Standard Chartered + Cirrus

Background
The Leaders Drive Performance programme has helped Standard Chartered to transform its culture and change the ways leaders behave.

Following the appointment of CEO Bill Winters in 2015, Standard Chartered wanted to drive smarter growth in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. The bank was keen to develop increasingly positive, values-based leadership behaviours alongside the capability to collaborate and respond to customers and market changes. There was a strong desire to become more agile and to develop a culture of innovation which embraced challenge and disruption.

"Disruptive and immersive techniques were used to change behaviours and create a cultural shift"

Approach
Standard Chartered worked in partnership with leadership specialist Cirrus to develop ‘Leaders Drive Performance’ (LDP). This programme focused exclusively on the bank’s middle managers, who are critical to delivering cultural change across thousands of employees. A 100-day leadership learning journey started with a highly innovative, experiential two-day workshop.

Throughout the journey, disruptive and immersive techniques were used to change behaviours and create a cultural shift in line with the bank’s overall growth agenda. The just-in-time introduction of blocks of learning content ensured that learning was always connected to participants’ immediate experience, so that multiple learning outcomes could be realised. Participants received valuable coaching support throughout and the Cirrus Strata digital platform enabled online collaboration and scheduling. High quality online communications including video and animation ensured participants were actively engaged.

Outcome
To date, 1,125 leaders across multiple markets have taken part. Engagement levels have increased and there has been a notable drop in attrition for leaders who attended the programme versus those who did not. Many participants have said the programme is the best learning they have undertaken in their career and the best programme Standard Chartered has ever run. It has also been highly recommended by participants to their colleagues. Following its success, a new programme, Leaders Drive High Performance (LDHP), has been developed for more senior leaders.