Clients / Case study

Talent development at OCS Group Asia

How do you build and develop a regional leadership culture?

The brief

This was the challenge facing OCS, a global facilities management company trying to successfully navigate the needs of a traditional but fast-changing sector in the Middle and Far East.

Sandra Evans our Managing Director, tells us more: “When faced with a shifting and increasingly competitive environment, Heather Suksem, OBE and CEO of OCS Asia, took the bold step of investing in her leadership team. Focusing on talent development, she wanted to enable her team to think beyond their own immediate business areas and create a ‘conscious business’ thinking, working together across boundaries.”

The challenges

OCS provide their facilities management services for a wide range of clients across Asia including healthcare, retail and education. Previously, their teams across Thailand, India, Malaysia and the Middle East had operated independently with little collaboration. Often faced with the same internal and client challenges, solutions were rarely shared and tested to see if these would work across businesses. Added to this, the complex nature of leading across boundaries meant that the challenge was both fascinating and daunting.

The solutions

Together with OCS, we worked to develop a Regional Leadership Academy, where talented leaders could come together and develop leadership skills required today and in the future, enabling them to operate locally and regionally and adapt quickly in a fast-moving business environment. This supported a real step change in the quality of leadership across the business.

Through a truly global programme, we offered a blended solution of team development, 360 Feedback, 1:1 coaching, mentoring, client visits and virtual skill shots. In addition, strategic project groups were created, working on real-life business challenges which if tackled fully, would generate significant savings and additional revenue.

The results

this programme ran for 4 years from 2016 through to 2019 with impressive results. Senior management across various functions in each country have participated and the momentum of the programme has ensured the ongoing retention of talent and promotion into more senior roles within the organisation. Leaders have had their eyes opened to completely new ways of learning together which can only support the business as it faces new, emerging challenges.