TPI Imprint Newsletter

14
imprint Autumn 2012

description

The Pacific Institute's newsletter for its European clients.

Transcript of TPI Imprint Newsletter

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Message from the Chief ExecutiveMessage from the Chief ExecutiveMessage from the Chief Executive

WELCOME TO THEAUTUMN EDITION OF IMPRINT

founder in 1971, sent shockwavesthrough the organisation. TPI® iscommitted to ensuring that thegroundwork undertaken by Lou,David and others lives on, and weare more committed than ever tohelping individuals, communitiesand organisations realise theirpotential.

This Imprint includes some ofTPI®’s major success stories inorganisations. We have workedwith The Manchester College(originally as MANCAT) for overnine years and the publication ofthis Imprint coincides with theretirement of two of key advocatesin the college, Peter Tavernor andBarbara Forshaw, on whom wehave written an article to celebratetheir professional careers. We alsoinclude interesting stories fromother key clients: Remploy, SSE, anarticle about IIE® from a Librariesjournal and a piece on TPI®’s verypositive re-accreditation reportfrom IIP.

have a lot of commonality. Most cultures are defensive:passivity pervades the majority oforganisations and, at a time whenorganisations are needing to domore with less, culture is holdingthem back. Why? Because tomaintain performance standardswith reducing overhead andresource means that there mustbe more efficacy, engagement andaccountability on the part of allstaff. This, therefore, requires a reduction in passivity: lessavoidance, less dependence andless of a need for approval. TPI® has a track record of driving downthese passive behaviours and the outcome is greater staffengagement and motivation. Soculture matters and there hasnever been a more important timefor leaders to work on building a constructive culture.

2012 has represented the end ofan era for TPI® UK. The passing ofDavid Tate, who set up TPI® UK in1982, and Lou Tice, TPI®’s original

That will remain a key objectiveof our work in the years ahead

– helping individuals turn theirpotential into performance.

At an organisational level, we haveseen our work evolve from personaldevelopment in the eighties toculture transformation: this appliesacross both the private and publicsectors. TPI® UK has focused moreon leadership and its impact onculture, and the use of our cultureand leadership measurement toolshas provided much needed data to inform our interventions. Morerecently, there is a trend towardsthe design of bespoke solutions toaddress key challenges within theclient organisation. So these areexciting times for TPI® at a timewhen the need for our informationhas never been greater.

In client meetings, the question of culture comes up regularly. All organisations believe that theyare unique and have uniquechallenges, yet the profiles whichemerge in our surveys of culture

In the eighties, TPI® was seen predominantly as a personal development provider, which still appliesto much of our work with communities and with young people, as they experience programmeswhich enable them to become more efficacious and aspirational.

So as ever, please enjoy the read and get back to us with any suggestions forimprovements, future articles or others ways in which we can continue to provide exceptional customer service.

TPI® UK was established in September 1982, so we havejust reached our 30th Birthday. It is interesting to reviewthe development of the business over that period.

Dr Neil Straker Chief Executive, TPI® UK

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Putting Ability FirstPutting Ability FirstPutting Ability First (article by Joe Askew)

THE REMPLOY ENTERPRISEBUSINESSES STORYIn October 2011, Remploy Enterprise Businesses, in line withtheir vision of transforming the lives of disabled people,embarked on a spectacular rollout of The Pacific Institute’s®STEPS® programme.

Alan HillManaging Director

Remploy Enterprise Businesses

disabled employees who mightotherwise be marginalised.

The Pacific Institute® (TPI®),through Richie Cameron andDougie Potter, has been workingwith Remploy at varying levelssince 2004, through periods of significant change andmodernisation in the organisation.Much of this work has focused onleaders at board and individualbusiness levels in 2 main areas:

• Building a strong andconstructive leadership culturethat both empowers and buildsachievement

• Working in times of dramaticchange, to envision a clear‘Definition of Success’ with eachof the Leadership Teams

One of the main drivers of thetransformation has been currentManaging Director, Alan Hill.

Having been with Remploy for 11 years, he has seen thedevelopment of the organisationfrom an initial inwardly-focused enterprise, sheltered to a largeextent by government funding, toan outward-facing, more profitableorganisation, operating on soundbusiness imperatives.

