Case study · EVA in action

Engagement up 15 percentage points in 12 months at a major banking corporation.

Leadership capability framework, assessment and development for a workforce of around 650 across three states. The same approach underpins FTS. leadership programs.¹

The outcomes

+15 pts: employee engagement within 12 months of the new leadership framework
+28 pts: employee advocacy on the later mortgage transformation program
~650: people across three states in the workforce the leaders led
48: leaders assessed against a defined capability framework: 8 senior managers and 40 leaders
3 tiers: rolled out in sequence: executives, then managers, then frontline leaders
2: leadership frameworks built for a later program: the project team’s and the future-state framework

Source: Karen Cocks’ records of internal programs. Results not published; referees available. Full evidence list at the end.

Organisation: A major banking corporation
The brief: Define the leadership capability a redesigned workforce needed, assess leaders against it, and build it from the top down
Karen’s role: Designed the operating model and the leadership capability framework, assessed leaders, and led the development program and rollout
Timeframe: 2015 to 2016, with a second framework program in 2021 to 2022

¹ This work was led by Karen Cocks in senior roles at the bank, before Karen and Becky co-founded FTS.

Context

A workforce redesigned, and leaders who had to lead it

The bank’s wealth management division was redesigning its customer service delivery workforce of around 650 people across three states, ahead of a new digital investment and superannuation platform. The redesign was the first of its kind in the group. It needed leaders at every level able to lead in the new model.

Engage

Define the capability, then measure the gap

Karen worked with the Head of Customer Service Delivery to define the leadership capability the future model needed. The 8 senior managers and 40 leaders were assessed against it. The development program was then built from that assessment.

Validate

Executives first

The operating model and leadership framework were rolled out to executives first, then managers, then frontline leaders, so each level of leadership was engaged before the level below it.

Adapt

Build the capability

Operating model: a target operating model for customer service delivery, designed for the new platform.

Leadership development: a development program to close the capability gaps the assessment found.

Workforce: strategic workforce planning, organisational design, and talent and succession plans aligned to the new model.

Value delivered

Engagement up 15 points in 12 months

Employee engagement rose 15 percentage points within 12 months, during a major transformation.

Karen later applied the same approach on a larger scale. On the bank’s mortgage transformation, she developed and implemented two leadership frameworks: the project team’s operating framework and the future-state Leadership Capability Framework. Employee advocacy on that program increased by 28 percentage points.

Karen designed the frameworks and led the assessment and rollout. The bank’s leadership teams delivered the change.

Relevance

How this applies to an FTS. leadership program

FTS. leadership programs use the same sequence, scaled to the size of the leadership group, across three tiers.

Bank leadership work and its application to an FTS. leadership program
At the bank	In an FTS. leadership program
Leadership capability defined with the Head of Customer Service Delivery before any training	Discovery phase tailors the FTS. Leadership Capability Framework to the organisation’s strategic plan, values and the actual work leaders do
48 leaders assessed against the framework to find the gaps	Accredited diagnostics matched to each tier: Human Synergistics, Leadership Circle Profile, DiSC and Belbin, with a baseline survey repeated at the end
Executives first, then managers, then frontline leaders	ELT first, then SLT, then People Leaders, with ELT sign-off before Delivery begins
Development program built to close the assessed gaps	People Leaders program with technical and behavioural streams mapped to the framework
Engagement measured and up 15 points in 12 months	A 12-month Delivery phase measured against the Discovery baseline

At the bank: Leadership capability defined with the Head of Customer Service Delivery before any training
In an FTS. leadership program: Discovery phase tailors the FTS. Leadership Capability Framework to the organisation’s strategic plan, values and the actual work leaders do

At the bank: 48 leaders assessed against the framework to find the gaps
In an FTS. leadership program: Accredited diagnostics matched to each tier: Human Synergistics, Leadership Circle Profile, DiSC and Belbin, with a baseline survey repeated at the end

At the bank: Executives first, then managers, then frontline leaders
In an FTS. leadership program: ELT first, then SLT, then People Leaders, with ELT sign-off before Delivery begins

At the bank: Development program built to close the assessed gaps
In an FTS. leadership program: People Leaders program with technical and behavioural streams mapped to the framework

At the bank: Engagement measured and up 15 points in 12 months
In an FTS. leadership program: A 12-month Delivery phase measured against the Discovery baseline

Evidence

Karen Cocks’ records of internal programs: wealth management workforce redesign and leadership development, 2015 to 2016; mortgage transformation leadership frameworks, 2021 to 2022. Results not published; referees available.

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