Donald H Taylor reminds us of the importance of marketing Neil Keeler, TJ Award winner, offers his tips on successful OD practice JUNE 2017 Transformative mentoring Heidi Ashley-Hacker asks: What are the core qualities for today's leaders? Randy Emelo provides the key steps to success Pierre Casse and Artem Konstandian on the art of motivation US coaching case study from Greg Harris TJ meets Capita Learning s new MD darren Bance 01 TJ Cover June 2017 SUBBED.indd 1 + Sarah Cook & Steve Macaulay on ways to lead in times of uncertainty and complexity Andy Lothian on the pounds, pence and sense behind self-awareness 30/05/2017 16:10:31
interview 10 June 2017 10-13 TJ spotlight Bance SUBBED.indd 10 @TrainingJournal 30/05/2017 15:18:28
spotlight on Darren Bance Happy people do brilliant work meet Capita Learning s inspiring new MD It s all about me Age and education 46, BSc Hons from University of Wales, Cardiff, in City & Regional Planning (it s a long story!) Family My wife, Abby, 17-year-old son, Ethan, 13-year-old daughter, Scarlet and 10-month-old (yes 10-month-old!) daughter, Holly. It is a crazy and fun house. Location I was born and bred in Surrey but I ve now ventured south to the beautiful county of Hampshire. Hobbies I love sport primarily watching these days but I still play a bit of cricket and golf. You can t tear me away from a rugby match. I can be found most Saturdays watching my daughter play sport at school which I get very excited about (no doubt to her great embarrassment). photography by Paul Heartfield D arren Bance is the recently appointed MD of the Capita Learning group and a relative rookie in the L&D space. But with 25 years experience working with companies in the ever-evolving technology sector under his belt, including 10 years in the Middle East, he s developed a truly agile style of leadership. Darren s most recent projects have involved rolling out a series of IT and digital transformation initiatives for a variety of clients, and his focus on getting the right balance of effort across people, process and technology sets him up brilliantly for the role at Capita, where he ll be growing a diverse portfolio of businesses designed to address the fast-changing challenges and trends we re seeing in the L&D market. Darren will also continue as MD of the Fire Service College (FSC), the renowned training facility for the emergency services, where he has nurtured his passion for on-the-job training and getting the best out of individuals in high-pressure environments. So why does he think that L&D is the next big business frontier? What are his top tips for successful leadership? We took a few minutes to discover what makes Capita Learning s new MD tick. Why are you moving into the training world and how did you start? I am relatively new to L&D as a specialist sector, although I have had plenty of experience in training when implementing digital transformation programmes over the past 20 years. My real jump into the L&D world happened more recently, however, when I returned to the Capita fold to become MD of the FSC after 10 years away in the Middle East. The FSC was acquired by Capita from the government four years ago, and the business has been the perfect challenge for me, and one that I have really enjoyed getting my teeth into. The FSC is a fascinating place with over 40 years of history, set on a beautiful 350-acre estate in the Cotswolds. It provides training to both UK and international emergency services organisations, and the instructors and teaching staff do incredible work in preparing people to be firefighters, police officers and paramedics. I quickly caught the learning bug at the FSC, experiencing how powerful it feels supporting people to become the best and most successful version of themselves, and the magic that comes from fusing individuals into brilliant teams. That s why I jumped Favourite place Maldives without the kids, Pembrokeshire coast with them in tow. As a family we have been going to the St Brides Bay coast since I was born. The walks along the headlands are exhilarating and the expansive sandy beaches are breathtaking. Book Hmm I tell my kids to read a lot more than I do! Too many spy novels and sporting biographies. Nothing has surpassed The Wishing Chair for pure nostalgia and good thoughts. Music Coldplay, REM, Pearl Jam my tastes are pretty eclectic! Movie Gladiator I like action and thrills. The latest Bond will always get me going. RIP Roger Moore he was my favourite. Technology I was a late convert from the BlackBerry to the iphone, but I have never looked back. I need to use my Fitbit more! at the chance to take on responsibility for all of Capita s learning businesses. Who or what inspires you? Those who never give up! As a kid, I thought Ian Botham was just the most inspirational person on Earth. Ian would never throw in the towel and I wanted to grow up to show the same tenacity! I suppose, however, that www.trainingjournal.com June 2017 11
interview different people inspire me on different days. It could be someone who consistently delivers great results, someone who always meets their deadlines, or someone who just rolls up their sleeves and gets stuff done, day in day out. I know someone who raised their daughter single-handedly while holding down a great job in difficult times that s amazing. I have friends who get up really early in the morning to go for a 5km run amazing again, if borderline insane! One of my staff competed in the Marathon des Sables in Morocco. That s seven marathons in seven days across the desert. That type of achievement truly inspires me. And my family, of course. They are a constant source of inspiration and support. What has been your lowest moment and your noblest hour? My lowest moment started off looking like my noblest hour! I led the diversification of a private company into a new service, which was extremely challenging but incredibly successful. We achieved huge growth in the business, lots of praise, great salaries and lovely bonuses until two years in, when growth slowed to more realistic levels, the business stabilised, I always ensure I have strong, capable people around me who share a learning mindset and who will deliver and work as a team and someone was instantly brought in over my head. The owners said they wanted an older figurehead. I was pretty gutted. Looking younger than your age is not always a good thing! On a more positive note, my return to Capita after 10 years away has made me pretty proud. I left Capita on good terms for good reasons, and a decade later I was welcomed back into the group with open arms, given autonomy to run a business, and