In 2004, whilst heading up one ofthe businesses, Alan set aboutinvestigating a culture changesolution to address the attitudesand beliefs that were keeping theorganisation static. The outcomewas the adoption of The Pacific

In the initial 3 months alone, from a total of 2,500 employees

across 54 sites throughout the country, 637 people havealready signed up to experiencethe programme. The rollout istaking place at an incredible paceand the results are significant,impacting not only on theindividuals themselves, but also ontheir families and the organisationas a whole.

Remploy Enterprise Businesses are the UK’s leading employer of disabled people and provide a wide range of world-classproducts, throughout their factorynetwork, to customers in diverseindustries. They have a firmcommitment to quality and valuefor money, which is second tonone, and this is enhanced by the provision of skills andemployment to thousands of

STEPS® Newcastle

REMPLOY Facilitators

THE RESULTS ARE SIGNIFICANT,IMPACTING NOT

ONLY ON THEINDIVIDUALS

THEMSELVES BUTON THEIR FAMILIES

AND THEORGANISATION

AS A WHOLE

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the facilitator team, talks of how insome cases participants are nowvolunteering for new jobs or arebecoming more involved inRemploy’s various working groups.They are also becoming moreengaged in their owncommunities, with many, whowould otherwise have been moresecluded, now joining social clubsor taking part in other activities.

In these uncertain times, it isimpossible to predict what thefuture may hold. One mighttherefore expect a project like thisto be placed on hold until theprevailing conditions improve, yetaccording to Alan, the seniorleadership felt that this was thebest time for such an investment.They are enhancing the lives oftheir people and by extension their families and communities,equipping them with resilience andthe ability to overcome setbacks.

As an organisation, Remploy EBhave managed remarkably wellduring the recession, reportingdouble-digit growth figures andexceeding expectations in manyaspects of the business. Whilst this cannot be solely attributed to the various culture changeinterventions, they have certainlyplayed their part and made asignificant contribution.

With strong support from ColinScott, Director of Operations forEnterprise, and Richard Bennell,Director of Sales and Marketing, adecision was taken amongst thesenior leadership to make theSTEPS® programme available on a voluntary basis to all employeesin the division. Lynn Green, theRemploy Project Manager, workingclosely with TPI®, prepared anambitious plan to roll out theproject. A dedicated core team of8 full time facilitators were trainedand seconded to the project todeliver the programmes across the factory sites. A further 12facilitators, including many fromthe ranks of senior management,support the rollout on a part timebasis, a great example ofleadership role modelling withinthe organisation. The scale of theproject is almost unparalleled inthe UK and in fact serves as awonderful example internationally.Working together, Remploy EB and TPI® are creating animplementation process that istruly world-class.

The facilitator team has beenextremely busy and shows nosigns of slowing down, havingalready allocated 16 courses forthe first 2 months of 2012. Theyare incredibly passionate about theimpact the programme is havingand are determined to make adifference with each session thatthey run. The personal impact thatthey have witnessed thus far isstaggering. Participants are moreengaged with the work that theyare doing, managers report thatmore questions are being askedand individuals are starting tochallenge themselves in new rolesand opportunities. Steve Wright,who works with Lynn and leads on

Institute’s® curriculum, initially at aleadership level and this hascontinued over a number of years.The senior leadership team areactive champions of the materialand have used it to build their ownaspiration, a collective focus onsolutions, alignment to a sharedpurpose and the clarification of thedesired end results.

The natural progression forRemploy EB was to investigate how the concepts could findapplication in raising the self-esteem, self-belief and personalaspirations of front line staff aswell. The motivation was not solelyto improve business performance,although this certainly was aconsideration, it was also a meansof enabling staff to realise theirpotential, personally, professionallyand in their communities at large.As Alan explains: “Many disabledpeople are surrounded bynegativity and criticism, sometimesfrom their own families andthemselves. They often focus onwhat they cannot do, rather than what they can. What ThePacific Institute® does is changetheir concept of what is possibleand helps them look at things in a different way. It allows them to raise their own personalexpectations and become focusedon setting and achieving targetsand goals.”

STEPS® Swansea

WORKINGTOGETHER,

REMPLOY EB AND TPI® ARECREATING AN

IMPLEMENTATIONPROCESS THAT

IS TRULY WORLD-CLASS

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The changes are clearly evidentand more people are beingpersuaded to experience STEPS®for themselves as a result. Thegroundswell is most noticeable inthe common language now in useacross the organisation. This isbuilding a momentum of positivityand optimism that disseminatesbeyond the workplace to impact on whole families and indeed even communities, deepening theimpact Remploy EB makes.

