Ahold Back Office Services (ABOS) provide central accounting and administration services for companies from the Ahold Group, operating in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Objective

Following an organisational change process that began in 2005, ABOS began to develop a leadership programme for a group of key managers. The programme needed to meet the business goals of managing people through change and increasing the individual effectiveness of both managers and their teams.

Solution

Impact Polska worked with ABOS to design a solution focusing on active leadership and innovation. A modular programme was created to develop people management skills through leadership and performance management. The programme encouraged creativity and innovation and helped the participants to engage with their company, which is especially important throughout the change process.

The three modules took place over a seven month period. Activity continued between the modules, with small development groups initiating business projects to bring their learning to life and to generate content for their individual development plans. These projects were managed alongside their own jobs and the ambitious topics included ‘how to improve relations with employees’ and ‘non-financial systems of motivation for employees’. Many of their innovative solutions are now implemented within the ABOS workplaces.

Result

The programme was a huge success, building strong relationships and networks between participants. Using MBTI®, individual styles of leadership were identified that linked to improving personal and professional effectiveness as a manager and a leader. Participant comments included:

"The programme is great, because the modules are not separate events, but a continuation of my personal development."

"I would suggest that all managers should take part in this development event in order to better collaborate."

The business benefits were further evident through the creation of a consistent leadership model for the organisation.

"This was the first development training programme designed to improve the core skills of our managers. Although it was targeted at a small group of high potential employees, the entire organisation gained more than we expected, and that’s why we are going to involve more managers in Impact’s programme this year."
Marzena Machera
HR Manager
Ahold Back Office Services Poland

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