Following a number of changes to their business, Rapid Spray knew they were in need of assistance for their team and business to maximise their potential.
One of Rapid Spray’s values is; ‘the proof is in our people.’ It was evident that when engaging with their values Rapid Spray wanted to get back to basics and put their energy into building teams dedicated to achieving their goals, supporting each other and coaching for ongoing success.
Our consultation phase with Rapid Spray included the Managing Director and Operations Manager, who we liaised with to get a deeper understanding of the current environment and what they ultimately wanted to get from the workshops. As a result, our team designed, developed and delivered contextualised workshops to staff.
THE CLIENT:
With a passion for farming and engineering, Rapid Spray was founded by a local family in the mid-1990s.
For over 25 years the company has been dedicated to bringing innovative products to the agricultural, industrial and government industries in the spraying and liquid cartage sector.
The organisation employs over 50 people in disciplines ranging from steel fabrication to administration, HR, assembly, and marketing.
THE CHALLENGE:
At the time our facilitators joined forces with Rapid Spray they were going through a period of fast and sustained growth. Whilst the team had established values previously, the business was aware that they were no longer embedded in their culture. With people as the core of their values they chose to focus on the development of their people, including leaders within the business.
Some of their challenges included:
- Staff resistance to change
- Employees being promoted to leadership roles with high technical skills but lack of people and leadership skills
- Poor collaboration between different sections and functional teams
- Inconsistent leadership approaches
- Lack of self-awareness in relation to own behaviours and behaviours of others
THE PREPARATION:
After multiple discussions and meetings with the executives at Rapid Spray to onboard our team, we understood their needs and came back to them with a program outline, relevant leadership theories and content to implement.
We wanted our workshops to be engaging for the staff, so we came up with scenarios and role plays that were relevant to the business.
INTERVENTION:
A core element of our approach to training is to develop personalised participant guides which were approved by the Managing Director and Operations Manager.
We then delivered our workshops to the team in 2020 and again in 2021. The two training sessions focused on the following topics:
- Leadership
- Delegation
- Communication
- Providing feedback including performance discussions
- Coaching and mentoring
- Emotional intelligence
- Team building and employee engagement
Our team believes that for these workshops to have full effect on leaders and managers in the team one-on-one coaching sessions is extremely beneficial. Each participant that attended the Rapid Spray workshops received three one-on-one coaching days with our team.
These sessions not only reinforce the theory and content from the workshops, but also help employees practically apply the theory they have learnt in the workplace to address specific issues.
OUTCOMES:
After both sets of workshops and coaching sessions were completed the participants and managers observed an improvement in the leadership throughout the organisation.
The main outcomes of the program that the Managing Director noticed were:
- Leadership behaviours aligning with the Rapid Spray values
- Regular, fair, and consistent feedback being provided to employees
- Delegation and succession planning being addressed to provide pathways and improve skills and knowledge
- Increased team engagement that has led to improved quality of products and services, continuous improvement and productivity.
The General Manager of Rapid Spray, Russell Firth said that the employees across their various business units including production, team leaders, project managers and potential leaders could see and feel a difference after the completion of the workshops.
“The Leadership and Performance Partners team developed a program that suited our needs and was aligned to the values of our business,” Russell Firth said.
If you’re looking for something similar for your business or team, get in touch with us.