The learning is being kept alive for participants through theintroduction of half-day refreshersessions at regular intervals. Inaddition, the STEPS® programmeis also being introduced to manydisabled young people who comeinto the various businesses on work experience placements.Remploy EB aims to reach 20,000such people and once again seesraising the aspirations of thisparticular group as a real priority.

For the facilitator teams, the resultsare even more evident. SteveWright shares a few examples ofreal personal transformation:

One individual attended the coursewith a lot of initial scepticism. Onthe third day of the course hisemotions broke through. Afterspending some time with thefacilitator, he explained how theactivities and material in STEPS®

had struck a major chord with him and opened his eyes toopportunities he had missed outon in life. Normally a very reservedperson, he stated that the coursehad given him a totally differentview going forward and allowedhim to express his emotions muchmore openly with his family. This issomething he would have nevercontemplated in the past.

Another individual shared how her experience of the programmecaused her to stand up for herselfmore. Previously lacking inconfidence, she often acceptednegative criticism from certainpeople around her who wereunsupportive and belittling.Imbued with a new spark andbrimming with energy, the very day after the programme hadended, she was at last able tostand up for herself and tell themnot to speak about her in that way.She was quite clear in creditingSTEPS® for helping her change her mindset and was hugelyexcited with the new purpose shenow possesses.

One of the more negativeindividuals in the factory, whofacilitators were certain would notattend, did in fact sign up. For twodays of the four day session, heremained his usual negative self,saying that `this is no good andnot for me, it’s a waste of time`.

Returning on a Monday morning,having had the weekend tocontemplate the information, hetoo had a breakthrough. Thefacilitator was on hand to talkthrough his issues and thestumbling blocks that he felt wereholding him back in his life. Itturned out that the programmehad really made him think aboutwhat he wanted to accomplish andeven more than that, what he wasgoing to do about it. Since theprogramme, his demeanour haschanged to a massive extent. He now volunteers for newopportunities and attempts newchallenges on his own initiative.

A PERSONAL ACCOUNTFROM ONE OF THEPARTICIPANTS “I have been on the STEPS®course. My disability is speechand before I came on theSTEPS® course I had noconfidence. Since I have beenon the course it has turned mylife around and given me theconfidence to stand up at workand talk. It was enjoyable andrelaxing talking to people I hadnever met before. I wouldprobably be stuck in my quietworld letting life pass me by if ithadn’t been for STEPS®. Thecourse has changed me for thebetter and I’ve noticed thechange in my workmates whohave been on the same course.”

STEPS® Leeds

STEPS® Oldham

NORMALLY A VERYRESERVED PERSON,

HE STATED THATTHE COURSE HAD

GIVEN HIM ATOTALLY DIFFERENT

VIEW GOINGFORWARD

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THE FACILITATORS TOOARE EAGER TO SHARETHEIR EXPERIENCE“It is such a privilege, not only to be project managing thisfantastic initiative and hearing ofthe amazing good news stories,but also to be working with sucha great team of facilitators, whoare introducing their ownexercises and new materials toenhance the programme andkeep the concepts alive. Havingalso had the opportunity tobecome a part time facilitator, Iam excited to see for myselfwhat impact STEPS® is havingon our employees and sharingin the emotion. The programmeis such an uplifting and lifechanging experience and one Ihope many more colleagues willvolunteer to take up.”LYNN GREEN, PROJECT MANAGER

“Personally, it has given me theconfidence to take on freshchallenges that 2 months ago Iwouldn't have dreamed of. I wasok on the shop floor doing "on

job training" but never had theconfidence to come out of mycomfort zone. The STEPS®course has given me that self-confidence to take on newchallenges without the fear offailure and in doing so makingme feel good about myself. Ithas made me more positive inmy outlook. For others that wehave delivered the course to, yousee the change in them as thecourse progresses. To start withthey are guarded about whatthey say and do, but as thecourse progresses they becomemore open, confident andpositive in their outlook.” GARRY BURNS

“I enjoy watching people's self-confidence grow visibly in frontof me. I enjoy the ‘light bulb’ moments when peoplerealise they are in control of theirown destiny. I appreciate theopportunity to be the catalyst forchange for such an importantcompany initiative.” CLAIRE CHARLESWORTH

It is clear that the programmes are making a difference. The clarityof vision and foresight displayed by Remploy EB’s senior leadershipin launching such an ambitiousproject is laudable and will have a tremendous impact, not only on the organisation’s culture and profitability, but it will also go a long way to achieving its aim of transforming the lives of the disabled individuals who workthere.

