Download Good to Great: Creating leaders for the long-term

Case Study – Custom Program
Good to Great: Creating leaders
for the long-term
Client SAB Miller
Sector Beverage/FMCG
Initiative European Managers Development
Program
Overview Leadership development
for 150 middle and senior managers at
SABMiller. Two residential modules lasting
six days each, supported by coaching and
psychometric testing. Three cohorts per
year of 35 participants.
“The program prepares
our most talented
current and future
managers for their
next challenges. These
managers are all in roles
that have a big impact on
the business.”
Samantha Rockey
European L&D Manager,
SABMiller
“We looked at Shopper
Marketing, which
taught me a great deal
about different business
functions and cultural
differences.”
Isabelle Guegler
Talent Manager, SABMiller
A learning experience that adds value
personally and professionally, is very motivational and people
have an opportunity to solve vexing business problems.
Most importantly it is enhancing the excellence of our
leaders and developing the SAB Miller talent pipeline, so
crucial for business growth.
Background
With around 70,000 employees across 75
countries, SABMiller is one of the world’s
largest brewers. SAB Miller chose to partner
with Ashridge to refresh the design and
delivery of SABMiller’s European Managers
Development Program (EMDP), helping to
develop the leadership pipeline and achieve
business growth.
Challenge and consultation
SABMiller were experiencing softening
growth in many European countries and
increasingly facing a tough ‘share of throat’
market. To achieve growth, the strategy
centered around innovation, reconnecting
with changing consumer lifestyles/attitudes,
and developing a new, more appealing
product portfolio.
The aim of the program is to build the
SABMiller talent pipeline by preparing our
most talented current and future managers
for their next challenges. These managers
are all in roles that have a big impact on
the business. The EMDP is mapped to our
leadership behaviors and helps participants
engage fully with the business strategy so
they can deliver a real competitive edge.
We want the program to cater for varied
learning styles, with a focus on action
and experiential learning. It also needs to
allow time and space for reflection and
creativity.
Together with Ashridge we have cocreated a fresh and innovative program
based on good design principles and
a deep understanding of our business
needs and how our participants will
respond. We are always restless about
finding better ways to update and improve
the program.
The Program Journey
Coaching
Module 2
( 6 days)
Coaching
Module 2
Pre-reading
Webex
Launch
Psychometrics
Pre-reading
Module 1
( 6 days)
Project
work
Virtual Ashridge - Custom Learning Resources
The program and approach
The two modules last six long and intense
days. We are un-apologetic about this given
that the participants have high levels of
energy and are quick thinkers. Our priority
is to maximize the time and effectiveness of
the experience. The theme of the program
changes each year. For example, this year it
is ‘Impact’ with the program being designed
around personal, team and organizational
impact.
Ashridge understands the importance of
‘making learning stick’. The EMDP design
was based around Ashridge research
and experience in learning transfer,
incorporating the following principles:
• Designing the content and
delivery around the organizational
competencies
• Making the learning relevant and real,
an example being the work carried out
on SABMiller specific projects
• Using repetition and logging techniques
• Offering physiological and
psychological elements and a strong
emphasis on interaction and practical
application to maximize participation,
engagement and to make the
experience memorable
The Impact
It is helping us make good leaders great.
People are making better decisions and
using supportive coaching to discuss and
resolve issues. We have seen an increase
in confidence, performance and impact.
As part of their learning experience,
participants are given real business
problems to address. This creates strong
business impact and is an incubator for
real-time learning.
Ashridge Executive Education
Hult International Business School
Berkhamsted
Hertfordshire HP4 1NS, U.K.
Tel: +44(0)1442 841246
Email: [email protected]
ashridge.org.uk/custom
Recent examples have been the role of
social media in the drinks industry and
innovation in the beer category. This gets
people working in cross-cultural, crossfunctional teams which in turn builds
networks, encourages collaboration and
brings new thinking back into the business.
It also helps to build relationships with the
senior leadership team. It’s a very motivating
experience. The fact that only one alumnus
has left SABMiller in two years bears
witness to that!
In terms of the impact, we are creating
leaders for the long-term. Our participants
are having a learning experience that
adds value personally and professionally,
is very motivational and people have
an opportunity to solve vexing business
problems. Most importantly it is enhancing
the excellence of our leaders and
developing our talent pipeline, so crucial for
business growth.
The impact of the program includes:
• Makes leaders more confident, better
decision makers, able to deliver a
competitive edge
• Builds a crucial talent pipeline - 25% of
participants were promoted within one
year and SAB Miller achieved a 95%
retention rate
• Feeds new knowledge and innovative
thinking into the business
• Provides unique, fresh solutions to real
business challenges
• Creates a community of leaders and
strong links between the European
Executive Community and EMDP
participants
• Embeds SABMiller competencies
• Incremental revenues climbing from
2% to 5%, industry leading revenue
growth, and margin growth ahead of
competitors - all directly correlated to
the attainment and strenghtening of
local leadership positions
Specific improvements in performance
delivered through the program:
• Leading with confidence and to drive
the business strategy
• Being company/product ambassadors
• Building high performance teams;
over 140 leaders have each built their
own high performance teams and are
engaging with the organization
• Making strategic decisions
• Collaborating and working effectively
cross-culturally/functionally
• Solving increasingly complex problems
with unique, fresh solutions
• Being highly credible with senior
leaders
• Implementing learnings and being agile
- to deliver competitive edge
• Understanding and committing to
achieving the vision
• Embracing the strategy and taking
personal ownership for its delivery
“This program delivered
uncontested business
impact, supporting
revenue growth, creating
a high performance
leadership community
who are driving the
business strategy, and
delivering a 95% talent
retention rate.”
Samantha Rockey
European L&D Manager, SABMiller