Background 

Facilities management company Mitie faced a critical challenge in aligning its leadership development with its growth strategy and cultural shift. Mitie’s existing leadership development programme was outdated, exclusive to certain levels of management and lacked alignment with the company’s ‘People-First’ culture.

Mitie set out to create a multi-layered, blended development offer that would establish managers as custodians of the colleague experience, promote a values-led leadership approach and embed inclusion and wellbeing into all aspects of people management.

Approach 

To address these challenges Mitie launched the People Manager Development Offer, a leadership programme designed around four key pillars: leading self, leading others, leading for performance and leading for the future. The programme followed a ‘learn, apply, grow’ methodology to ensure managers could develop their skills in real-time, applying their learning directly to their roles.

Key components included a comprehensive digital platform providing on-demand resources, tools and development materials for managers at all levels and core behavioural programmes, such as Leading Together and Leading with Respect, which offered practical, real-world leadership training. A strengths-based psychometric tool helps managers identify and leverage their strengths and those of their team members for better team performance. Additionally, the new Offer highlights which management apprenticeships are available to enable managers to gain formal certifications while applying their learning in real time.

“Mitie’s People Manager Development Offer boosted employee engagement, reduced management attrition and drove leadership excellence through innovative and inclusive learning”

The programme was designed to be flexible, catering to the diverse learning needs of Mitie’s 4,500 managers and 2,500 supervisors. It emphasised real-life application through reflective practice, digital content and practical workshops, ensuring that leadership development was continuous and directly aligned with the company’s ‘One Mitie’ leadership standards.

Outcome

Since the launch of the People Manager Development Offer, colleague engagement is up by six points, reaching a record 63%. Engagement related to management behaviours increased by 2.64% and senior leadership engagement grew by 4.85%. The Leading Together and Leading with Respect programmes achieved Net Promoter Scores of 90 and 88, respectively. The completion rate for these programmes was 71% and 55%.

The programme was incorporated into the security services team’s Sainsbury’s Management Academy with a resulting 25% promotion rate. Meanwhile regretted attrition among managers dropped by 2.4% and the uptake of management apprenticeships increased by 84%, with a 30% rise in colleagues achieving distinctions, showcasing strong engagement with the programme.

Qualitative feedback from managers highlights the programme’s role in fostering inclusive leadership, reflective practice and meaningful development, empowering them to lead effectively and authentically.