This month’s client focus is on Julius Baer
In the Autumn of 2022, ted Learning were approached by a previous contact now heading up learning & development at investment firm Julius Baer – interested in engaging us to support with some Values-Based Leadership training for their Relationship Manager population.
Julius Baer Group is a wealth management firm operating in over 25 countries and in around 60 locations.
Originally a family business set up over 130 years ago, Julius Baer focus on long-term relationships, providing a service to clients as trusted, personal and holistic advisors to create value beyond wealth.
The training sessions we delivered in Autumn 2022 focused on developing authentic leadership skills, supporting Relationship Managers to lead others effectively through periods of change. Our drama based approach supported delegates to explore their own leadership style, gain a greater understanding of change management, and lead others authentically and in alignment with their own and their organisation’s values.
“Really enjoyed the training very engaging. Great takeaways and created an environment where people felt comfortable to share, very good contact and trainer adapted the content up when people mentioned something which ensured it always felt relevant.”
One of the delegates on this leadership training had responsibility for overseeing the development of Apprentices in the business. Having experienced our drama-based learning first hand, she recognised that it could be a powerful tool to support the Apprentices, particularly with the behavioural elements of their development.
She was also keen to engage them with the concept of training that was fun as well as being useful, as in the past they’d only experienced traditional ‘death by PowerPoint’ sessions which had turned them off from learning. We worked closely with her to develop a session which focused on increasing their awareness of the importance of professional behaviours and how to work with other’s differences. Using bespoke drama scenes which reflected real experiences and situations happening in the organisation, our delivery team worked with the Apprentices and other newer employees to recognise the impact of their behaviours, communication preferences and ways of working on how others perceived them. Delegates gained greater awareness of how they were coming across, and how this could reflect on their own development.
“The actors were amazing I loved how they maintained character so well and I really valued their hands-on way better than watching videos. The trainer was prepared, professional and answered all questions with detail…. Nobody’s question was wrong. The course content was very diverse and very engaging and gave a lot to think about.”
In early new year 2023, Julius Baer once again approached ted Learning for support, this time to help deliver part of an Offsite conference day in Guernsey. The focus would be two-fold: first of all in the morning we’d deliver our interactive, drama-based Power of Personality (PoP) communication preferences training to support with cross-functional working, and in the afternoon we’d work with small groups of delegates to help them begin to process some structural changes being announced as part of the conference.
Working closely with the Senior Leadership Team to shape the content of our input to the offsite day, we gained a deep understanding of some of the challenges being experienced due to different ways of working and communicating across cross-functional teams in different locations. Tailoring our PoP session to address these challenges, the ted Learning team delivered a fun, engaging and interactive session to over 90 employees, increasing both their self-awareness and awareness of other’s preferences, exploring how they can use this knowledge to improve how they work together.
The second part of the day, working with employees as they progress through a period of significant change in the business, has evolved to not only encompass the initial exploration sessions we delivered in Guernsey, but also to provide ongoing support through a series of virtual, and later face-to-face coaching-style sessions, equipping employees with tools to help them cope successfully on the change journey, and providing a psychologically safe space to air concerns and work through challenges.
We look forward to continuing our ongoing collaborative relationship with Julius Baer, supporting the business with more development and cultural initiatives in the future.
Justin Smith-Essex
Justin is the Group MD of Squaricle Group & one of the co-founders & Managing Director of ted Learning.
