(CLP) Programs

Appleton Greene corporate training programs are all process-driven. They are used as vehicles to implement tangible business processes within clients’ organizations, together with training, support and facilitation during the use of these processes. Corporate training programs are therefore implemented over a sustainable period of time, that is to say, between 1 year (incorporating 12 monthly workshops), and 4 years (incorporating 48 monthly workshops). Your program information guide will specify how long each program takes to complete. Each monthly workshop takes 6 hours to implement and can be undertaken either on the client’s premises, an Appleton Greene serviced office, or online via the internet. This enables clients to implement each part of their business process, before moving onto the next stage of the program and enables employees to plan their study time around their current work commitments. The result is far greater program benefit, over a more sustainable period of time and a significantly improved return on investment.

Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. All (CLP) programs are implemented over a sustainable period of time, usually between 1-4 years, incorporating 12-48 monthly workshops and professional support is consistently provided during this time by qualified learning providers and where appropriate, by Accredited Consultants.

---

Executive summary

Human Strategic Thinking

This program is both ambitious and down to earth. Ambitious in the sense that we will be aiming at increasing your strategic thinking skills so that you can apply them in the various types of decisions and actions that you are responsible and accountable for, and down to earth so that you may experience greater success, and create more value while implementing strategic or operational projects, both large and small. And though AI is at the top of the mind regarding business trends, we will focus on soft skills and human touch.

Why? The success track record of strategic and other change initiatives could be better.

Have you ever been in a situation where you know of a strategic plan within your organization, maybe even a plan that you have contributed to craft, but that somehow there is little that changes in daily operations? You are not alone. 90% of organizations fail to achieve their stated objectives when implementing their strategies. Yes, 90%. Even when strategies are well-formulated, 67% fail due to poor execution (HBR).

The pitfalls are numerous. There needs to be more time devoted to strategy implementation, with so many initiatives and changes to manage day-to-day and with all the volatility, uncertainty, and risks in the business ecosystems. According to a survey, 96% of leaders said they needed more time for strategic thinking. In comparison, 97% said this skill and the corresponding behaviors are critical to their organization’s success (HBR). Yet, we know the transformative power of implementing well-designed strategies as a source of meaning, alignment, and engagement.

According to Forbes, many critical obstacles to a successful strategy implementation are related to the people side of business. They include ineffective communication, alignment, change management, performance, and project management. And let us not forget the change fatigue experienced by employees. Indeed, A Gartner survey revealed that employees’ willingness to support enterprise change collapsed to just 43% in 2022, compared to 74% in 2016. This reflects that the number of change initiatives experienced by employees in 2022 was 10, as opposed to 2 in 2016. We have yet to fully understand and measure the impacts AI will have on all of us.

---

The HR function and people leaders’ roles are critical in resolving key issues

We discussed the business case above. Here we are focusing on the “human case”.

Among the 5 key HR priorities for 2024, according to Gartner, there are: leader and management effectiveness, organizational culture, and change management. They also shared that in 2023 research they conducted, that 83% of HR leaders are expected to do more, which includes a greater contribution to defining strategic priorities. Post-pandemic, we are observing that a significant importance is attached to how to best drive business results with and though their human capital, and this requires a close collaboration between leaders and the HR function.

As a leader, a manager, or an employee, you are tasked to contribute to achieving your organization’s annual and strategic objectives. Yet you do not always understand them, precisely what that means, or how your day-to-day is related to said goals. This is particularly true when so much is happening in your organization that it is difficult to know what is happening that could or will affect you. You may have been provided information, whether too little, enough or too much. But did it mean something to you, did it resonate, and thus, how much did you remember?

And, as someone once told me, sometimes life gets in the way… it may be life for your clients, colleagues, yourself, or someone dear to you. It may be the climate or any social or political event out of your control, yet that still has ramifications affecting you. Some of us seem to be better than others at dealing with changes, uncertainty, and stress, with how our bosses and colleagues react to it, with the power plays above your pay grade that cast yet another layer of fog or obstacles, with what that requires from you in terms of leadership and management and people skills.

---

What are the aims of this program? A focus on the people side to foster resilience and success

We will focus on strategic thinking and decision-making, weaving together the business and people strategies, priorities, and actions. There is no magic wand to create more time or to reduce the change fatigue experienced by many. There is, however, a different way of approaching decision-making, project, results, and people management, to increase clarity, a focus on the right priorities, collaboration, involving and supporting people to increase success and value creation for all stakeholders. According to Gartner, organizations promoting total experience are expected to outperform rivals in terms of CX and EX satisfaction indicators by as much as 25%.

Preparation is key. That starts with thinking strategically, understanding the objectives and why, the overall context, all that is happening in your organization, and the inevitable overlap and potentially conflicting priorities. Once the business side is clear and your priorities are well defined and understood, what does that mean for your team, as individuals and professionals, and for the required HR practices? The leadership and competencies required, the collaboration, and the appropriate success measures must all be integrated for more clarity and efficiency, of course, but also so the journey is more pleasant, and the value created encompasses all stakeholders.

And then? Well, things change, so the strategic competencies of anticipation and making sense of the data gathered are back at the forefront so we can readjust…and the loop goes on, one success and one learned element at a time.

---

McKinsey Case Study

In a 2023 article titled New leadership for a new era of thriving organizations, the authors, make the following observations:

• The new leadership requirements include the ability to create an engaging vision, a meaningful purpose, and be able to look forward.

• Leadership moves beyond an individual role, to one of collaboration as part of a network.

• The “human element’ is key, both for the leaders as individuals, and in creating favorable conditions for trust, and engagement, leading to successful transformation processes.

• This way of thinking and behaving is conducive to grater value creation.

They mention Aon and Intuit as organisation who have adopted such shifts in leadership thinking and practices and achieved better financial business outcomes, but also overall business and culture transformation.

---

 

Expressed in visual terms, here is the journey we invite you on.

We look forward to seeing you and to our discussions where all perceptions can respectfully and constructively be challenged and experiences shared so that after each session, there are some insights and ideas immediately applicab