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Case Study

Women’s Group Leadership Development Programme

  • 2 female cohorts from a European financial services company
  • Face to face and online workshops
  • Group coaching approach
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The brief

For the past two years, a fellow coach and I have partnered with a European financial services company to deliver Ascent, our in-house leadership development programme designed to accelerate female talent within financial services. We aimed the programme at this sector because the gender promotion gap has meant that not enough women are getting to the top.

Recognising the unique challenges faced by women in financial services, this company sought a bespoke solution to equip women in their organisation with the skills, confidence, and relationships needed to thrive. 

Our approach

As it’s an in-house programme, we are able to tailor the design and delivery to align with the culture and values of the company, which we find really works for both sponsors and participants.

Our client asked us to run the programmes with a blend of both in-person and virtual sessions. Due to participant locations, we kicked off the first programme in London in 2023 and the second in Paris in 2024. We ran the middle sessions online and closed each programme face to face. It was lovely to have some face-to-face sessions, which we felt generated a richness of conversations and created deeper connections with participants.

We designed the programme to have a group coaching approach at its core. This helps to create a confidential and supportive space where participants can tackle difficult topics, gain new perspectives, and share best practices. The programme addresses key areas essential for women at mid-tier stage, including:

  • Leadership and Strategic Thinking
  • Navigating different personalities
  • Managing Conflict
  • Nurturing relationships

The results

Enhanced interpersonal skills: Participants developed valuable skills in leadership, coaching, and relationship building.

Robust support networks: The programme strengthened connections among female colleagues, providing a safe environment with support and encouragement.

Increased self-awareness: Using DISC, participants discovered more about their personalities, receiving rich insights into their personalities and communication styles.

Increased confidence: Participants developed a renewed sense of confidence in themselves and their strengths, and a greater sense of readiness for career challenges. 

In our evaluation, all participants said they would recommend the programme to other women, and here are some of their reflections:

  • “Attending the Ascent programme significantly boosted my self-confidence in my new job, allowing me to realize my leadership potential.”
  • “Very insightful, dynamic and interactive program. Time flies during the workshops as they are so well put together. Very useful on both personal and professional level.”
  • “It has helped me to get to know me and my colleagues better, strengthen our bonds and realise how much potential we have.”
  • “Hearing other people’s struggles and experiences was helpful as well as their thoughts on how to approach some issues.”
  • “It was extremely positive to bond to openminded, likeminded women without judgement.”
“In my role as HR Manager, I recently used Rachael and Roz to deliver their Ascent leadership development programme for a group of 8 female employees. Rachael and Roz were brilliant, very helpful, creative and personable. They were able to create a bespoke programme for us and even adapted it halfway through when we decided to change our requirements at short notice. Extremely responsive and accommodating. The feedback received from the participants was excellent, so I have absolutely no hesitation to recommend them. Thank you, Rachael and Roz!”
HR Manager, Programme Sponsor

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Leadership Development for Women
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