KEY is committed to flexibility. We work with you to determine the most suitable processes for any intervention as every piece of work within each and every organisation has a different nature and complexion. In truth, for us, the adventure and learning lies in those differences. We love it.

Consulting

Consulting is used when diagnostic, advisory and reporting services are required. The relationship is generally more specific and shorter-term in nature. These relationships are particularly useful when you are seeking expert human performance support that may not otherwise be available within your organisation or when an “outsider” might be more easily accepted by the stakeholders.

Full-Service Contracting

This option takes the relationship a little deeper; where the needs are more general in nature, the project potentially has a longer-term focus, often more suited to organisations that would like someone to take a piece of work through the implementation stage, often working with an existing team. A further advantage with this approach is that a specialist consulting resource can be charged with the added responsibility of embedding the capability within the organisation.

Coaching

Coaching is simply a process of accelerated learning and development. Why accelerated? Because it’s one-on-one which means you can tailor it specifically to the needs of the individual at a time that is right for that individual.

The profession of organisational coaching has developed exponentially in recent times bringing, on the whole, significant benefits. This growth has brought many models, methodologies, tools and approaches; all having value to offer but equal potential to confuse and complicate. It was Teddy Roosevelt that first said, ‘nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.’ We care enough to align to what you are trying to achieve; it’s your life after all!

Bottom-line, the key to effective coaching is premised on the most basic and reliable human technology; a relationship with another human being who is committed to their growth – it’s your guide on the side. It is the technology of simple wisdom, with knowledge acting as the support crew.

One-on-one coaching has the greatest potential to improve an individual’s effectiveness. It can focus on your specific needs and go to the root cause so that change is achieved and sustained.

Although coaching requires a higher up-front investment, it’s proving its value with returns in the region of five times that of the initial investment … much higher than most, if not all, other forms of learning & development interventions. And the returns accrue over time as the patterns that lead to success become habituated and the learning is transferred.

And the process itself supports the outcome; coaching enables us to learn the way we learn best, in a relationship of trust, generosity and respect.

The goal of coaching is the goal of good management; to make the most of the organisation’s most valued resources.

More than 70% of leadership development programs now feature a coaching component. It’s no longer considered an add-on but rather a foundation for most leadership learning interventions. Coaching allows the development focus to extend beyond a single event; it provides for sticky learning which goes the distance and puts pepper on the tail of the participants in terms of accountability and commitment.

KEY specialises in leadership coaching from executive through to front-line. We can establish and manage a coaching program for your organisation, sourcing a panel of hand-picked professional coaches.

We also develop leader’s coaching skills; building the internal coaching competency and embedding capability into our client organisations. Great coaches are at the heart of great learning organisations.

KEY has extensive experience in team coaching services. In this instance, the coach shadows team leaders and their members in to the work environment and observes the dynamics in real time. The intimacy of observation and immediacy of feedback is a potent combination for learning.

Be warned; coaching is not for the meek!

And a further note of caution … the next time you become discouraged with your own inability to bring about rapid changes in your life, remember, if you’re moving in the right direction, time will gradually work its magic. Just do one more thing a day to make you feel proud.

Mentoring

KEY offers mentoring services for OD & HR specialists who are developing their capabilities and looking to access some “grey haired wisdom”. This is particularly useful when organisations are fast tracking their people specialists; it’s a very practical way of setting them up for success rather than failure.

More generally, Sandy regularly mentors leaders on the human performance side of their performance objectives. She’s often called on as a sounding board during performance assessment rounds

KEY also develops internal mentoring programs, especially suited to graduates. These programs have the added advantage of re-engaging many team members moving towards the end of their careers; life and experience is often the best counsellor and their wisdom as mentors is priceless and often lost in the absence of some structure.

KEY provides design, development and review services and can also offer program management services where there is a shortage of internal capacity.

Facilitating

Facilitation, by definition, is to enable, to make easy. KEY facilitation services enables others to plan, problem solve, instigate change, resolve conflict, build teams and develop capability. To “make easy”, we commit to being flexible, adaptive, responsive, proactive and above all, resilient.

Our commitment to embedding capability extends to this service; we often work alongside leaders at design and delivery stage of workshops. The teaming of our respective content and process capabilities ensures we get the best possible result whilst at the same time, maximising the learning.

Leadership Transition Programmes

Managing leadership transitions well is good business strategy. The first 90 (or so) days are critical for leaders in new roles. The expectation is often that they hit the ground running, positively affecting the bottom line in quick time leading them into a short term hero-leadership style.

However to be effective, leaders need to attend to the lead indicators to sustainable performance. The first among these indicators is the leader’s people work. Are my team members engaged? What is their capability? How healthy is the team dynamic? What the team culture and the broader organisation’s cultural context? Inattendance to these issues can turn a sweet honeymoon into a sour marriage.

KEY can coach your leaders to success during those early days helping them with the “how” which inexorably couples the “what” of their achievement. We can also design and undertake team feedback forums to help identify some of the hidden opportunities and/or niggling issues that often don’t surface when people are trying to make a good impression.

From an organisational perspective, KEY can establish a Leadership Transition Program that helps new leaders understand how to succeed in your organisation. We can address the organisation’s strategic intent, the culture and values, the leadership expectations together with the people systems and structural framework that support them.

Learning & Development

There’s nothing that we offer that comes off the shelf but KEY regularly designs and delivers tailored L&D workshops which focus largely on issues related to the work of leaders. We can also develop, implement and coordinate large-scale leadership development programs.

Summits & Retreats

For high impact moments of creation, collaboration and celebration, summits are hard to beat. Alternatively if you want to create more reflective space to focus on a team’s well being, then you might consider a retreat.

KEY can design, manage and facilitate an event that will engage all the senses, live long in the memory of your people and represent a milestone in the annals of your organisation.

Most people live and die with their music still unplayed.
They never dare to try.
Mary Kay Ash