FOOTNOTE:

THE GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED

TO WITHDRAW FUNDING AND TO

PRIVATISE THE ORGANISATION,

CURRENTLY A NUMBER OF THE

BUSINESSES ARE BEING PREPARED

FOR SALE WITH COMPLETION

OF SALES FORECASTED TO BE BY

OCTOBER 2013.

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STEPS® Oldham

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CILIP UpdateCILIP Update

LIBRARYVISIONARIES ANDELASTIC BANDSCreating a library strategy for a university which seeks toposition itself within the top two per cent of universitiesworldwide by 2016 is certainly a challenge. Jacqui Gaul and LizHarris describe how the Library Executive Group at CityUniversity London went about creating a dynamic librarystrategy to support this vision.

The Thomson Reuters Zone and Learning Resource Centre,

Cass Business School.

out its strategic stall, so it wasessential that Information Servicesand Libraries (ISL), which is a part of IS, had a clear andchallenging vision which fed into all of the above.

The arrival of a new ChiefOperating Officer in August 2011 also made it imperative thatwe knew where we were going andhow we were going to get there,and that where we wanted to be would be in a differentiating,inspirational place.

BLUE SKIES AND ELASTICBANDSCoincidentally, the two Heads of Library Services and theDirector of ISL attended a four-day‘Investment in Excellence®’ courserun by The Pacific Institute®around this time. Although initiallyapproached with some scepticism,this inspirational course turned outto be a key force in the creation ofan aspirational vision for CityUniversity London ISL.

As Heads of Service, we regularlyengaged in ‘thinking outside thebox’, but this course took us onestage further and got us believingthat we could achieve the dreamvision for our library service. Afterall, if we are aiming to be ranked inthe top two per cent of universitiesworldwide, we need to have alibrary service which matches thisglobal status.

Central to the creation of our visionwas the ‘elastic band theory’ whichhad been demonstrated to usduring The Pacific Institute®course. This was an excellent wayof impressing upon us how limiting‘realistic’ goals might be and howwe can achieve much more bystretching our vision to its utmost

Anumber of drivers lay behindthe formalisation of

a strategy for City UniversityLibrary Services in 2011. Anaspirational vision for the universityhad been set out by our new Vice Chancellor, Professor PaulCurran, which included theambition to be ranked within thetop two per cent of universitiesglobally. The five schools within theuniversity were all developingstrategies in line with this vision.City University London InformationServices (IS) was likewise setting

CILIP Update (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals)

Jacqui GaulHead of Library Services,

Cass Business School,City University London.

Liz HarrisHead of Library Services,

Northampton Square Library, City University London.

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themselves but the decision wastaken that they should be presentthroughout the other areas.

We worked in two small groups tocome up with a core statement foreach of the strategic goals of nomore than two or three sentences.This was done by each member of the group contributing wordsthat were key to the goal – forexample, for ‘Services’, words suchas flexible, quality, innovation,responsive, technology, dynamic,high calibre staff were noted. Onemember of the group facilitated asthe words were discussed and thewording of the strategic goal wasput together. This was thenpresented to the other group whocommented and contributed theirown ideas until the final wordingemerged.

In the case of the strategic goal for‘Services’, we arrived at: ‘Wedevelop and deliver high qualitylibrary services in a flexible andresponsive manner. Our servicesexploit emerging technologies,library collections and space todrive academic excellence’.

The next step was to break the goaldown into targets – which wouldlook to the next five years and beaspirational – remembering theelastic band and, with our mind seton what we would like to achieve,rather than limiting ourselves towhat we thought was realisticallyachievable. We deliberately used

days should be facilitated by theDirector of ISL rather than anexternal person, a decisioninfluenced by our track record ofworking as a team and welcomedby us all.

