Company – A Leading Power Company with 80,000 employees

Programme Objectives – Create a team from a disparate new top-team including MD and his Directors

Programme title – Executive Stretch to reach peak performance

Group Size – 8

Venue – Brecon Beacons, Wales

Provider – Call of the Wild Ltd

Date – November 2007

The Issues

Call of the Wild, after a number of meetings with the clients HR consultant, identified the problem as being a new group of senior management not working together as a team.

Objectives

The objectives agreed with the client were:-

Team to gain an understanding of each other as people not just in business
Get past the “storming phase”
Implement peak communication
Share a common experience that bonds the team
Explore effective communication
Help identify preferred leadership styles

The Solution

In consultation it was decided the course should take the form of a team development intervention for 8 members of this new senior management team. This intervention would begin to identify and brake down the barriers to high performance, the group would be encouraged to reflect on their learning and incorporate resolutions to transfer back to the work environment.

It was recommended that this should form part of a wider Management Development Programme embedded within a Company Management Development Centre.

The Programme

The client requested an outdoor based experiential learning event taking the group out of their comfort zone and putting them under pressure in an unfamiliar environment. The objective was to stretch the individuals in order to draw out the lessons required through the facilitation and intervention of Call of the Wild staff.

Call of the Wild designed and delivered a three day programme. This involved a series of physical, mental and behavioural challenges including, orienteering, camping, navigation and command tasks.

In order to transfer the learning to the workplace for maximum relevance, a Power Station Challenge was incorporated as the culmination of the 3 day event. This was included to test the group members when they were fatigued. The group were required to design, on site, a retrofit for a power station and present their findings to the Station Manager

Staffing

The programme was delivered by our facilitators David Thomas, MIC, CIPD and Fiona Thornewill, MBE. Dave is a highly experienced management training facilitator with a particular expertise in outdoor experiential programmes. He is one of the highest qualified outdoor facilitators in the UK. Fiona Thornewill, has an impressive CV which is second to none. She was the 1st British woman to ski to Geographic South Pole,1st British woman to ski to the Geographic North Pole, 1st Woman to ski to both Geographic Poles, Fastest woman to ski - Geographic North Pole in 55 days, 1st British woman to ski solo & unsupported to the Geographic South Pole and fastest (man or woman) to ski - Geographic South Pole - unsupported in 41 days 8 hours 14 minutes.

Outcomes

Just read what our client thought of the programme:-

"We are a large business operating across continents with customers that are household names. We searched many suppliers, and only one could give us what we wanted - Call of the Wild. With a new top-team and a massive change agenda together with a stretching annual target, it was critical to embed the new team as quickly as possible. Our demands were more than a match for any supplier, but not only were they met, Call of the Wild added great value throughout the team building process with ideas, determination, the ability to work to our precise needs, and demonstrating a leadership spirit that provided an excellent model to learn from. The instructors were of the highest quality and blended challenge, the ability to stretch comfort zones beyond anything we envisaged, whilst always maintaining the highest standards of safety.

There is no doubt that our return on investment will be many multiples of the cost and, most importantly, we have a new team that has not only bonded, but understands how to operate with each other in the most effective way. This will only benefit the team, the wider business, and, most importantly, our customers. We are so pleased with the outcome that if you require any first-hand recommendations, please feel free to call us and we will tell you exactly how professional Call of the Wild is. “

D. Stephens, General Manager, "