supported all the way. I feel I have always built trusting relationships with the businesses I work for, and it was really warming to be welcomed back in the way I was. What was your career turning point? Taking a lead in the successful implementation of the London Congestion Charging project was a defining moment. That was such a challenging project, one that many thought impossible in the timelines. However, the Capita team rolled up their sleeves and pulled together the solution and infrastructure in less than 18 months. A project like that involves a mind-boggling amount of work, everything from installing camera poles in inner London and designing new SMS payment solutions, to implementing a fully trained customer service centre. The The 360 degree Darren adds balance and experience to the team at the FSC. He sees the wider opportunities of collaboration and has a great network within the Capita organisation. A team player and a family man with a friendly approach and strong morals. Shaun Kennedy, director of specialised protective services, Securitas We have worked closely with Darren and his team in developing our training framework, ultimately resulting in a long term new contract recently being awarded. I very much look forward to our future engagement with Darren and the FSC, I am in no doubt that under his leadership the quality of delivery and development of our partnership will continue to flourish. Mick Osborne, deputy chief fire officer, Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire & Rescue Service Darren has led the FSC through a challenging transformation process, as a result of which there is strategic direction, a sense of calm and fun, renewed enthusiasm and belief in the future. Maintaining an open door policy, Darren is approachable, ready to listen and welcomes new ideas. On top of this, Darren is a modest man with a great sense of humour. Simon Collyer, head of UK business development, FSC Darren s involvement in the FSC has brought dramatic, positive results this year. He has asked lots of questions, listened attentively to colleagues and acted decisively when necessary to facilitate a new era of collaborative working. There is a new energy about the place that comes from being supported, consulted and trusted to get on with the job. Nick Akerman, events manager, FSC scheme kicked off in February 2003 without a hitch, and it was then that I realised just how much could be done when people pull together as a team. Describe your best learning and development experience The Blue Sky Create the Climate event that we ran for our middle and senior management teams across five Capita businesses last December. I loved the energy that was shared 12 June 2017 @TrainingJournal
Playing to win Here are my top tips for success: People, people, people. At the heart of every brilliant business are brilliant people. I always ensure I have strong, capable people around me who share a learning mindset and who will deliver and work as a team. I also need people with the confidence to challenge me when necessary, so I can continue to learn and grow. Delegation. I was taught this by my boss 10 years ago when taking on more senior roles. You should focus on your core duties, rather than try to do everyone else s job for them. Honesty. This one should go with- across such diverse people that day, and the way we were able to tell positive stories and find common ground in preparation for the exciting new year ahead. It absolutely demonstrated to me that we are a group that walks the talk when it comes to building a climate where people thrive. Results become pretty much inevitable when you understand the right behaviours and mindsets, and share a commitment as leaders to make them show up every day. I learned a lot from those around me and I ve already seen the positive changes manifest in myself as well as my colleagues this year. What s next in your career? To grow Capita Learning s brilliant group of companies. I m very proud that Capita Learning is a new sort www.trainingjournal.com 10-13 TJ spotlight Bance SUBBED.indd 13 of L&D business. We re able to offer market-leading, end-to-end learning and development services because we unite unique brands under one common aim, to deliver outstanding performance results. We ve got Capita Apprenticeships, the UK s number one apprenticeship provider; Knowledgepool, Europe s biggest managed learning services provider; e-learning experts Brightwave and award-winning performance improvement experts Blue Sky. We are just adding the Fire Service College and G2G3 which is all about immersive learning and simulation. That s a seriously exciting portfolio to be working with. We have a very strong technological base which, unsurprisingly, I think is very important, and everyone shares a voracious appetite for learning. The world is changing so fast at the moment and throwing up new challenges every day. But I truly believe we re well set up to not just adapt to it but exploit it, and I think that capability is only going to increase as we grow. further information Follow CapitaLearning on Twitter @CapitaLearning and visit www.capitalearning.co.uk To nominate an L&D professional whom you feel deserves recognition in the pages of TJ, contact debbie.carter@trainingjournal.com out saying, but it s underrated. Honesty will help you build long and trusted relationships with colleagues and clients. It may feel tough in the short term, but in the long term it will always win out. Autonomy and accountability. It is essential to build a climate of permission in the workplace. For that you need to empower staff to make decisions for themselves, and trust them to exercise their judgment about what s right for their people and their customers in the moment. However, they need to be held accountable for those decisions, too. It s having the two together that creates amazing results. A bad decision is often better than no decision. I m sure you know what I mean here so don t take it to extremes! Mistakes are inevitable and can be great learning opportunities, but I can t stand indecisiveness in business it stifles growth. Don t do things for the sake of it. As a qualification to the two points above, it s important to step back and ask what you re really doing, why you are doing it and how can you do it better or differently. We are all people of habit and we should take time to review what and how we do things more often. Make sure the workplace is a happy one. When your climate is unhappy, you have major issues as a business. Happy people do brilliant work, it s as simple (and complex!) as that. June 2017 13 30/05/2017 15:18:37