A SHR IDGE
C U S TOMISED
E X ECU TI V E
D E V E L OPMEN T
C A S E ST UD Y
PROGRAMME
European Management Development Programme
OVERVIEW
Leadership development for middle and senior managers at SABMiller. Two residential modules
lasting six days each, supported by coaching. One cohort per year of 35 participants.
SABMiller Plc
Beverage / FMCG
C LIEN T
SECTOR
Good to great
With around 70,000 employees across 75 countries, SABMiller is one of the world’s largest brewers.
Samantha Rockey, European L&D Manager, chose to partner with Ashridge to refresh the design and
delivery of SABMiller’s European Managers Development Programme (EMDP). Here she discusses
how the programme is helping to develop the leadership pipeline and achieve business growth.
Samantha Rockey
European L&D Manager
SABMiller Plc
‘‘
This creates
strong business
impact and is
an incubator
for real-time
learning
’’
What are your current organisational and leadership objectives?
P R O G R A M M E I M PA C T
We’re increasingly facing a tough ‘share of throat’ market and are striving to deliver
superior value to our shareholders. To achieve our growth strategies we need our leaders
to have the skills, behaviours and passion to drive value and to filter this through
to their teams.
✓Makes leaders more
What are the goals
of the EMDP?
What value have
you seen?
✓Builds a crucial talent
The aim of the programme is to build
the SABMiller talent pipeline by preparing
our most talented current and future
managers for their next challenges.
These managers are all in roles that have
a big impact on the business. The EMDP
is mapped to our leadership behaviours
and helps participants engage fully with
the business strategy so they can deliver
a real competitive edge.
It is helping us make good leaders great.
People are making better decisions and
using supportive coaching to discuss and
resolve issues. We have seen an increase
in confidence, performance and impact.
As part of their learning experience,
participants are given real business
problems to address. This creates strong
business impact and is an incubator
for real-time learning.
We want the programme to cater for
varied learning styles, with a focus on
action and experiential learning. It also
needs to allow time and space for
reflection and creativity.
Recent examples have been The role of
social media in the drinks industry and
Innovation in the beer category. This gets
people working in cross-cultural, crossfunctional teams which in turn builds
networks, encourages collaboration and
brings new thinking back into the business.
It also helps to build relationships with
the senior leadership team. It’s a very
motivating experience. The fact that only
one alumnus has left SABMiller in two
years bears witness to that!
I work closely with the Ashridge Client
Director, Sona Sheratt, on the design.
Together we have co-created a fresh
and innovative programme based on
good design principles and a deep
understanding of our business needs
and how our participants will respond.
We are always restless about finding
better ways to update and improve
the programme.
In terms of the impact, we are creating
leaders for the long-term. Our participants
are having a learning experience that
confident, better decision
makers, able to deliver
a competitive edge
pipeline –– 25% of 2010
participants were promoted
within one year
✓Feeds new knowledge
and innovative thinking
into the business
✓Provides unique, fresh
solutions to real business
challenges
✓Creates a community of
leaders and strong links
between the European
Executive Community and
EMDP participants
✓Embeds SABMiller
competencies
adds value personally and professionally,
is very motivational and people have
an opportunity to solve vexing business
problems. Most importantly it is enhancing
the excellence of our leaders and
developing our talent pipeline, so crucial
for business growth.
AS HR IDGE C USTOM ISED EXECUTI VE DEVE LO P M EN T C A S E S T U DY
SA B M IL LER PLC
THE E XPERIE NC E
Cross-functional networking
Isabelle Guegler
is a Talent Manager.
She was nominated to
go on the EMDP as
part of her development
towards a future
HR leadership role.
‘‘
I was able to gain business insights
from people in other functions and
it would have been hard to achieve this
as effectively in any other way. Networking
is so important in a global organisation
and I now have contacts in many different
areas of the business, which enables
things to happen more efficiently.
Increased self-awareness
The programme helped improve how
we work in groups and how to work with
different personalities. It made me
aware that I have a tendency to be quite
controlling. Knowing when and how to
adjust has been useful, both personally and
professionally. It stretched me and helped
me understand who I am. Heightened
self-awareness is essential for making the
transition from manager to leader.
