Responding to a crisis in the construction industry and recognising a shortfall in their leadership pipeline, Kier engaged Cranfield to revitalise their talent management with the “Building Leaders” development programme. Victims of their own success, the promotion of newly developed senior leaders created a shortfall further down the leadership pipeline, so the two organisations worked together to develop a further programme for mid-level leaders called “Raising Leaders”, which proved equally successful. Together, both programmes have not only strengthened the leadership pipeline, but created greater innovation through diversification, increased employee engagement and improved the business.
With over 10,000 employees Kier is a leading infrastructure services, construction and property group in the UK and has undergone a transformation in recent years.
This follows a transformative turnaround for the company. In 2018, the construction industry was rocked when one of the faced the collapse of Carillion, one of the UK’s largest construction companies collapsed, destabilising the entire UK construction industry, including Kier.
In March 2019, Andrew Davies took over as CEO marking the beginning of a critical transformation for the company. Which at the time faced high levels of debt and underperformance.
Andrew immediately launched a strategic review and began to streamline operations, reduce costs and improve the balance sheet. By divesting non-core businesses, debt was significantly reduced, and operations were restructured to focus on core areas, including regional building, infrastructure, utilities, and highways.
Due to high levels of change and associated uncertainty around the company, employee engagement was low. This was exacerbated by employees worried about the future as well as facing into, a global pandemic, Kier’s succession planning needed some sharp focus.
Kier believes its people are critical to its business and, as part of its strategic action pan, Andrew and the team wanted to make its people front and centre, by giving people visibility of opportunities and internal progression.
Andrew Davies told the Kier Board, “to stay on course, we must re-engage potential talent and build a robust pipeline. We need people capable of stepping into Executive Committee and leadership roles.”
Kier engaged Cranfield Executive Development which, as part of the UK’s only wholly postgraduate University, has decades of expertise in creating industry-focused leadership development programmes.
Kier wanted to work with a learning organisation experienced in supporting people who were highly-skilled technically, in transitioning to leadership excellence.
Together, Kier and Cranfield collaborated on a “Building Leaders” programme which focused on:
- Role-modelling Kier values/ways of working
- Understanding client needs and connecting them to Kier’s value proposition.
- Building commercial acumen
- Inspirational and engaging leadership
- Role-modelling accountability and better decision-making
Both partners believe in “starting with the end in mind”, so utilised Cranfield’s Design for Impact™, a unique, systemic approach to impact management which uses five key drivers that transform individual behaviours into organisational level outcomes.
Knowing the outcomes Kier needed, Cranfield translated them into a programme design which would catalyse the individual leadership behaviours Kier wanted to see. Knowing the required behaviours meant Kier could later easily measure readiness for promotion into critical senior roles.
Andrew Davies wanted diverse thinking and different perspectives in his senior leadership population. He told Cranfield:
“I need people around me who aren’t afraid to tell me what they believe is right for the business.”
It was vital that the programme encouraged people to be authentic as well as improving diversity within Kier.
Cranfield created a customised Grounded Experiential Learning (GEL) business-simulation. GEL is a highly interactive learning process which generates authentic behavioural shifts.
At its heart is a bespoke teaching-case comprising an unfolding client story. While the story created for Kier was fictional, it so closely replicated the Kier reality by mirroring their typical project lifecycle, posing a series of challenges/dilemmas, brought to life by role-played meetings with key stakeholders, all of them played by Cranfield faculty. Participants took part in the role plays to try and address those dilemmas with the stakeholders and received detailed feedback afterwards.
Leigh Thomas, Group Managing Director for Kier Property, said “The courses we are delivering in partnership with Cranfield are great way for future leaders to take time out from the pressures of the day job to focus on the bigger picture. Simulating the different stages of a project lifecycle helps those taking part build skills, confidence and resilience”. Every Kier participant acknowledged just how true-to-life the GEL experience was.
Cranfield also built a bespoke toolkit comprising digital modules, industry expert podcasts, including some from experts and senior stakeholders within Kier’s network.
To ensure participants implemented learning into the business even before the programme was finished, Cranfield created “The Kier Challenge”. Groups of participants were set their own business challenge by a senior Kier sponsor.
