1. Organisational Challenge

Woodford Heating and Energy specialises in mechanical building services for the London construction market. Founded over 20 years ago, Woodford Heating and Energy, works with some of the nation’s top developers to bring the best consultancy and craftsmanship to their projects and to ensure that their clients receive a quality installation and maintenance service.

The organisation employs over 150 people as well as a further 100 sub-contractors. Woodford Heating and Energy is very keen to nurture new talent and supports up to 40 apprentices across the business. It enjoys an enviable reputation for completing projects on time, an excellent health and safety record and high customer satisfaction levels.

The management team, foremen and supervisors are typically technically skilled and qualified but not formally trained in how to manage people. In the autumn of 2015, Operations Director, Steve Abbott, gained approval from the senior management team to look at management training providers who offered an approved professional development qualification.

2. Choosing Impellus

Steve Abbott had previously received communications from Impellus, so they were at the forefront of his mind when Woodford Heating and Energy started considering management training providers.

“We were impressed with the range of courses that Impellus offered and that the training was aligned to the ILM Award Level 3 qualification. We were particularly looking for modules to develop the leadership and communication skills of our people and their selection offered our managers further courses on top of these core requirements.”

“Other key factors in our decision were that Impellus runs its open courses frequently in London which is very convenient for us. The Learning and Development Consultants who deliver the training are all directly employed by Impellus – ensuring consistency of course content. This was important for us as we would be training people over several years and we wanted them all to receive the same training. Multi-buy booking options are also available that qualify for discounts – very useful for budgeting purposes.” said Steve Abbott.

3. Working with Impellus

After Steve Abbott had trialled one of its training courses, Impellus was appointed for the learning and development programme. The senior management team experienced the ILM Award Level 3 open courses first followed by contracts managers and foremen. Over 28 employees have registered for the ILM Award.

“We have received positive feedback from our people on the course content and knowledge of the Impellus’ learning and development consultants who deliver the training. I know my colleagues who are studying the ILM Award have found the support from Impellus most helpful when writing their assessments. Personally, I have found the Impellus team very approachable and helpful when I want to make bookings and call off delegate places on our account.” commented Steve Abbott.

4. Results Achieved

Woodford Heating and Energy has already seen improved motivation and confidence among its people who have attended the training courses. As a result, they are successfully managing larger teams and it has paved the way for a coaching and mentoring programme being set up within the business.

Two managers are completing their assessments for the ILM Award Level 3 qualification and they are viewed as ‘champions’ within the business to offer support and knowledge to their colleagues.

“Our employees always come back from Impellus training with renewed enthusiasm. They are motivated to implement learnings from the course. One of the greatest improvements we have seen so far is in empathy levels. Our senior managers, contract managers and foremen are much more aware of the different communication styles and how to adapt these when they are on site, in the office and meeting clients.”

Steve Abbott, Operations Director