CASE STUDY

Empowering Future Leaders at King’s College London

The Challenge

Exam Question: How do we engage and retain high-potential individuals and ensure their readiness for management-level roles?   

King’s College London’s Background

Since 2020, Let’s Talk Talent has been a trusted partner of King’s College London, collaborating on various initiatives from Culture Audits to departmental away days. In 2022, King’s College approached Let’s Talk Talent with a new challenge: to design and deliver an Aspiring Managers development programme for Grade 4 and 5 employees who currently have no formal management responsibilities but aspire to take on leadership roles. King’s College aimed to nurture and retain high-potential individuals, enhance engagement, and reduce the risk of attrition within this employee group.

King’s College London’s Objective

To develop a comprehensive, interactive Aspiring Managers development programme that would equip future leaders with essential skills, and develop self-awareness, confidence, and foundational management capabilities. Our aim was to provide a meaningful development experience that would prepare participants for potential career advancement within King’s College.

King’s College London’s Goals

  1. Enhance Self and Interpersonal Awareness
  2. Boost Career Confidence
  3. Cultivate Strong Networks
  4. Develop Fundamentals of Management and Leadership

Approach and Implementation

The Aspiring Managers programme was built around four core development areas, with each session designed to be highly engaging and practical, allowing participants to apply new insights in real-time:

  1. Increasing Awareness of Self and Others
    • Interactive workshops focused on self-assessment (utilising an assessment tool) and empathy-building exercises, helping participants gain insights into their personal strengths and areas for growth.
  2. Building Career Confidence
    • Through career development exercises, individuals gained confidence in setting career goals, exploring the reality and practical steps to progress through leadership pathways.
  3. Creating Strong Networks
    • Exploration of what great networks look like and how to build a strong network utilising relationship-building and knowledge-sharing to create a supportive network.
  4. The Fundamentals of Management & Leadership
    • Foundational training covered essential management topics, including communication, team dynamics, and decision-making, providing a solid foundational understanding for aspiring managers.

The Results

The Aspiring Managers Series generated significant positive outcomes for both King’s College and its employees:

  • High Engagement and Satisfaction: The series received an NPS score of 65 and a 90% recommendation rate, reflecting strong participant engagement and satisfaction.
  • Scalable Approach: A total of 225 aspiring managers completed the programme so far, gaining valuable skills and insights to support their career progression.
  • Promotions and Career Growth: Within just three months of programme completion, six individuals were promoted, demonstrating the immediate impact of the development series on supporting participants’ career trajectories.

Conclusion

This Aspiring Managers development programme has proven to be an effective pipeline for cultivating future leaders and managers within King’s College London. By investing in high-potential employees, King’s has enhanced engagement, reduced attrition risk, and supported a sustainable growth strategy. Let’s Talk Talent is proud to partner with King’s College to empower a new generation of managers who are ready to contribute meaningfully to the institution’s ongoing success.