Andrew Longson ACMI, Leadership Development Executive National Express

Background
Not long ago National Express, the transport provider, operated as three separate businesses spread around the United Kingdom. While best known for its coaches, it also had rail and bus divisions, all operating relatively independently of each other. “Each part of the group had its own management structures, goals and visions,” says Andrew Longson, a leadership and development executive at the company.

The challenge
National Express wanted to strengthen its management capacity and ensure that standards were consistent across the company at the same time as it merged its three brands into one. Historically, all three parts of the business did their own thing in their own way; unfortunately, this approach also meant that some parts of the business missed out on leadership training and development entirely, so this also needed to be addressed. “I want to develop and grow the business, but we were very separate and had a big difference in management capabilities across the board,” Longson says.

Goals
“We wanted to get our managers better and more consistently trained, to grow the business and to ensure that it is very customer centred,” Longson says. “We believe that training our managers will have a huge impact on the business.”

Action
Longson and his team considered relying on an in-house training programme that offered no external accreditation but could be adapted to exactly fit their own needs. However, four years ago they opted for the CMI’s programme instead. It offers external validation but allows National Express to adapt the content of the programme to meet its own needs, Longson says. “The modules fitted what we wanted as a business,” he says. “It is still our own programme, but we have to make sure that the assignments that people write reach the CMI’s standards at a minimum.” Longson and his team are also able constantly to tweak the courses on offer to ensure that they remain closely tailored to the company’s needs as the business develops.

National Express currently offers two programmes – a Level 2 Diploma in Team Leading, which is open to team leaders and supervisors, and a Level 3 Diploma in First Line Management, for more senior leaders.

Between 90 and 100 people take each programme each year. Any managers who wish to join the training programme can nominate themselves to go on it, but before beginning the course they need to attend an assessment day to ensure that they are prepared for the study required and that they are taking on the appropriate level of qualification.

Results
“It has made a huge difference in morale, both for managers themselves and for the people who they lead,” Longson says. Some parts of National Express have seen year-on-year improvements in employee engagement and in measures such as people's connection and accessibility to their manager. It’s particularly important given the amount of research that suggests people leave managers, not jobs.

Longson also suggests that customers have benefited from the development programme: “The biggest thing that comes out when we evaluate it is just how people increase in confidence in their own abilities. It also has a knock-on effect on their teams. This in turn improves things for customers as team members are more confident and feel more positive about their work.”