Talent Q identifies and develops future leaders at UK Power Networks

THAME, U.K. - Nov. 10, 2014 - PRLog -- Assessment specialist Talent Q has delivered a leadership development and business acumen programme for 14 managers at electricity distributor UK Power Networks, after creating a new assessment process which identified these individuals as potential leaders and uncovered their development needs.

“We needed to identify which of our middle management population had the capability to succeed in senior roles, so we could work with them to maximise their potential,” said Emma Nicholls, Head of Organisational Development at UK Power Networks. “We chose to partner with Talent Q as they had the optimum combination of assessment, development and coaching expertise.”

Senior managers within UK Power Networks initially worked with the executive management team to nominate 30 middle managers from across the business. Each nominee took part in a comprehensive assessment process created by Talent Q that included a personality questionnaire, mapped against the leadership competencies, as well as a motivation questionnaire and verbal and numerical reasoning tests.

Talent Q held one-to-one reviews with each nominee to give them feedback on their assessment results. The company also provided a detailed report on each individual, which enabled UK Power Networks to select 14 of the managers for a dedicated development programme.

“Talent Q’s range of assessments gave us a great insight into each of the nominees,” said Emma Nicholls. “The assessment process was data-driven and this made it much easier to make objective decisions about who to include in the programme. Those who were not selected had in-depth, one-to-one coaching and development discussions with a Talent Q consultant.”

Talent Q designed the development programme around the needs of the participants, as highlighted in the assessment process. Called Future Leaders, it ran for 15 months and featured workshop sessions on leadership and development issues, such as emotional intelligence, influencing others and self-management, as well as business-critical aspects such as strategic planning, commercial operation and organisational development. Talent Q also provided one-to-one coaching to challenge the thinking of the participants and to support their development.

“The programme had a significant impact on each participant, making them more commercially-focused, more strategically-minded and more visible in the organisation,” said Emma Nicholls. “Two of the participants have already been promoted and others have moved into new roles in different directorates, so we’re delighted with the results.”

Talent Q will be running the programme again for UK Power Networks, and this time it will include junior managers as well, with 40 nominees being assessed for 20 places on the dedicated development programme.

“Our corporate goals are to become an employer of choice, a respected corporate citizen and sustainably cost-efficient,” said Emma Nicholls. “The Talent Q programme has taken us another step closer to achieving these as it is not only enhancing our performance, it is helping us to retain talent and to develop leaders who can steer our business forward in the future.”

For further information, please call Talent Q on +44 (0)1844 218980 or visit www.talentqgroup.com

Background notes: UK Power Networks owns and maintains the cables, substations and lines that deliver electricity to around 8 million homes and businesses in London, the South East and the East of England. www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk

Talent Q provides personality, ability and competency assessments, as well as learning & development programmes and consultancy services. It works with over 500 clients worldwide.