How a health services organization developed next-generation leaders, increased employee engagement scores, and increased employee enablement.

A leading health services organization identified leadership development as one of its biggest challenges. The organization had grown quickly through acquisitions which placed leaders in positions larger and broader than their leadership training and experience equipped them for. Additionally, the leaders did not see themselves as having decision-making power and they operated in organizational silos. Together, these issues were negatively impacting the operational efficiency of the organization and employee engagement. These issues were not allowing these technically skilled individuals to achieve their potential.

A Vice President and General Manager partnered with Brimstone to create a leadership program through which participants would develop their leadership skills, discover their leadership potential, help drive the business, and improve employee engagement.

The program consisted of eight sessions, each a day and a half. The overarching structure contained three segments: leading self, leading others, and leading change. The program was designed as an intensive experiential development journey, fostering agility in self-awareness and self-development, the capability to positively influence others, and to serve as an effective enterprise change leader. Each segment included a combination of individual study, teams working together, and experiential learning. Further, the program was designed for application and additional learning to take place between each session. To optimize personal and professional growth program participants received mentorship throughout the program.

Each session began with an experience designed to apply previous learning in an unexpected and challenging forum. Examples include having to work together to sail a schooner off the coast of Maine to traversing sand dunes in Michigan to climbing the side of a mountain.

The critical work was not outsourced to human resources or to another firm. The program was leader-led and leader-focused; Brimstone supported and helped the leader, thus enabling maximum personal impact on the participants.

Three cohorts of 18 participants have completed the program.  The majority of participants have gone on to senior-level positions within the organization or to senior positions within other organizations. A few participants recognized that they preferred to be doers rather than be a leader and therefore, decided to pivot.

Employee engagement scores increased from 54% to 72% and employee enablement increased from 62% to 70% in the organizations they were responsible for.