Brief
When Adrian Clarke was appointed Head of Organisation Development at Virgin Media, (now Virgin Media O2), he was keen to build upon Organisation Development capability within the People Team.
Having had "the benefit of being on a programme myself and experienced the value of really developing practice" Adrian looked to bring in a programme of practice development. His aims were to:
- Demystify Organisation Development
- Build general skills and capabilities
- Develop an Organisation Development mindset across the team
I knew that it would be quite challenging, but that the value would be greater than the off-the-shelf kind of training that you could easily get from a multitude of other providers.
Adrian Clarke, Head of OD, Virgin Media O2
Solution
Mayvin adapted its long-running Core Practice Programme to suit the needs of Virgin Media's specific context and the participants who would be learning together. The programme was based on our unique methodology of Practice-Based Learning.
Critical to the success and high impact of our programmes are two fields of practice:
1. Self-managed learning provides a framework within which individual participants can tailor their learning journey.
2. Action Research encourages reflection and experimentation whilst participants are immersed in their everyday work.
The net result is development that is relevant and timely, and which has immediate impact for both the individual and the organisation.
Outcome
Adrian credits the programme with helping the People Team to weather the unpredictable and changing contexts of both the pandemic and a large-scale merger.
"The legacy from this programme is rooted in the ability to find common ground in a way which embraces diversity and enables us to find a way of then moving forward together.
I can definitely recognise that there's been a strong desire in that applied practice of learning and development from a number of those who've experienced the programme. The action learning set style of collaboration of sharing is something that has worked well.
The continued demystification of Organisation Development shows that it is very complimentary to the skills and capabilities that People Partners / HR business Partners have. And actually, both things become brilliant complementary partners or complementary skill sets."
There is the difference it's made to the individuals who completed the programme.
But then there is the compound / cumulative impact those individuals are making in their interactions and intervening across the organisation.
Adrian Clarke, Head of OD, Virgin Media O2
You can listen to Adrian Clarke and Carolyn Norgate talk about the experience on this podcast episode:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Buzzsprout
Amazon Music
