Research shows that people prefer to be led rather than managed. Fact. Yet many managers persistently use outdated management styles which drain employees of any sense of self worth and motivation. With the ‘human touch’ being central to business performance, our Leadership Development programme allows leaders to develop a style in line with their own personality. In-depth profiling is used to explore individual leadership styles as well as with driving and inhibiting behaviours.

You may have asked yourself “What planet is that person on?” Emotional Intelligence (or having greater self awareness and empathy with others) is increasingly recognised in business as a way to create better interpersonal working relationships. Consciously understanding why people do what they do, allows us to develop appropriate strategies and language to better communicate and be understood. We work with teams and individuals to highlight their own strengths, motivational belief systems and preferred communication styles. Conflict recognition and resolution is also explored to provide teams with an insight in how to defuse potentially sensitive situations.

With motivation the key to a workforce’s productivity, there are also many misconceptions as to whether money, for instance, is an important driver in employee satisfaction. We spend time working with your organisation’s staff to examine the signs of low morale, its impact on performance and developing strategies to improve individual and corporate motivation.

Study any successful manager in a sporting environment and they will have three common attributes; they lead through vision and strategy, they motivate to raise energy levels and they coach to maximise the potential of their individual team members. Successful leaders in business are no exception. They recognise that through performance coaching, your potential, as well as that of the team and the company, can be optimised. We work with leaders to focus on developing strategies to stretch individuals at all levels of performance.

The sales profession has seen many changes in its recent history. Sales-led organisations are recognising the need to build closer working relationships based on trust and providing value-added services to maintain their competitive edge. The difference with our approach is that it focuses not on the proverbial “sales process”, but rather on understanding buyer motivation and thought parterns. We look at applying tools using the freedom of personal style, not the stereotypical image often associated with traditional "sales professionals".

Many people perceive good negotiators to be ruthless. Some see it as pure give-and-take, while others believe it is an expected part of sales interaction. Whether you are engaging with customers, colleagues or staff, the process of how you negotiate to produce favourable outcomes for both parties is critical. Our approach dispels many of the myths that discounting your offering is essential in today’s business environment. It focuses on the tools and strategies used by successful negotiators from a variety of professions.

In the words of Aristotle: “for communication to be effective, it has to be seated in the hearts and minds of the receivers”. It’s not just the quality of the content that can be the downfall of many presentations, but also the impact of delivery. This doesn’t mean, though, having to be someone that you’re not. Our approach allows you to develop a style that sits comfortably with your personality, to maximise your potential and effectiveness.

As many companies have realised, the world is getting more competitive and rising standards are driven by increased customer expectations. Customer loyalty and retention is also crucial to a business’s growth and survival. However, it is not what a company produces (the product) but how customers are dealt with (the service) that creates both positive and negative impressions. We work with teams and individuals to develop strategies to build long-term customer loyalty.

In our current climate, organisations have to get better just to stand still. Customer service and adding value still remains a key differentiator for many companies in competitive markets. However, maximising every call is essential for the survival of any business. Consistency in approach is critical to both sales and service success. Using research-based observations, our approach introduces team members to the skills applied by top call centre professionals to achieve consistent levels of success.

Never before have so many working days been lost to stress - now recognised as a debilitating condition. The cost of stress has a serious impact on the bottom line and organisations are legally obliged to demonstrate how they are dealing with it. Proactive ones are now putting employees’ well-being at the heart of their strategy. Just managing stress, however, does not eradicate it. Identifying the causes and resolving it is the only real way forward. Our approach looks at when stretch turns to strain-  the psychological, physiological and physical effects and deploying positive strategies to make lasting changes.