THE CHALLENGE:
The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the Irish government’s initiative to deliver high speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland. It is the largest ever telecommunications project undertaken by the Irish State and recognised as one of the biggest and most ambitious telecoms infrastructure projects of its kind globally. To date, NBI has created over 1,800 new jobs and brought high speed services to over 564,000 homes, farms, schools and businesses, connecting 1.1 million people.
National Broadband Ireland (NBI) has a tight timeline to design and build the national broadband network.
Because of this they needed to:
(1) Bring consistency in people management approach across the organisation.
(2) Support people managers to build and maintain high performing teams.
(3) Ensure communication and collaboration across all areas of the business.
NBI’s main goal was to enable people managers to build and maintain High Performing Teams.
THE SOLUTION:
During spring 2023, we designed a Leadership Development Programme with the HR and Talent Management team at NBI. The design phase consisted of a) manager surveys, b) manager focus groups to validate survey findings and question any assumptions, c) input from the senior management team and d) bespoke design of programme modules, materials and learning path.
With the L&D Team at NBI we developed a blended program consisting of in-person workshops, virtual sessions, pre and post work on LinkedIn Learning, videos and articles, DiSC assessments, peer coaching, buddy partnering and more.
Over the next year, we worked with 4 different cohorts of mangers (approx. 18 managers per cohort) on this highly customised Leadership Development Programme. Each cohort attended five in-person modules and one virtual module. Modules offered group learning opportunities on topics such as team effectiveness, employee engagement, emotional intelligence, people management, high performance, coaching and motivation, continuous improvement, design thinking, time and energy management, and finance for non-finance managers. We assigned pre-work before each module and self-directed learning resources and exercises to be completed throughout the programme. The participants also engaged in virtual and in-person sessions of peer coaching and buddy coaching between modules.
The in-person modules were held offsite at a hotel chosen by the client and which would be easily accessible for people travelling from different locations around the country – apart from the virtual session that was delivered on the topic of Energy and Time Management skills on Zoom.
We developed a Learning Path that identified self-directed learning resources and exercises for each step in the programme by leveraging LinkedIn, Ted Talks, HBR resources, and more. All slides, pre-work, and learning path items were shared on their internal SharePoint system. LinkedIn learning courses were also made available to participants on NBI’S LinkedIn account. Our facilitators sent reminders on items to be completed and by what date to keep everyone on track with their learning. The Managers were also put into Peer Coaching pods and encouraged to meet every couple of weeks to practice their ‘Manager as Coach’ skills and to support each other’s growth.
Our role was to bring the managers on a journey to increase self-awareness, to understand how they currently operate, and to explore self-development opportunities as leaders. The journey also supported managers to build High Performing Teams and create cross collaboration across the organisation.
Our facilitator team engaged the group with relevant content and reflective exercises while also encouraging discussions. We used business roleplay actors to bring experiences to life for the participants in the context of performance conversations and much more. We used DiSC profiling to deepen their self-awareness and their understanding of other people’s styles. DiSC makes it easy to identify and understand our own style as well as others’, to cognitively adapt to different styles, and to develop a process to communicate more effectively with others. Each individual had access to the DiSC Catalyst platform where they could also access their Agile EQ, Colleague Comparison Reports, and extensive other support materials (videos, DiSC descriptions etc).
THE RESULTS:
We collected feedback after each module of this programme, and based on feedback, we tailored the programme as we moved through. The focus was on adapting to the requirements of the participants and the project.
All participants that completed this programme, reported a significant increase in self-awareness as managers and leaders. The use of DiSC was a large part of this and has also helped the managers to better understand others. They have all described this programme as a journey, where they learned lots of really tangible and practical ways they can perform better as leaders. The talent management team have analysed staff satisfaction survey scores and found a deeper positive impact across the business.
The success of this initiative inspired the Senior Leadership Team at NBI to engage Adaptas to design a 10-month High Potential Emerging Leaders Programme. This programme includes topics such as Team Leadership and Employee Engagement, Change Management, Building High Performance Teams & Continuous Improvement, Managing Performance: Coaching, Mentoring and Motivation, Time & Energy Management, Finance for Non-Financial Leaders and DiSC. It kicked off in September 2024 with two cohorts of approximately 15 participants. Participant feedback is collected after every module allowing for continuous assessment and iterative adjustments to the programme. The programme concludes in June 2025. Participants have particularly appreciated the practical and interactive style of learning prioritised by this programme.
Adaptas is a strategic partner for NBI, driving leadership excellence and supporting the organisation in achieving its ambitious goals. In addition to the above programmes, Adaptas provides NBI with 1-2-1 coaching, Team Coaching, and bespoke Virtual Reality Learning Tools, supporting broader organisational growth.
Adaptas also partnered with NBI to deliver a bespoke team coaching programme for the NBI Marketing Team. The aim of this programme was to support the marketing team to develop a cohesive, collaborative approach to sustainable high-performance throughout the team. This team coaching programme was delivered from 2022 – 2024 and consisted of one full day and six half days of coaching with the team, both on and off-site. Towards the end of the programme, all members of the team completed the DiSC profiling tool and insights were integrated into the team development outcomes.
The Marketing Team coaching resulted in deepened collaboration within the team, and stronger collaboration with other departments and stakeholders. This team is now living and practicing the ingredients for maintaining a high performance team, including coaching, accountability and responsibility for team operating principles and keeping a learning and growth mindset to the fore. This team has since won and been nominated for a number of awards in the industry.
FEEDBACK:
John Mulreid, Head of Talent Management, NBI:
“Adaptas Training combines cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology with actionable tools, enabling our employees to maximise their potential. The Leadership Programme has been transformative, fostering self-awareness and equipping managers with practical knowledge to drive lasting change. It’s not just training; it’s a dynamic learning experience that resonates deeply, ensuring long-term development.”
Tara Collins, Chief Marketing Officer, NBI:
“Celine has been working with us, to help our team decipher what ‘a really great team’ looks and feels like. We have explored the concept of a ‘High Performing Team’ to ask ourselves where we sit currently as a HPT, and where we wish to move towards. This is a process we have worked through for over a year with Celine, as we try things out and then decide as a team which ingredients work for us best in our context. Celine interweaves Models of Leadership and High Performing Teams with facilitated conversation and she has a knack for making everyone feel comfortable so that challenges can be discussed openly. Celine always creates a conducive space for collaboration and for generating new thinking in sessions that have lasting impact.”