In 1995,TSB and Lloyds Bank merged to create Lloyds TSB Group plc, a significant force in UK banking. The group has assets totalling £344 billion, some 63,000 employees and is valued at more than £32 billion.
One of the best represented banks on Britain’s high streets, Lloyds TSB Group is a major player in UK retail banking but also operates successfully in insurance and investments and wholesale and international banking.
Under the present chief executive, J Eric Daniels, Lloyds TSB has been busy reorganising so that it is better able to take advantage of trends in banking and be more competitive in its chosen markets.
The challenge
Part of the restructuring of the group was remodelling the HR function. The new model, which required HR to act as partners to Lloyds TSB’s businesses, highlighted the need for Lloyds TSB to invest in the senior HR team’s leadership and partnership skills.
More generally, the HR function at Lloyds TSB had historically been viewed as a provider of services. The new partnership approach however, required HR to think and act more strategically. In short, Lloyds TSB expected HR to become more involved in the fabric of the organisation and create real value.
Warren Asbury, Leadership Development Consultant, Group HR at Lloyds TSB, explains: “The challenge for HR was to move from a transactional to a strategic role and for HR strategy to be closely aligned with the strategies of the businesses.”
With this in mind, Lloyds TSB asked Roffey Park to create a programme that would help create a strong succession pipeline of the highest calibre HR professionals. The programme would enable this cohort to become potential leaders of HR and strengthen their ability to partner with the business.
Meeting the challenge
Having established what was required, Roffey Park created a programme that consisted of four modules (see below), each taking three days, run over an 18-month period.
Module 1: HR partnering with the business
Module 2: Commercial awareness
Module 3: Change and organisational design
Module 4: Organisational development
“Developing commercial awareness is critical to equipping HR with the skills, knowledge and behaviour necessary to become successful partners to the business”, said Warren Asbury. “The Commercial awareness module was designed to help participants develop alternate views of their marketplace and better understand what represented opportunities for Lloyds TSB’s businesses. This was fundamental when considering how to become valued, strategically important partners.”
All modules gave participants the opportunity to plan and influence their own development activity. These activities were reviewed in Learning Sets where the challenges faced, difficulties encountered and successes achieved were reviewed, not just in the modules but also across all learning.
“As the programme progressed, participants developed a real ability to reconfirm how process issues inhibited progress, and learned how to intervene effectively to encourage change”, said Warren Asbury.
Alongside this, all participants in the programme engaged in project activity, supported and sponsored by the HR Leadership Team, delivering real Lloyds TSB HR initiatives. This practical opportunity was viewed as instrumental in solidifying participants’ learning.
In addition, everyone had a mentor from the HR Leadership Team (HRLT) to help review development goals and track progress. In fact, throughout the programme the HRLT were actively involved in helping design the programme modules, contributing to sessions and reviewing outcomes.
Inspirational external speakers also formed an element of the programme (both HR specialists and business leaders), sharing their experiences and expertise. The final part of the programme was a mini-conference/ review day, at Roffey Park, where participants looked at their learning over the 18 months of the programme and talked with the HRLT about future development. This also provided a platform for thinking and planning for future cohorts.
In addition to this HR Leadership Development Programme (HRLDP), there was a parallel programme of development modules. These were designed for other HR managers who were not eligible for the original scheme. Similar in content to the HRLDP, this programme was less structured, with less focus on projects and selfmanaged learning. This programme ran in 4 cycles with approximately 70 managers in total.
The results
“At many levels the programme put in place by Roffey Park can be considered a success”, said Warren Asbury. “Not only did the senior HR team develop much greater awareness of what it means to be a business partner but their confidence in their ability to be successful in this role has increased immeasurably. Realising that HR could and should have an important and meaningful role to play, and that as individuals they could help bring about positive change was hugely empowering for the participants.”
This boost in confidence can in part be attributed to the developing of new skills but also through establishing a greater appreciation of the group business and the commercial pressures under which it operates. “Approx 75% of the participants have transitioned into new roles across the Group following the programme – a huge success which demonstrates the programme’s ability to help generate a strong and flexible talent pipeline that can adapt to business needs“, said Jonathan Crookall, Group Talent & Learning Director