The day started with those whohad attended The Pacific Institute®course briefing the others on the key concepts. The mainmessage was that we had to thinkbeyond what seemed achievable(given budgetary constraints,dependencies on other servicesand time available) to what couldbe possible. The image of theelastic band was ablydemonstrated by one of ourmembers to illustrate that we had to ‘stretch’ ourselves beyondwhat was comfortable to constructa vision for the future.

The staff who had attended the training had already donesome preliminary work on a visionstatement. This was discussed andrefinements made with theintention of revisiting it as our workprogressed.

POSITIVE WORDS ANDPOST-IT NOTESWe began by identifying our key strategic goal areas anddecided on: collections; space;people; student experience;services; partnerships, researchand budget. Communications,internationalisation and innovationwere considered as goals in

and really addressing things whichmay be blocking the fulfilment ofour vision.

Work commenced with theDirector of ISL inviting the LibraryExecutive Team to two ‘away days’to work on the strategy. TheExecutive Team comprises the fourHeads of Service of the librariesthat form City University London,plus the Head of InformationLiteracy, who has cross-siteresponsibility for the work of theSubject Librarians. Also attendingwas the newly appointed DigitalRepository Manager, as servicesfor researchers are very high on theagenda and it was felt that hisperspective would make a usefulcontribution.

The Library Executive Teamoperates with openness and trustand has been established for someyears. It is a meeting of equals,with the post of Chair revolvingannually amongst its members. Itis responsible for strategy andoperational oversight for theservice. Prior to the away day,research was undertaken into thestrategies published by other HElibraries and examples werebrought along as guidelines toinform our thinking. We were alsokeenly aware that it was importantto tie in with the university visionand the school plans, and thesewere kept in mind throughout theexercise. It was agreed that the

The recently refurbished level five ofthe Northampton Square Library.

CENTRAL TO THECREATION OF OUR

VISION WASTHE ‘ELASTIC BAND

THEORY’ WHICHHAD BEEN

DEMONSTRATED TO US DURING

THE PACIFICINSTITUTE®COURSE.

The Library Graduate Centre at City University London.

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very positive language andstatements such as ‘We will leadin...; world class; high performing’. This was the hardest part for all ofus, as we are unused to thinking insuch terms. We were also awarethat we were tending to use thesame phrases over and over again.We decided not to worry too muchabout this, as the important thingwas to catch the concepts – thelanguage used could be fine tunedat a later date. At the end of thefirst day, each of us was given oneof the goals to research and thinkfurther on objectives for our ownservice.

START DOING, STOP DOING,CONTINUE DOING On the second away day one weeklater, we revisited the work we haddone and looked at the remainingstrategic goals. The next step wasto flesh out what we needed to start doing; stop doing; continuedoing and who we needed to communicate to in order toachieve our aspirations.

Some of this was covered duringthe day using the same method ofsplitting into groups to brainstormthe topic – using the flip chartsand post-it notes that arecompulsory at all such events!Ideas were then presented to theother groups and suggestions andconstructive criticism given.

It was encouraging that there werea lot of ‘continues’ and not toomany ‘stops’.

Although the work could not be completed within the awaydays, we felt as a team that we nowhad sufficient experience andconfidence to continue individuallyand each took ownership of one or two of the goals to continue thework.

A template was devised and an

area set up using Google Docs forus to work and share as wecompleted it. To this we added an objectives section in which weset out specifics and addedtimescales to form the basis of ouroperational plan.

NEXT STEPS Although library staff were aware ofthe away days and their purpose, weset up meetings to communicatethe outcomes to staff. These werefairly informal with a presentation ofthe key points followed by questionsand discussions. Though not aconsultation as such, opinions andcomments were welcomed and fedback into the final documents asappropriate.

With a new Chief InformationOfficer and a fairly new ViceChancellor, it was important topresent our strategy to them andto ensure that they supported ourplans. Meetings were then heldwith Deans and Chief OperatingOfficers from each school tocommunicate the process and theresults, and to ensure that theywere happy that the library waspositioning itself correctly inanticipating and planning for theircurrent and future needs.

With the strategy agreed, theoperational plan for the service wasdrawn up and signed off. All staffhave access to this document andit was used as a basis for appraisalobjectives.

LESSONS LEARNT In an ideal world, a library strategywould be produced with bothuniversity and school strategiesalready in place. However, schoollevel strategies were still beingwritten and the university strategywas being refined when weundertook this exercise.

