THE CHALLENGE
Our client, on a trajectory of growth, wanted to develop its growing Internal Audit team leaders to continue to be key contributors to the organisations’ success.
This involved building a high-performance team that is engaged with the strategic priorities of the client. A team equipped to deliver relevant and insightful advice in an ever-changing business landscape.
THE SOLUTION
The journey started in 2018 with PotentialSquared working closely with the clients’ team to design and deliver a 3-day Academy. Throughout the Academy, the participants worked on a fictional Case Study involving the acquisition of a new Stock Exchange. The characters and challenges were mapped on potential future scenarios that the client and the team may face.
The academy used team/pod structures (five participants, a PotentialSquared Coach and an Internal Technical Coach) to engage with learning on an individual, pod and group level. The learning was delivered through business role players, playing the key characters of CEO, COO and Head of Audit.
The ongoing development was embedded by a follow-up academy in early 2020 where the expanded team were taken through the next iteration of the Case Study. Moving the Case Study to a futuristic Mars based new Exchange. The challenges were updated to reflect the changes in technology and trading issues, as well as people, business integration and leadership considerations. The 3 days followed a similar pod structure with a refreshed content delivered around the challenges of achieving Psychological Safety, Refreshingly Direct Conversations and Strategic Presence. The individuals and pods received coaching from their PotentialSquared coach and the clients’ own faculty. At the end of the Academy, the participants also received an individual behavioural skills assessment report, based on their responses to a standard questionnaire. This report helped the participants identify additional development actions and insights relating to their leadership and behavioural styles and skills.
In the second half of 2020, PotentialSquared ran a follow up programme to drive engagement through the challenges of the global pandemic. Building on the learning from the Academy the entire Internal Audit team was run through a series of virtual webinars. The nine targeted topics were delivered over three months, to support attendees who were learning to work virtually. They included:
1. Psychological Safety
2. Presence
3. Self-Coaching
4. Leading in Uncertainty
5. Working in Uncertainty with Stakeholders,
6. Resilience.
This series was accredited for professional development.
The learnings from the last Academy and previous webinars were embedded through the delivery of coaching circles for all Auditors and Audit Managers, in groups of 5, over a six-month period.
Senior Leaders embedded their learning through 1:1 coaching.
Ongoing development was planned through self-managed delivery of learning paths across the technical and behavioural skills required from an audit professional.
THE IMPACT
The development work had a number of impacts on our clients’ Internal Audit team:
- An increase in team engagement on core challenges and strategic direction for the team
- Leaders improved how they work with their teams on personal development and coaching
- There is now a common language that has been created around coaching, conversations, team development and personal impact
- Better clarity on individual developmental goals and accountability for their own learning journey exists
- There is better access to senior leaders on a more regular basis, to discuss how the team functions, and our challenges
- The team have a better understanding of the skills and behaviours required for career progression, and personal development, and can create a clear pathway to achieving these in a structured manner
