a) Customer Experience

Without your customers, there would be no business. Through the use of our programme, you will be able to tap into the invaluable resource of customer experience and feedback to make sure that you are delivering on all that you can. We do this in three phases;

i) Phase 1 – ‘Immersion’. We gain a unique insight into your business, conducting qualitative interviews with key customers. From this, we receive a clear understanding of their current experience.

ii) Phase 2 – ‘Collection’. Next, we assess how that experience matches with their expectations, using the multidimensional research tool, SerQual. This gives a clear representation of customer satisfaction, and where you can improve.

iii) Phase 3 – ‘Customer Experience Solutions’. Using data collected from phases 1 and 2, we structure a developmental strategy unique to your business. We design this strategy at four levels;

• Executive Team – Strategic Objective Formulation
• Senior Teams – Research Workshops and matching objectives with performance
• Middle and Line Managers – Training in building relationships with customers, additionally including leadership development programmes
• Online – For an option that fits to your schedule, we offer interactive bite-sized learning, designed to complement and support your development

b) Performance Management

i) Performance Management Systems and Training
Performance Management is one of, if not the most, fundamental aspects of business success. With only 5% of mangers reportedly satisfied with their existing company process, we designed an intervention strategy that achieves the following three things.

1. Identifies meaningful measures of performance that drives motivation and attainment
2. Shifts the emphasis from paper driven bureaucracy to performance enhancing conversations
3. Recovers below-expected performance

ii) High Performance Conversations

Being aware of how conversation operates enables you to manage its results. Management input has the potential to significantly increase or diminish morale and motivation, which is why we have designed three interactive sessions to assist managers engage, motivate, and re-energise individuals. Senior leaders are supported in setting challenging goals, and their skills are developed as they direct, delegate support and coach, or manage poor performance efficiently and effectively.

Whether it’s a ‘2-minute pep talk’, a ‘5-minute wonder’ or a ’20-minute coach’, managers can be supported to ensure that the power of words are reaching their full potential.

c) Change Management

Using our innovative cultural audit tools, we identify the cultures and behaviours currently at play within the organisation. Once this information has been collected, we bring people’s individual goals and wider business goals together.

d) Success Stories

Drive momentum with our one day programme, kick-starting productivity at beginning of the year. By pooling everyone together, an inspired team is able to go forwards with a united goal, working together to meet aspirations, manage time effectively and work smart.

e) Developing Vision, Values, and Objectives

Often overlooked, identifying your vision, values and objectives are imperative for moving forward as a business. We work with you to carefully pinpoint what your business stands for and the direction it is moving in, and reinforce that progression at every stage of its journey. By forming a common goal that everyone is unanimous on, we can agree achievable steps to achieve your vision in an agreed upon practice.

f) Talent Management

In order to adequately accommodate company growth, it is important to constantly recognise new talent emerging within the organisation. For most companies, the main obstacle is in recognising this potential and suitably provide the means to nurture and realise it. For this, we provide interventions that:

• Manage the High Potential “pipeline”, funnelling talented individuals into positions of responsibility
• Supports the development of mentoring networks
• Structures job challenges that accelerate development

In ___, we partnered with one of the world’s largest shipping container businesses, Mediterranean Shipping Company (UK) Ltd.). Previously known as Medite, the shipping container giant employs over 400 people, and places a heavy emphasis on nurturing the skills and knowledge of every member of the workforce in order to fulfil their ambitious growth strategies.

Despite previous attempts, it was only when Akenham became involved that sustainable results started to be achieved.

“We had tried internally on occasions to overhaul our performance management capability with limited success, but our partnership with Akenham is really transforming our ability to help everyone maximise their contribution to the performance of the business” – Dan Everitt (Managing Director)

The difference? Our strategies. Rather than implement a top down approach, we pool together the talents of the entire workforce in a collective effort towards one unanimous objective.

“This has been a planned and coordinated programme, rather than some ‘quick fix’ training, in which we have simplified our processes, aligned personal objectives with our corporate strategy and equipped managers to have more meaningful and productive performance conversations with their teams” – Nicky Fishwick, HR Manager

By encouraging a whole team effort, motivation is increased, energy is replenished, and both individual and company development are accelerated. The atmosphere of the establishment is noticeably lifted, with the workplace becoming a positive and pleasant environment.

“Not only are we seeing a big change in behaviour from many who have worked here for a while, we have also been able to attract some high calibre individuals externally by being able to demonstrate what it will be like to work around here in future” – Nicky Fishwick, HR Manager

“The senior management team here at MSC are absolutely determined that this will not be a nine day wonder or flavour of the month. This is an upwardly mobile business with the type of ambition that can only be fulfilled through everyone challenging themselves to raise the bar, day in, day out – it’s what a high-performance culture is really all about” – Dan Everitt (Managing Director)