Aligning Corporate Culture

Taylor Nelson Sofres plc

Lfi has been working with Taylor Nelson Sofres(TNS), one of the world's leading marketing information companies, on a global basis, helping the organisation to align corporate culture with behaviours and processes. Last year, in the Asia Pacific, US and Europe, Lfi helped to deliver a programme for senior directors that developed people and performance management. This year sees a follow-up programme in Germany, the Philippines, Vietnam and Melbourne.

Says Gareth Jones, Group Training and Development Director at TNS, "Anne Calleja has a way of being able to make people talk openly without making them feel vulnerable and can also give the necessary ongoing support to people who could otherwise reject the feedback."

Lfi has also been working with TNS to introduce a more robust human resources system. A competency-based graduate recruitment process is being piloted to realign strategy with the appraisal system and skills programmes.

"Anne's approach allows the competency system and practical skills to come alive," Gareth states. "We can be more objective and refined in our assessment criteria. It provides a template to identify specific behaviours and make evaluations in a fair and consistent manner."

Pure NLP

The Body Shop International plc

"The Body Shop were prepared to take risks in looking at ways to develop the skills of their senior managers," states Vince Gunn, now Retail Development Director at Lunn Poly, but formerly UK Trading Division Managing Director at The Body Shop.

"When Anne Calleja introduced Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) into the organisation, the impact was immediately measurable. The first insight we gained in how you can become far better at communicating with others was understanding Anne's inclusive approach. For example, when she started working with senior level executives, many of them felt most comfortable talking about finance and logistics, so she would start with subjects dealing with those issues in order to build up an effective relationship with them."

Vince went on to complete a practitioner's course in NLP. His time with Lfi was invaluable, he says. Now he is responsible for the strategic redevelopment of Lunn Poly's shop network and has found that NLP solutions are applicable in all aspects of work situations and has provided him with the tools to meet tough challenges and enhance his own and others' productivity.

"Being able to recognise how to value and keep your company's core values while stimulate change that is welcomed by all the people within the organisation is a challenge that would be far more difficult to contemplate if I had not been introduced to NLP," says Vince. "It has enabled me to be able to focus on the corporate vision and on how to adopt the correct strategy and tactics to make it happen."

Teamworking For Success

London Transport Prestige Project

By 2002 passengers using London Transport's services will have a state-of-the-art ticketing system. Known as the PRESTIGE project, the technology will have the potential to link up all systems nationwide. This is a massive initiative and for the project's manager, Christine Oulds, a vital issue to be addressed is culture change. Christine's team of 50 people have developed a team leadership programme in collaboration with Lfi.

Now a joint team NLP development programme with the contractor is engendering better partnership working. "The vision for my team is for them to be a catalyst for change - without alienating others," Christine says. "NLP is so powerful. It enables people to lead by example and breeds best behaviour. The changes in our team have been remarkable. Also, my life, both professionally and personally, has been turned around."

Christine now has a Practitioner's Certificate in NLP and is taking her Masters through Lfi.

'If you do what you always did, then you will get
what you always got'

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