case study*

Leadership Development at an
Ambulance Service

case study*

The Opportunity

A Major Ambulance Service NHS Trust partnered with Hennessy Consulting for the design and delivery of a First Line Manager development programme to support them with the introduction of a new operating model in their Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).

The new operating mode created a new teir of first line managers, shifting the span of line management from 1:60 to 1:15 and putting the skills of the new first line managers to the test as they are took on staff management responsibilities, many for the first time.

The majority of these managers, incumbent and new, had not received formal training in good people and team management practice, causing anxiety and holding them back from stepping into their new roles with confidence.

In addition, the hoped for changes from the operating model change was critically dependent on first line managers increasing staff engagement, tackling underperformance and addressing other staff issues.

The Approach

Hennessy Consulting worked closely with the EOC leadership team to explore their organisational and people needs. Building on this deep understanding, we co-created a design for the development programme to equip first line managers to:

  • Build self-awareness of their leadership style and impact

  • Engage their people and help them live out the EOC mission and values everyday

  • Have the difficult conversations with their people to enable them perform at their best

  • Build high-performing teams

The programme blended learning techniques across three central in-person workshops with pre-work to provide additional thinking and theoretical input ahead of modules, and action learning to embed learning and practice between modules. The themes of the programme allowed the managers to grow their understanding and capabilities in:

  • Managing themselves and their individual people

  • Building their teams and setting the tone, culture and ways of working

  • Managing the performance of their teams to increase their output and results

The impact

Hennessy Consulting delivered the programme to over 40 first line manager spread across four cohorts. Programme evaluation ratings ranged from very good to excellent across the board, with managers reporting that the programme was well-tailored to their roles, with learning exercises and practice sessions that were relevant and specific to their day-to-day work, and provided the knowledge and skills development to enable them to fulfil their roles more effectively.