Business and financial adviser Grant Thornton has trained 50 managers to
become role models and coaches, who will spend 20% of their time helping partners and other managers in the firm improve their people management skills.

"The training helps our SDMs (staff development managers) to become excellent line managers and role models who can coach others to do their job better," said Sue Cohen, Senior Training Manager at Grant Thornton. "Since our SDMs are geographically-spread, it also gives them a chance to network and to share experiences."

The first two days of the programme are delivered by Grant Thornton trainers and cover participant learning styles, personality profiles, coaching models, coaching practice, communication, influencing and giving feedback. Drama-based training group Steps run the third day to give the participants an opportunity to practise their skills.

“Each delegate gets the opportunity to practise their coaching skills by participating in a realistic coaching situation and they also observe and help their peers," said Cohen. "The Steps actor-facilitators switch between different coachee characters, so that each delegate role plays against the`person´ they have described in their brief."

Sue Cohen says the training has helped to make the delegates more confident and more competent in their role as staff development managers.

"When you have 50 busy managers, most of whom are direct fee-earners,
spending 20% of their time in an essential role, it is extremel important to develop and support them effectively," she said. "The feedback from this programme shows we are providing powerful training that results in memorable learning. As well as helping them improve as staff development managers, the training gives them excellent personal development that also makes them more effective as line managers."