Initially, we held back inanticipation of incorporating thefinished strategies into our thinkingand this cost us the opportunity oftranslating the operational planswe created as a result of theexercise into appraisal objectives.In the end we went ahead, ascreating an aspirational strategy forthe service was important giventhe deadline attached to our vision.However, we had to ensure that ourstrategy was flexible enough torespond to any potential futurechanges in direction.

Holding the away days in a neutralenvironment definitely facilitatedour creative output and helped usto think beyond our institutionaland mental boundaries. It alsoenabled a type of focused thinkingwhich it is sometimes difficult tosustain in the work environment.

Something that we have been veryaware of is that this is a livingdocument. It’s all too easy aftercreating a significant piece of worklike this to put it on the ‘done’ pile.We need to ensure that ourstrategy has visibility throughoutthe institution, engagement withkey stakeholders and has theflexibility to evolve. Writing it wasthe easy part.

REFERENCES:

CILIP MAGAZINE ARTICLE

REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION

WWW.CILIP.ORG.UK/UPDATE

WE NEED TO ENSURETHAT OUR STRATEGY

HAS VISIBILITYTHROUGHOUT THE

INSTITUTION,ENGAGEMENT WITHKEY STAKEHOLDERS

AND HAS THEFLEXIBILITY TO EVOLVE.

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Scotia Gas Networks UpdateScotia Gas Networks Update

EMBEDDINGEXCELLENCE INLEADERSHIP

Ralph EarwickerLeadership Development Manager

Scotia Gas Networks is an energy provider that owns andoperates the gas transmission and distribution network forthe South and South East of England, including London,south of the Thames and the whole of Scotland. Thecompany is a subsidiary of Scottish and Southern Energy,which has a 50% stake in the business, the other 50% isowned by two Canadian pension fund investors, OntarioTeachers and Borealis.

leap of faith in an industry wherecommand-led management,extensive regulation and a very riskaverse, health and safety mindsetis the norm. Despite this, theprogramme was a huge successand has been delivered at varyinglevels within SSE ever since. RalphEarwicker, Leadership DevelopmentManager for SSE and Scotia Gas Networks, was one of the first facilitators trained to deliverthe programme within theorganisation and estimates thatover 800 managers haveexperienced IIE® since those earlyimplementations.

With the emergence of Scotia GasNetworks, Ralph has been highlyinstrumental in integrating the TPI®

Investment in Excellence® has long been used by Scottish andSouthern Energy, as part of itsleadership development strategy.The relationship between SSE andThe Pacific Institute® goes back as far as the early 1990’s when itwas originally championed by thethen Chief Executive, Jim Forbes.Jim had previously experienced anearlier version of the curriculumdelivered by one of TPI®’s mostexperienced and skilled facilitators,Pat Given, and was convinced thatthe information could benefit thecompany. Given the nature of theprogramme, this was a major

The company was formedseven years ago following the

sale of some of the gas networksowned previously by NationalGrid/Lattice and prior to that byBritish Gas.

In the initial years of the company’sexistence, the focus had to be on operational synergies andestablishing a business operationmodel in order to achieve costsavings in a fiercely regulatedenvironment. In more recent years,as the company has matured, a new focus on developingmanagement and leadershiptraining has emerged, and oneaspect of this development hasbeen the introduction of ThePacific Institute’s® Investment inExcellence® programme.

WITHIN THE LAST18 MONTHS, OVER

150 PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY

EXPERIENCED IIE®AND THIS NUMBER

IS SET TO GROWEVEN FURTHER.

CEO John Morea

Scotia Gas Networks Update (article by Joe Askew)

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curriculum into existing leadershipdevelopment initiatives. As anorganisation, SGN is committed toinvesting in its people, not only ona technical level, but also in termsof how leaders and individuals inteams interact with each other andultimately with the end users oftheir service, SGN’s customers.

One of the main challenges theindustry faces is one of perception.Public frustration with roads andpavements being excavated in themaintenance of a gas network is alltoo familiar a scene. Utilities areone of the most critical householdand business requirements and yetare one of the more unpopularmonthly expenditures. Given thenature of the industry and all of therestrictions for regulation andsafety, one quickly finds that thepublic persona is not one that isimmediately appreciated. There isthus a conscious effort on the partof SGN to make sure that not onlydo they get their service operatingat the highest standard, but thateach interaction with customers ormembers of the public is handledas efficiently as possible. Ralphshares that one of the unspokenValues by which the companyoperates is, “Do it well and do itright!”. It is in this regard that the Investment in Excellence®

programme is extremely useful;helping leaders and managers tointeract more effectively with theirteams and each other, and workingtogether more creatively andconstructively to resolve problems.

