“How can we prepare our managers to lead through a big transformational change?”

What They Needed

Allianz Insurance, one of the UK’s largest general insurers and part of one of the world’s leading financial services groups, had recently undergone a period of expansion. This brought in a significant number of new managers while also increasing responsibility for established managerial staff.

The challenge centred around:

• Developing soft skills across a mixed-experience management population – many were highly technically skilled but lacked confidence in areas such as coaching, delegation and people leadership.
• Building capability in new managers quickly and consistently, while ensuring existing leaders evolved their approach in line with Allianz’s leadership expectations.
• Identifying leadership potential and supporting individuals considered ready for progression.
• Creating a shared leadership language and management standard despite different levels of prior development.

The focus was not on technical training, that was already well covered internally, but on enhancing leadership capability, communication and team influence.

In short: How do we build a consistent leadership standard across new and existing managers, strengthening their soft skills to complement technical expertise?

What We Did

We designed a bespoke 12-month leadership development programme following detailed analysis of Allianz’s desired outcomes.

The programme combined multiple development inputs to suit a diverse group of managers, including:

• Initial 360-degree feedback, identifying strengths and development areas across core leadership competencies.
• Myers-Briggs personality profiling (MBTI) to deepen understanding of individual preferences and leadership style.
• Belbin team role analysis to help managers recognise strengths within their teams and adapt their approach accordingly.
• Tailored workshop modules covering core skills such as coaching, delegation, communication and performance leadership.
• A blend of practical group sessions, reflection activities and interactive exercises, ensuring all managers could engage in line with their preferred learning styles.

The programme was structured to support both new and experienced managers, focusing on practical behaviours rather than theory, and designed to embed leadership capability across the team.