Each group had to research their problem, workshop possible solutions, and present recommendations and/or working solutions to the senior management team, including the CEO.
To date, participants have presented hard-hitting evidence and recommendations, which has galvanised action and improved business performance at Kier.
The future leaders of the organisation have already turned their ideas into a reality and are building a legacy within the organisation.
During COVID-19, so many organisations slowed down their operations, or put things on hold. Kier was different. Andrew Davies wanted to create a Kier which was stronger. While other organisations paused or delayed learning and development programmes , Andrew maintained his commitment to running “Building Leaders”. He joined every single module, emphasising to participants how important it was for Kier’s success.
And “Building Leaders” gave Andrew and Kier just what they wanted: eminently promotable leaders who began to progress into senior leadership roles.
The journey of internal promotion and retaining top talent was firmly established and meant that action was required throughout the talent pipeline. It produced succession gaps with mid-level leaders, a group of people who needed to shift from being operational to strategic.
In 2021, Kier and Cranfield launched a complementary programme, “Raising Leaders”, for those aspiring to move from mid-level roles into more senior management positions. “Raising Leaders” created a talent ‘domino-effect’ with further upward movement plugging the gaps and further demonstrating Kier’s commitment to retaining talent.
“Raising Leaders” focused on
- Leading and engaging others
- Building and using networks
- Strategic thinking
- Creating diverse and inclusive environments
- Commercial acumen and sustainability
Once again, Andrew plays an active role, and every cohort is sponsored by an Executive Committee member who helps participants build senior relationships across Kier.
“Raising Leaders” was also designed using Design for Impact™ and founded on principles that “you should never send a changed person back into an unchanged environment”. The line managers of “Raising Leaders” participants are hugely involved.
They identify and create genuine opportunities for participants to put knowledge into practice and to stretch their capabilities. Cranfield facilitators support the line managers, so they know how best to engage, challenge and support participants.
“Raising Leaders” participants must work out how to implement the programme learning into business-relevant actions, so in small “Catalyst” groups they coach each other and hold each member accountable for turning the learning into business successes. They learn almost as much from the experience of being part of their Catalyst Group as they do from the programme itself.
To demonstrate the value-add of Kier’s investment, each participant creates an Impact Log throughout the programme. They record reflections, successes, constructing a personal development story they share at the final Capstone Event to line managers and senior Kier stakeholders, including Andrew.
Both programmes continue to produce leaders whose newly developed abilities are getting them promoted. Furthermore, directly challenging construction industry stereotypes, more females and ethnically diverse colleagues are progressing.
And this is generating further positive momentum. Retention and promotability of those reporting into “Raising Leaders” participants has also significantly increased.
Louisa Finlay, Kier’s Chief People Officer, is proof of success from within, being promoted to the role after 30 years with the organisation in operational roles. She says:
“Kier is built by brilliant people, and through these talent development programmes, we are nurturing our talent.
“We are setting them up for success, with the skills, theory and cognitive thinking to help them confidently take the next steps in their careers. I could not be prouder of the programmes we are delivering with Cranfield, and the difference I see it makes to our people.”
Looking Ahead
Kier and Cranfield continue to deliver both Building Leaders and Raising Leaders. Kier’s resilience, commitment to delivering high-quality infrastructure and construction services, and their decision to develop their people’s leadership capabilities, at a time when everyone else was putting learning on hold, has helped take them successfully through significant transformation and adversity.
Boasting a strong leadership team, healthy talent pipeline, and an enthusiastic learning culture, Kier is well-positioned for future growth, sustainable construction and digital innovation, and navigating evolving challenges in the construction industry.
Andrew concludes: “Kier today is very different to the one I walked into in 2019. We have transformed all parts of the business and are delivering high and balanced performance. I knew our people would be critical in turning this company around and investing in our programmes with Cranfield has been essential to our business Transformation.
“I chose a route for this company which meant our people were central to its success, and what you see today is a thriving organisation with a fantastic pipeline talent.”
See other articles from Excellence in Practice 2024.
