Brief

A retail group approached us to support their Area Managers through a period of significant growth. Over the course of 2020, our client’s Area Managers faced a variety of challenges, as the COVID-19 crisis spurred adaptation to social distancing and other precautions as well as increased customer demand for their products. In addition, the business has instigated several organisational changes to position itself to achieve its strategy.

This has resulted in a year of commercial success as well as a significant challenge for Area Manager leaders and employees as they had to adapt their mindsets and approaches to work, to match the work volume and changing environment as well as to maintain or reinstate their own personal well-being, balance, resilience and leadership effectiveness.

Solution

To support this Blue Seed facilitated a series of virtual leadership development events and offline activities. These allowed Area Managers to pause, reflect, develop greater self-awareness and consciously forge new mindsets and practical actions to lead themselves and their business areas, through this demanding new normal.

Results

Results of the program have been significant, with feedback from Area Managers indicating the program led to greater confidence, conviction, connection to personal purpose, greater well-being and balance and many practical new approaches to managing work and leading their people. Some Area Managers stated that the program ‘turned their life around’ leading to alleviation of mental stress, a greater sense of control and improvements in their home and work life.

Not only did these leaders then thrive through their busiest season but feedback from employees and their sales results shared with the market speak for themselves.

As a result of this success, the client engaged Blue Seed to continue the program in 2021, focusing on resilience, leadership styles, coaching, feedback. The goal in 2021 is to take the group to the next level of high-performance, adaptive leadership by June 2021. This will provide our client with a competitive differentiator as the business with the highest performing leadership and culture in the market.