The Employee Communications Team needed help to get closer engagement between managers and staff specifically on the ‘Trains’ side of the Business. 

To this end we created a band of 60 facilitators able to run engagement exercises with the 3500 train drivers in 29 locations, initially on the subject of Viewpoint, which is the annual employee survey mechanism used internally to seek the views of staff.  The aim of the facilitation training was to deepen the level of engagement with the workforce through discussion and listening to their opinions on the Viewpoint results.

Services provided

  • 6 x 2 day training programmes with 10 participants, 2 facilitators and 3 actors
  • An understanding of the difference between leadership and management, directing and facilitating and how facilitation can be a leadership behaviour that elicits more teamwork, involvement and challenge to retain adult-adult behaviour
  • The ability of the facilitator to manage their own emotions, whilst managing the participants’ emotions, maintaining personal authority and the ability to control the room.
  • A second practice day using Actors to create a realistic environment for role play.
  • A Facilitation Manual which combined theory with tips and hints and was specific to their challenging environment.
  • A follow up review day after each training workshops to support and deepen their understanding of facilitation using Insights personality profiling

Business benefit

A fully trained a team of 60 confident and capable facilitators who understand their own preferred facilitation style and how to adapt to the needs of a group depending on their preferences, able to articulate what, how, who, when, where and why and any other key messages in a way that everyone will understand, able to hold the attention of a room by inspiring interest and engagement and able to handle any situation or personality.