Identifying areas where costs can be significantly reduced, without compromising on quality is always a clear win. Senior Management at this Government Department recognised that by enhancing the behavioural skills of their new Management Consultant recruits at an early stage, they could almost halve the time required to make them fully operational.
Historically new Management Consultants were enrolled on a two year training programme to be fully operational in their role, at considerable expense to the department and tax-payer. It was felt that recruits generally lacked the necessary communication skills and confidence to build effective relationships, which was reflected in their ability to positively influence both internal and external clients.
By enhancing Consultants’ behavioural skill level to match their technical capability, the department provided this ministry with the opportunity for Consultants to be operationally independent within a year. Working in partnership with RoleplayUK the Department developed a challenging competency based model to complement the existing CPD programme. The training included realistic and robust simulated work environments to provide an effective platform for participants to practise essential hard and soft skills, receiving constructive feedback to personally develop in their roles.
The collective success of Consultants’ productivity, enabled the Department to attract an even higher calibre of candidate for future recruitment. The programme has continued to be utilised and extended year on year.
“The roleplay and coaching sessions were very useful to see how techniques worked and their impact for other teams. Subtle changes can have a dramatic impact. The need to be authentic came through strongly.”
Course Participant