From manager to leader
Assignments with direct impact
on the business
The EMDP has given me many
useful personal insights and is an
important piece of my career
development jigsaw. I’m now in
transition to be a leader.
I did a project assignment about Shopper
Marketing. It taught me a great deal
about the different business functions and
cultural differences. We worked on the
project virtually – essential practice for a
global organisation. Our recommendations
are being implemented and we have hired
a Shopper Marketing specialist who is
using our proposal.
’’
‘‘
Freedom from distraction
It stretched
me and helped me
understand who
I am. Heightened
self-awareness
is essential for
making the transition
from manager
to leader
Ashridge is a beautiful and inspiring
place to learn. It provided the tranquillity
needed to focus – away from the
stresses of the workplace. The Ashridge
team were very engaged and used a
broad variety of learning methods such
as singing sessions and coaching.
’’
THE PROGRA MME PROC ESS AND DESIGN
ASHRIDGE
PROGRAMME
DIRECTOR
Sona Sheratt
BA, MSc
Business experience:
Sona’s business
experience includes
Head of Human Resource
at Astra Zeneca UK and
Human Resource Business
Partner for Nortel Networks.
She joined Ashridge
in 2003 and has a
MSc in Organisational
Psychology.
Specialism:
Leadership, influencing
coaching and change
management. Sona is
also an expert in facilitating
learning support groups
and one-to-one coaching
to help improve individual
performance.
Current clients:
Avis, Continental,
Creston, Erste Bank,
Renew Holdings,
SABMiller,
Smiths Group.
were conducted with
the Executive Community and previous
EMDP participants. We fully understood
the company culture, objectives and
what would work best, prior to designing
the programme.
THIRTY INTERVIEWS
The two modules last six long and intense
days. We are un-apologetic about this given
that the participants have high levels of
energy and are quick thinkers. Our priority
is to maximise the time and effectiveness
of the experience.
The theme of the programme changes
each year. For example, this year it
is ‘Impact’ with the programme being
designed around personal, team and
organisational impact.
Making learning stick
Ashridge understands the importance of
‘making learning stick’. The EMDP design
was based around our research and
experience in learning transfer, incorporating
the following principles:
• Designing the content and delivery
around the organisational competencies
• Making the learning relevant and real,
an example being the work carried out on
SABMiller specific projects
• Using repetition and logging techniques
• Offering physiological and psychological
elements and a strong emphasis on
interaction and practical application to
maximise participation, engagement and
to make the experience memorable.
Role-playing business
issues with actors and
outdoor learning exercises –
making the learning
memorable and building
a strong sense of team
WEBINAR
to launch the
programme
and goals –
putting participants
on an equal footing
Structured
around
SABMiller
competencies
e-sharing site –
participants blog
and share ideas
helping knowledge
stick
..............
Virtual project work –
developing essential
working skills for a global
organisation
One-to-one
coaching –
building essential
self-awareness
Business projects that relate
to SABMiller challenges –
developing feedback – giving skills,
making learning relevant and
maximising the ROI
PROGRAMME ELEMENTS
One of the benefits of the programme
being residential at Ashridge is that it
allows many different Ashridge experts to
contribute to the programme as required,
even if this is for just one short session.
This fluidity and flexibility adds much value
for the participants.
Sam Rockey and I have developed a
strong relationship and trust each other
implicitly. It’s about working together
to give participants the best possible
learning experience and make a
difference at SABMiller.
Reviewing and evolving
the programme
We have a number of approaches for
monitoring and reviewing the programme.
Immediate feedback happens via the
e-sharing site. Participants complete a
formal evaluation at the end of each module
and also give me feedback throughout the
programme. SABMiller also carries out
rigorous post-programme reviews which
allow progress to be mapped and ongoing
development plans to be reviewed.
To discuss how your organisation could benefit from working with Ashridge call:
+44 (0)1442 841 246 or email: organisations@ashridge.org.uk
www.ashridge.org.uk/results
‘‘
Being at
Ashridge allows
many different
Ashridge experts to
contribute to the
programme as
required, even if this
is for just one
short session
’’
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to Ashridge. They may not be copied or used without their prior consent.
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Company registration number 1784086
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