A new type of leadership
Euromex is a specialist legal aid insurer that provides legal aid to its clients. It’s true that the insurance sector has remained a rather stable sector, but social evolutions definitely have an impact on them, and this is also where the changes are happening faster and faster. Insurers are also making the switch from products to solutions. Where it was previously the insurer’s job to check if the problem stated by the client was covered by the policy or not; now, the focus is on reacting in a problem-solving manner. This means that the employees who serve the clients must have a different attitude. And that, naturally, requires other things from their managers. Where they were previously specialists in insurance, they must now critically innovate, embrace change, make results as a team, all while still focusing on the client.
TOP DOWN
Before CPM started to research the Euromex team managers concerning their level of leadership in order to come up with the appropriate support for developing growth, it first organised a workshop for the three directors, including the CEO. After all, at Euromex, the directors manage the departments directly, which strongly binds them with the operational course of things. The directors took a look in the mirror during the workshop and focused on the strengths and points for development in order to provide successful coaching.
TEAM MANAGERS DIRECT THEIR OWN DEVELOPMENT
There was a step-by-step process in place for team managers.
First, the 10 participants were given an entire day to go through the development programme in all openness and trust with coaching from CPM – under the watchful eye of learning coach Veronique Van Erp; this coaching was focused on giving them a better grasp on their own personalities, their strengths, and points for development.
The report for that day would be a very useful source of information for the next phase.
This next phase was a PDP, or personal development plan. The team managers were asked to prepare for the PDP using the report from the Development Centre that was done on day one. They were asked to define two learning goals that they felt deserved priority.
Every team manager was challenged to take control of the reins of his or her own further development.
The PDP discussion afterwards was intended to allow the team manager to develop a personal plan that would allow him or her to become a critical, creative, motivational leader. The team manager and his or her supervisors then formulated specific development actions based on their preparations.
Veronique Van Erp served as the initiator of the brainstorming in that discussion. She encouraged the pairs to translate ideas into actions in the field, and together, they evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed actions. The advantage of this way of working is that the development actions are results-oriented and are supported by the people who are to achieve them.
BACK TO THE TOP
The roll-out of the development actions is an on-going process. The directors took the initiative to keep the dynamic from the beginning of the process alive and to embed it through daily feedback and scheduling follow-up discussions.
Veronique Van Erp, Managing Consultant CPM: “The Euromex team managers had little experience in participating in this kind of development programme. So, naturally, there was a little bit of uncertainty among the participants at first. But because it was a very clear process with specific agreements, which were communicated well beforehand, and because we ensured that they had extensive reports with clear tools, that uncertainty quickly went away.”
Rob Vromen, CEO Euromex: “Our core values of Customer focus, Simplicity, and Transparency dovetailed seamlessly with the way in which CPM assisted with this development programme. All the managers were very impressed with Veronique’s professional skills!”
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