a business that is aiming for a vibrant and engaging character, the style of the program and its delivery needed to be rich and colorful.

6. 6.

   Head, heart and soul. True engagement is not simply a matter of rational and intellectual work, it involves people’s feelings, emotions and will.

7. 7.

   A model of engagement. It was critical that the program itself was a beacon for the aspirations of the business and should be an outstanding, iconic experience for each participant and for the organization.

The program was designed by the design team at Ideas, working in partnership with Jane Mann for the design and the HR business partners from each of the company’s three divisions. Their directors provided a project steering group, which signed off each stage of the design. Central to the program is building the internal capability of the HR team to design more challenging programs.

Program content and structure

The program was launched in October 2006, following a design period of four months. It is an eight-month program run with groups of twelve participants. Initially it is being rolled out to four groups, encompassing around 50 of the organization’s top managers. The last of the first four groups will have finished the program by circa mid-2008. There are four modules, each consisting of a residential workshop, an activity to deliver in the business, action learning sets and one-to-one coaching. The workshops are as follows.

Workshop 1: leading myself

The first workshop is held in the Ngorongoro Highlands in Northwestern Tanzania, with participants living and working alongside a remote Masai community where they are helping with the ongoing refurbishment of two schools. This location was chosen to provide the participants with an opportunity for considerable personal reflection and a meaningful opportunity to work together for the benefit of a community, from whom they could also learn.

A whole new perspective is possible when removed from the trappings of day-to-day work and home life and the conditioning of society, and participants learn an enormous amount about who they really are and what matters to them most in work and in life. Workshop time is built in to the schedule so they can reflect on their own sense of purpose and they receive feedback gathered from friends and family describing how they already affect peoples’ lives.

This module is less expensive per head than a week in a UK business school and has made fundamentally more impact on each of the participants than any other part of the program. It is commonly described as “life changing” by participants and has resulted in individuals constructively reappraising their priorities and commitments.

Workshop 2: leading myself and our people

This is held in the UK, in the tranquil location of a converted self-catering coach-house on the Welsh borders. The focus is on how each participant brings their strengths and qualities to bear in their leadership role. Participants now receive feedback from their work colleagues. This is designed to be the basis for conversations that each will have with the providers of the feedback before the next workshop.

They create their own personal leadership profile using the a model of thinking preferences and begin to look at how a knowledge of their own dominant leadership styles and emotional intelligence can help them build a more resonant working climate for their people.

Workshop 3: leading our people

This takes place in a rehearsal studio and theatre. Participants are focused on real delivery of leadership in the workplace and start by analyzing up-to-date staff opinion surveys. Unbeknown to them, the vast majority of their direct reports have been organized to arrive and participate in this module. Working with their direct reports the leadership group has no option but to see things as their people really see them. The team collates the views of their direct reports and plans what action it will collectively take back in the organization. The challenge for leaders is to make a real difference, given that they have their directors’ explicit permission to confront the status quo.

Workshop 4: leading the business

The focus of this workshop is on generating a common understanding of the commercial operation of the organization and encouraging participants to take greater responsibility for the running of the business and influencing its future. It starts by reviewing actions taken in the business and identifying what has been learned about making an impact in the company.

Over the course of two-days the participants work with a graphic artist who helps them to take their logical and rational model of an organization and turn it into more interesting and interactive visual learning resources. These have to be of sufficient depth that they could be used to explain the dynamics of the business to others. The simple premise is that by having to design this for others they first have to reach a greater level of understanding.

After looking at how the value of the business could be increased, by taking the role of private-equity investors and presenting their plans for unlocking latent value, the workshop and the program finishes with the participants making their own plans for continuing their learning and peer support.

CEO and executive team support

The program is supported with unprecedented levels of senior executive involvement – as program coaches and as active sponsors of their people. Each participant’s line manager attends a two-day workshop introducing them to the program, taking them through some of the same activities and helping them to identify how they can be role models for the style of leadership being encouraged.

Early signs of success

Full evaluation will take place when the program is complete. This will analyze reported personal impact, achievement of learning objectives and contribution to the business. Anecdotal feedback so far has been very positive. Individual participants have achieved promotions and credit the program with giving them an advantage in the way they have approached such opportunities. There are higher levels of self-confidence and self-assurance and individuals are seen to be working with greater levels of personal conviction. Line managers have commented on the higher and confident profile that their people are taking in the business as a result of their participation.

About npower

npower is the retail arm of RWE npower, an integrated UK energy supplier, part of the RWE Group. It supplies services to around 6.8 million customers. npower retail is based near Worcester, UK and employs around 8,500 people.