IIE® has been championed withinSGN by several key members ofthe leadership team, many ofwhom have been drawn from SSEitself. These include the ChiefExecutive, John Morea, Director ofHuman Resources, Gary Barnesand Operations Director South,Peter Webster. Having experiencedthe curriculum with Ralph whilststill at SSE, they have benefittedfrom the concepts personally andprofessionally and know the valuethat IIE® offers. At present theprogramme is offered to leadersand managers and works on anomination basis. What is notableis that in an organisation of around5,000 employees, within the last18 months, over 150 people havealready experienced IIE® and thisnumber is set to grow even further.

Ralph, along with experiencedsenior colleague facilitators, Steve

Adams and Kevin Barclay, arecurrently running severalprogrammes on a regular basis at sites across the country. Thefeedback is overwhelminglypositive and this has helpedspread the word within SSE,leading to even greater demand.Having all had more than ten yearsexperience in delivering theprogramme, the facilitation teamare really able to ensure that IIE®matches the concepts to theneeds of the business and theresult is a real alignment to bothSGN’s and SSE’s aims andobjectives.

Ralph runs a regular follow-upprocess about six months aftermanagers have experienced IIE® in SGN in order to assess the valueof the programme. Asking a fewstraightforward questions thatgathers their views on bothpersonal and professional benefits,he aims to determine whether theirthinking and actions have changedas a result. The answer is generallya positive one. Managers haveprovided concrete examples ofhow they have grown anddeveloped, changed attitudes andhelped others become ‘scotoma-busters’ to directly benefit thebusiness and its customers. Onenotable comment from one of theparticipants has been, “I alwayspicture the success, rather thanthe path to it. As a result, in ourlocal business unit, with the targetswe have had to deliver, we havenever seen the unit in a failedsituation.” Positive thinking indeed!

I ALWAYS PICTURETHE SUCCESS,

RATHER THAN THEPATH TO IT

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The Manchester CollegeThe Manchester CollegeThe Manchester College (article by Joe Askew)

Peter TavernorChief Executive

The Manchester College has been a longstanding and loyalsupporter of The Pacific Institute® (TPI®) for a number ofyears, having begun its association with TPI® during itsincarnation as The Manchester College of Arts andTechnology (MANCAT).

life. As principal of MANCAT andlatterly as Chief Executive of TMC,one of his key concerns has beenhis mission to address poor localrecruitment and poor educationaloutcomes in Manchester. WithTMC, he has helped create one of the largest further educationcolleges in Europe, operating witha financial surplus, exceptionalfacilities and impressiveeducational performance. Underhis leadership, the college has hada major impact on levels ofparticipation in education inManchester and has delivered oneof the highest value added scoresnationally. His vision for TheManchester College is that itshould work in local partnerships,particularly with high schools, to meet neighbourhood needs,whilst at the same time providingexcellent skills programmes on a

This year sees the retirement of two of TMC’s senior leaders,

Chief Executive Peter Tavernor andDeputy Principal Barbara Forshaw,both of whom have played a majorrole in nurturing the TPI®intervention within the college.They leave having enriched thelives, not only of their colleaguesand thousands of students whohave passed through the campusover the years, but also of thegreater Manchester community as a whole. The Pacific Institute®offers a special tribute to two fine educationalists who truly saw the bigger picture in all theydid and worked tirelessly to makeit happen.

Peter Tavernor has been a collegeprincipal for more than 13 yearsbut has been active in educationand public service throughout his

Barbara ForshawDeputy Principal

THE IMPACT OF VISIONARYLEADERSHIP

regional and national basis. Peter’svisionary leadership has created acollege staff whose shared vision isto target local people of all agesand to encourage them to aspireto achieve. Part of the strategy he has implemented in order tomake this a reality has been thework with The Pacific Institute®.Nationally, Peter has made animpact with his contribution to the “not in education, employment or training” (NEET) agenda. Hisviews on the future of furthereducation and its role in economicand social change are regularlysought by others.

