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As June comes to a close and the second half of 2019 is almost upon us, volatility and ambiguity continue to be the norm. The combination of economic, social and political issues facing the world remains intense and the impact on business and talent strategy is top of mind, with a need to do more with less, operate in uncertainty, and proactively plan for the changing nature of work.
In this edition, we focus on talent interventions rolled out with clients in different parts of the world to build a robust pipeline of agile leaders and accelerate talent to develop the mental toughness to tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow. |
PROPEL AROUND THE WORLD
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Propel International New Zealand
In the spirit of knowledge sharing and connecting great people, Propel International New Zealand hosted a Breakfast Event in Auckland on the 18th of June that focused on 'What can go wrong with teams? Introducing the Five Dysfunctions'. The event brought together OD, HR and Talent Acquisition Professionals to discuss how to improve team effectiveness. We presented recent research from Patrick Lencioni, the expert |
in creating and maintaining effective team functioning and discussed setting up new teams for success, as well as moving dysfunctional teams to high performance.
Event attendees from 20 different organisations enjoyed the opportunity to connect with others and discuss an interesting topic (not to mention the great coffee and delicious breakfast)! |
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Propel International Spain
Propel International Spain had the opportunity to interact with clients at TalentDay last month in Madrid, which focused on business relevant themes including Tech and the Learning Environment, Soft Skills in the Era of AI, Wellbeing Organisations and Talent Gamification. Work-life balance and how to attract and retain young talent using gamification, as well as using more customised online e-learning platforms that enable employees to connect anytime, anywhere and on any device, continue to be topics of discussion. With our entrance into the local market, clients now have a provider to turn to for their talent and technology challenges. |
Propel International UK
We are excited to be launching a new development programme for one of our clients next month. This programme, aimed at raising the bar, started with interviews from internal stakeholders and a range of the organisation’s clients. It is this feedback that has been used to design the content for the programme. The programme will look at the key behaviours that clients expect from this group of leaders, some psychometric assessments to develop greater self-awareness and practical work with actors to hone the skills. Whilst most participants seem to hate the idea of working with actors, participants usually enjoy this part the most. There is something about the practice, immediate specific feedback and re-practice that participants find very impactful. |
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Propel International Middle East
June has been another busy month for our UAE team delivering assessment and development projects in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh for clients such as Riyad Bank, Daman and the largest public company in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. Another proud highlight was delivering Development Centres for Nestlé UAE, assessing Junior Managers for their potential to grow further within the company. It is worthwhile to point out that this |
was the third year in which we partnered with the biggest food company in the world. In other news, as our new Propel International office at Bay Square in Dubai is triple in size in comparison to our old space, we are now able to run and manage Assessment and Development Centres on site, which in turn significantly reduces the costs for our clients to book expensive meeting rooms at hotels. |
THE VALUE OF PROPEL INTERNATIONAL
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As the leading health insurer in the UAE, Daman provides a range of specialised healthcare solutions to more than 2.6 million members across the country and is known for encouraging corporate entities and individuals alike to get active and healthy through free wellness and fitness activities across the country.
With a key strategy to ensure their workforce is both highly skilled and continuously knowledgeable in their field, Daman chose to place focus upon building a pipeline of high-calibre talent through defined development journeys for individuals at different stages in their career; thereby growing a pipeline of talent for future leadership and senior specialist roles. They were seeking a partner who could design highly interactive and experiential learning interventions that could be designed with continuity to present a development journey over time, allowing building on previous learning and work-based experiences. Propel International instructionally designed two levels of talent acceleration programmes. The Emerging Talent Programme (ETP) for operational specialists was focused on learning outcomes around personal branding, cultivating a growth mindset and managing own career and development beyond the programme. The Talent Acceleration Programme (TAP), suitable for functional specialists and team leader level employees, explored key concepts including team dynamics and performance, mental toughness, courageous conversations and inspiring others |
through leadership effectiveness. The learning modules for both ETP and TAP programmes comprised of a range of highly experiential activities including team exercises, creative consulting, plenaries, individual reflective activities, real plays and a range of visual and learning aids.
Both programmes incorporated a ‘gateway’ assessment and evaluation for employees and included a 360-degree feedback process. Collaborative workshops that brought the entire talent cohort together through matrixed interaction was encouraged, where participants from different levels interacted together as part of the broader programme in agile teams with coaching provision, working on organisational specific projects and presenting business recommendations to senior Daman leaders. Programme participants will soon be embarking on a ‘next steps’ development centre to support their progression and transition after the programme completion and will be engaging in their 360-degree feedback survey to show perceived impact on behavioural change within the business, all supporting Daman’s vision to invest in its people and to retain and grow talent for the future. |
PROPEL EVENTS
Unlike personality, which is considered relatively stable over time, emotional intelligence (EI) skills can be developed as people progress in their careers. Learn how EI can improve effectiveness and performance in the workplace – and become certified at the same time – by attending our upcoming 2-day workshop in London.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT |
Whether a Leader, Manager, HR Professional, Coach or Consultant, our Brain-Based Coaching Skills Programme represents the next great chapter in an individual’s development journey. Join us this September 26th – 28th in Dubai and earn training hours towards your ICF accreditation.
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At Propel International, we partner with our clients to provide robust Talent Assessment and Development Centres by using best practice methodologies, psychometric tools, simulation exercises, development focused reporting and meaningful coaching and feedback. Our new Dubai office now enables us to hold
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these centres on-site, ensuring that we can service our clients in the best way possible. We recently welcomed over 40 participants from a large UAE-based conglomerate, and we look forward to hosting more clients in the future!
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MEET A PROPELLER
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What pioneering project are you currently working on?
Recently I’ve been busy delivering large-scale, high volume projects for ambitious and forward-thinking organisations across the Middle East, with a particular focus on our partners in Saudi Arabia. These have included designing assessment exercise suites built from scratch and fully customized around our clients’ behavioural frameworks and their specific culture, industry and objectives. Doing so ensures that their talent is objectively assessed within an environment and against metrics that are most relevant to their roles and their organisation, maximizing the validity and utility of the captured data. For our other partners, we have focused on refining their succession planning approach so that it follows a standard best-practice methodology, relies on objective evidence and data and, crucially, holistically blends different types of performance, readiness and potential data. The resultant output allows our clients to confidently make decisions about their future leaders and informs them of how best to support their professional growth and development. |
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What do you believe is the biggest challenge in talent management today?
I believe the constant and exponential development of technology and digitization provides one of the more significant challenges to talent management and HR practitioners today. We operate in a people-focused environment, where it is impossible to automate everything given the complexity and challenge in understanding and measuring human behaviour. However increasingly there are opportunities to blend technology and people in ways which are genuinely impactful and synergistic. The ‘human’ side of talent management is constantly catching up to the massive potential that technology can now offer – at Propel International we are passionate about staying one step ahead of the game and can offer our clients many technology-driven solutions that draw upon the best parts of both worlds. |
Why are you passionate about Propel International?
I’m personally passionate about Propel International because we ‘do’ consultancy in our own way. We offer complete flexibility both externally to clients and internally to our teams. We select passionate psychologists and innovative IT and creation experts who combine to produce truly unique and pioneering solutions for our partners. We are genuinely people-focused and treat each client, project or challenge on its own merit – designing and delivering customised solutions that are best positioned to deliver to the client’s needs and objectives. Our approach and methods are all focused on supporting people to reach their potential and become their best selves – I find this as an overall outcome especially fulfilling, motivating and, ultimately, meaningful. |