Airbus Defence & Space

LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME

Airbus Defence & Space is the most significant aerospace organisation in The Netherlands, and they have participated intensively in large international aerospace projects. With an ambitious eye, focused on the perspective of the future, Airbus Defence & Space reflects critically on the question how to develop further as an organisation under the project name Voyager. As one of the most important cornerstones for further development towards a fit-for-the-future organisation, management was mentioned, and management was made responsible for “Inspiring leadership & workplace”. For further operationalising of the latter and further developing and contributing to the execution of a trajectory to enable this, Airbus Defence & Space chose AVOP as their partner in collaboration.

Question

Airbus Defence & Space’s question to AVOP, set against the background that is mentioned above:

• Offering managers insight into their intrinsic motivation (and how it relates to managing);
• Offering managers awareness of where they currently are, related to the leadership profile (and which consequences they want to decide upon);
• Shaping the development of managers and facilitating direction leadership profile.

In preparation of this:

How to come to a leadership profile that is appropriate for the necessary organisation development and also has support;

• How to equip managers for conducting development conversations.
  In line with this:
• A development programme for the managers.

Approach

Airbus Defence & Space’s ambition for the future and its significance for the management responsibility has been explored in several workshops. This responsibility has subsequently been translated into a competence profile;

Personal development:
Each manager was given the opportunity to participate in a development focused assessment. With the initial question:

• How do I currently relate to what is required from me in the future (in other words: how do I relate to the competence profile);
  What are my own affinities, what do I want, and how does that relate to what is required from me;
• What are my strengths and points for development, in what manner can I develop myself further, and to what extent do I desire this.

In an individual conversation and through a personal report, these matters have been discussed with the manager;

• In a conversation with the manager of the manager, the further shaping of the development was discussed/what would be most beneficial for the development and what would be most suitable for the candidate in question.

Organisational development

• The insights from all individual assessments have been elevated to the level of the organisation and stated in an overall report;
• These insights have been shared with the entire management in a meeting (and as such, with all participants of the assessments). Topics: what are the risks that we run, how can we make use of our strengths;
• Several work-conferences with management, with as most important subject: how do we give direction to the developments, how can we secure these, and what does that require from us as management as a whole and what does that entail for me personally.

Result

• Partially based on the assessments and the overall report, changes have been introduced into the organisation, the organisational structure and in the discussion structure;
• Managers have been given positions and responsibilities, suitable to their strengths/weaknesses;
• Individual development plans have been created;
  Internal team-coaches have been deployed in conferring and support in making the latter more effective, in particular in terms of making use of differences of opinion, sharing information, and in elevating the conferring into a directing and deciding consultative body;
• Management meetings have been established, in order to also enable a shared shaping of content and form in directing the organisation as a whole.