Case Study: Big Four Accountancy Firm

Big four accountancy firm
Impact and Confidence; designing an event for 80 people; delivering ‘coaching’ clinics; facilitating large and small group sessions, a physical activity, action learning, innovative ideas to stretch minds.

Situation - The firm identified a need to develop the ability of their high potential managers to communicate with confidence, impact, passion and authenticity. Their aim was to prepare these people for a potential partner role as part of their Leadership Development Programme.

Intervention - We worked in partnership with the firm to design and deliver an event that was tailored to meet the needs of this group and to include information on recent changes to the company’s brand. The brief required Speak First to come up with creative ideas that would take the participants out of their comfort zones while maintaining and building their confidence. The design included a rich mixture of large and small group sessions, a physical activity and a final session that gave people the chance to demonstrate the changes they had made during the programme in a fun, interesting and challenging way. Critical to the event’s success were our expertise in spoken communication, emotional intelligence, language patterns, strategies for handling the media and understanding of how beliefs and values drive behaviour. As well as our specialist expertise in this area, creativity, attention to detail and excellent project management skills were essential in ensuring a successful result – which means everyone ended up in the right place at the right time, despite a complex programme!

Outcome - Individual feedback from participants after the event was very positive with a high proportion reporting increased levels of confidence and that they were able to apply the learning gained. The firm has since commissioned Speak First to take another group through the event in 2004. While the emphasis of the content will be amended to match internal and external changes the event is fast becoming an established part of this organisation’s on-going Leadership Development Programme.