As one of the largest charities in the UK, the Shaw Trust transforms the lives of adults and young people by helping them gain an education, enter work, develop their career, improve their wellbeing or rebuild their lives.

The Challenge

To create productive senior level business relationships

We were approached by a senior manager at the Shaw Trust who wanted to explore ways to improve communication with his team, with an aim to improve their day-to-day business relationships and increase their productivity.

The Approach

Identify factors affecting relationships and improve communications

We worked with a member of the Shaw Trust’s senior management to explore the psychological factors; habits, attitudes, beliefs, values and expectations that were undermining team collaboration. We used the findings from the coaching to co-create practical solutions to the work-based challenges they faced on a daily basis.

Business Impact

Improved work performance leading to a 65% increase in productivity

Through our coaching intervention, we have contributed to the Shaw Trust increasing its efficiency by 65% in one year - having a dramatic effect on the lives of the thousands of individuals that the organisation aims to help.

The insight resulting from the coaching has created a much more focussed and dynamic team and has led them to create a new reporting system to benchmark achievement. This has helped increase employee trust and allows the directors to allocate work more effectively. Output has dramatically improved, leading to a marked increase in work placements. Specifically, it has led to 20,000 disadvantaged individuals achieving work placements compared to 13,000 the year before.

Operational Director, Stuart Knowles says, ‘This surge in productivity is thanks to the expertise of the TLC team. They have helped me to understand the underlying psychological factors that were standing in the way of establishing a progressive business relationship with another senior member of the organisation. The TLC coach worked with us both to set out practical, objective-driven business goals that addressed the issues at stake, with long-lasting effect.’

Stuart continues, ‘In my opinion the number of people we’ve been able to help as a result of TLC’s intervention is simply the best ROI we could ever wish for. The coaching was so effective, I could tell from the first session that my work-life would change dramatically, and that the impact would filter out through the rest of the department. Better understanding and more effective communication has allowed us as a team to thrive, meaning we are more dynamic and focused than ever before.’