Yorkshire Water Services’ employee development programme

Describes a development programme for junior and middle managers in an organization undergoing very radical change. After directors profiled demand for likely job characteristics, a range of data was collected for each manager comprising psychometrics, colleague surveys, and self‐report mindsets. Matching the “supply” of capabilities against the “demands” of future jobs led to the preparation of personal development plans, the implementation of which was assisted by participation in action learning sets. A presentation to a senior panel, including directors, marked an important milestone in the sets’ activities. The whole process was supported in‐house by trained facilitators drawn from the HR function.