In 2007, South Australia’s City of Charles Sturt and Organisational Development Consultancy Locher Human Resources developed a ‘Future Leaders’ Leadership Program that ran from February to December.
Charles Sturt’s Manager Organisational Development, Paul Trumble, said that as well as fostering and encouraging talent within the organisation, this program was designed to assist with succession planning and improve Council’s ability in both attracting and retaining staff.
Staff from across Council were invited to be involved in the Future Leaders program. Key criteria for selection were a participant’s commitment to the program and Council, and demonstrated evidence that they had potential to be leaders for the future. Thirteen of the 19 applicants were selected for the 2007 program.
Locher and Council engaged facilitators to run a series of workshops that included topics critical to the success of emerging leaders:
- emotional intelligence
- influencing others
- innovation and creativity
- thinking ‘on your feet’
- coaching for performance
- handling difficult conversations constructively.
Participants completed the program during work hours, which equated to around 100 hours of workshops, classroom activities, a group learning assignment and a Development Centre exercise.
Participants each joined a group to complete a Workplace Action Learning Assignment which was designed to challenge the participants, encourage collaborative working relationships and deliver tangible business and community benefits back to Council. While completing this project they worked with an allocated senior executive who provided coaching and mentoring.
At the conclusion of the projects, presentations were made to Council’s Leadership Team, the Mayor and Locher program sponsors. Feedback on the presentations and the quality of the project outcomes was extremely positive.
The final element of the Future Leaders program was a Development Centre facilitated by Locher, which gave participants the opportunity to demonstrate the leadership skills they learned during the program in a safe environment on real Council workplace situations.
Designed in consultation with Council, participants were able to gain feedback from trained assessors, including Council representatives, on their strengths and future development areas.
One of the positive outcomes achieved during the program was that eight participants applied for and were successful in gaining a promotion within Council.
Team Leader Governance and Business Support, Ilona Cooper, was a participant in the program. Previously working for an auditing firm, Ilona joined Council in 2005.
“The program provided a great opportunity to work in cross functional areas,” Ilona Cooper said. “The workshops gave us access to a range of presenters and the sessions helped us identify where we could strengthen our leadership skills. Feedback on skills acquisition at the end of each workshop was very helpful.”
The City of Charles Sturt plans to run a similar Future Leaders Leadership Program again in 2009.
Locher’s philosophy is based on a proven ability to enhance the productivity and quality of organisations, corporations and government authorities by helping them locate, retain and develop the most effective and efficient people.
For further information contact Paul Trumble on (08) 8408 1111 or Kate Carter, Locher’s Manager OD Strategic Projects on (08) 8201 1144.