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created the impetus for the highlyregarded inclusive approach andintegrated Skills for Life workacross the college. A backgroundin working with students withemotional and behaviouraldifficulties, first as a teacher, then as a headteacher, hasnurtured her strong interest inbehavioural psychology and thisexpertise and experience hasenabled her to take the lead in developing the culture of The Manchester College. As achampion of the college’s

partnership with The PacificInstitute®, in developing a multifaceted approach to raisingpersonal efficacy, improvingorganisational culture andincreasing student aspiration, shehas helped the initiative to earnnational acclaim. Her enthusiasm,focus and commitment toeducation within the college will be sorely missed.

Paying tribute to them at an official farewell in September, Jack Carney, the current Principalof the College had this to say:

“Barbara and Peter shared acommon belief which impactedon all they did in the world ofeducation - that ordinary peoplecan do extraordinary things.They had such highexpectations - of students andstaff, and that made a hugedifference to us all!” JACK CARNEY, COLLEGE PRINCIPAL

The Pacific Institute® joins Jack,his colleagues and the widerManchester community inthanking them for their service andwishing them all the very best in all their future endeavours.

BARBARA’SSTRONG INTERESTIN BEHAVIOURAL

PSYCHOLOGY ANDTHIS EXPERTISE

AND EXPERIENCEHAS ENABLED HERTO TAKE THE LEADIN DEVELOPING THE

CULTURE OF THEMANCHESTER

COLLEGE.

PETER’S VISIONARYLEADERSHIP HAS

CREATED ACOLLEGE STAFFWHOSE SHARED

VISION IS TOTARGET LOCALPEOPLE OF ALLAGES AND TO

ENCOURAGE THEMTO ASPIRE TO

ACHIEVE.Barbara Forshaw has an impressivebackground in senior leadership.As part of the executive team atTMC she has led on staffingmatters and has also stepped in to deputise for the principal moreextensively in the last few years, as a result of Peter’s ill health. She has performed this role with aplomb.

Barbara has prioritised the building of staff skills and facilitating effective career progression. In addition she has

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IIPIIPIIP (article by Joe Askew)

The Pacific Institute® has once again been recognised withthe prestigious Investors in People standard, continuing thetradition that has been in place since March 2003. As astandard, Investors in People specialises in transformingbusiness performance through people, using a framework ofbest practice which is outcome-focused. The matrix outlineswhat organisations need to be successful without prescribingrigid policies to achieve this.

The reaccreditation process is essentially one of assessment thatcollates the input from colleagues across the business, as well as

that of the senior leadership team. This input is largely gathered throughinterviews that addressed a number of key questions in core areas. Theseincluded:

ENGAGEMENT

⦁ Do people feel rewarded and valued for the contribution they make?

EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT

⦁ How do people know they are doing a good job?

⦁ Have there been improvements to the way people are managed?

⦁ Is performance management effective?

⦁ Do people believe everyone in the organisation values diversity?

WORKING COLLABORATIVELY

⦁ Do we work well together?

⦁ Do we share experience and learning?

BUSINESS STRATEGY

⦁ Do people believe the core values are at the heart of the way theorganisation operates?

TPI® UK CONTINUESTO IMPLEMENT

AND REFINE IT’S STRATEGIC

BUSINESS PLAN,MINDFUL THAT ASAN ORGANISATIONMOVING INTO ITS

2ND GENERATION,IMPROVEMENT IN

PERFORMANCE OFITS CONSTITUENTS

IS A CRITICALFACTOR IN

POSITIONING TPI® AS AN

ORGANISATION OFCHOICE TO CLIENTS

& COLLEAGUES.

Therefore, TPI®’s Leadership teamtook the decision to be assessedagainst IIP’s wider framework. As aresult of the IIP assessment,undertaken by IIP assessor AndreaDefries, TPI® UK met all the criteriaof the extended framework. Thefinal report has provided invaluabledata and intelligence, which willinfluence our future-proofing.

The Pacific Institute® is proud tobe associated with the IIP standardand will continue to build on thegood practice which already existswithin the organisation. The TPI®vision of raising the efficacy andperformance of people andorganisations; accelerating thesuccess and growth of TPI®colleagues; and significantlyimpacting on the well-being,efficacy and leadership in thecommunities, societies andcountries in which we work isindeed a worthy investment inpeople.