Building a Global Team and delivering a ROI of £2.1 million+
Background:
One Week in June was a global community engagement programme designed to (1)
build a global team (2) engage the global RBS Manufacturing Operations community
and to (3) deliver something meaningful for worthy local charities around the world.
Mission Performance pioneered One Week in June as a means to develop a shared
sense of purpose across 40 countries. Mission also designed and supported the project
globally on behalf of its sponsor and global head Rob De Ridder.
The programme was facilitated using Mission’s approach to developing and leading
organisations and teams.
The project cost less than £12,000.00 to deliver but returned in excess of £2 million in
net value to RBS Manufacturing Operations globally.
What happened?
Mission delivered a successful community team development programme in Chennai
(India) for the GTS operations board of RBS Manufacturing Operations in July 2008.
Following the success of the programme the team leader, Rob De Ridder was keen to
enable others to take part in similar experiences. His specific objective was to reach out
to those less fortunate than themselves and to give something back by working with their
local communities.
In discussion with Rob, Mission suggested that they replicated what they had achieved
in Chennai for every location that RBS Manufacturing Operations had a presence. From
this initial discussion (over dinner) the project was officially sanctioned. Mission began
working with Claire Gillingham (HR) and Sara Moxon (Communications) to develop the
plan.
Initially Mission designed and led the programme until it reached a stage where it could
be managed by a small global steering committee of which Rob Lewis was a member.
Mission provided the principles and ethos against which the programme was delivered
The scale of the programme was huge. With just over 8000 GTS Ops people located in
over 40 countries. On a budget of less that £12k we had to think creatively.
The plan was to adopt a week in June (3 –10 June) and to enable 40+ global teams to
choose and then work with their charities during this week provided they benefited
children and/or the environment.
From a very early stage Mission Performance Leadership (MPL) was used to plan,
communicate and coordinate the project around the world. Mission wrote a briefing
document that defined Rob’s intent and mission for the project combined with a set of
realistic controls, expectations and milestones.
Mission’s view was that the project should be delivered by the global talent community at
two seniority levels. One level would operate at a regional level and coordinate the
second group working at the local level within each country. Provided that their roles
were clearly defined and that they felt empowered to make decisions this structure would
work. These Talent groups would be led and supported by a four person global steering
team based in London made up of Mission Performance, RBS Communications and
RBS Community Investment representatives.
This also underpinned the principle that the project would be faciliated by those most
qualified to do so at the local level. This approach also provided a perfect opportunity to
exercise the talent in building and leading project teams around the world. It also helped
to maximise the net ROI,as every penny spent in setting up and paying for the project
would dilute the money raised. In addition the economic climate meant that there was
simply no budget for a project of this scale to be managed in any other way.
Once Mission had written and prepared the framework for the project, Rob DR was able
to communicate his Teachable Point of View (TPoV) to all of the regional and local
coordinators.
Once everyone understood his intent and their role in delivering it the project teams
began to execute against their regional and local missions. Thereafter there were a
series of fortnightly surgery audios designed to support the regional and local
coordinators.
This process was supported through the adoption of a series of simple control measures
to manage risk. These included a project-scoping template, a basic health and safety
risk assessment and a series of power point documents designed for discussion during
the fortnightly surgery calls.
Once the local coordinators had scoped out their proposed projects these were validated
by the regional coordinators in the first instance and then submitted to the global
coordinators for final authorisation. In every aspect of the project, trust was
demonstrated by the global steering team to ensure that decision making cycles were
shortened and ‘delegation upwards’ discouraged. All key features of Mission
Performance Leadership.
Once the in country projects had been chosen and the teams had formed using
Mission’s model of high performance team work, the work of the global steering turned
to communicating the programme internally within RBS.
Utilising a sharepoint facility and an intranet site the communication’s team galvanised
the communication for the project. They also provided a communications pack for in
country teams to engage their local colleagues.
This intranet and sharepoint site would prove invaluable during the final and latter stages
of the project as it became the communication portal to upload progress in the form of
pictures and news.
The One Week in June came very quickly and proved to be an overwhelming success.
Given that the programme took place during desperate times for RBS everyone should
feel especially proud of making the right things happen over seven days. Rob DR’s
leadership during this tough time together with the overt support of his board team were
key factors in the project’s success.
What was delivered?
The projects were diverse too many to name here but all made a huge contribution to
the lives of thousands of children and to the environments in which they live and play.
In summary:
43 local project teams delivered 50 projects in their communities
2142 people volunteered for community activities and thousands more
participated in fundraising and awareness activities
7539 hours volunteered - Commercial cost to hours volunteered £143,241.00 (=
7539 hours*£19)
£54,276.00 raised for their worthy causes
By utilising the talent population and an in house services team the project saved
£2.11m in equivalent intermediary fees
92% of people say they will volunteer again and there have been many
requests to repeat the programme in 2010
99% have a positive view of RBS in the community with 31% saying their view had
actually improved
65 % are now more aware of community investment in RBS
Principles of success:
The programme was set up and led utilising the principles of Mission Performance
Leadership. This more than anything else enabled the level of benefits detailed above.
“This was a great project to be involved in - pitched at the right level, with
the right level of support. The amount of trust shown was hugely
appreciated. We (UK North Regional Coordinators) are both experienced Ops
Managers of some years standing, so i think we relished the opportunity to
be left pretty much to it within parameters and in knowledge support
would be forthcoming if required. We didn’t need to be hand-held or spoonfed
- so big thanks for not doing so! The whole project made me feel
genuinely empowered, and I got a tremendous buzz from helping the Local
Co-ordinators. I’m not just saying this - it was a truly memorable
experience to be part of - and I feel that I played my part in making it such
a success in GTS Ops North and across the globe. Thank you for the
opportunity” Simon Smith, UK North Regional Coordinator
Mission runs a series of programmes that support the adoption of the principles that
enabled this project’s success. We teach them every week to a wide variety of
organisations in many formats.
Leadership development need not be costly or complicated. The right things done well
supported in the right way will deliver you success whatever the objective and scale.
For more information on Mission’s approach to leadership please speak to us on the
numbers below.