Customer delight

Case study

National Trust online 360-degree feedback tool

The National Trust conserves heritage for the people, managing 350 historic building and open air properties. ETS has helped to design a 360-degree feedback programme that will help the Trust’s managers lead the organisation forward. A new management structure, created as part of the organisation’s strategy, demands stronger management skills. The tool will help identify the right development solutions for the Trust’s managers.

Management change is part of the Trust’s ‘Investing in Our People’ strategy. Those responsible for the top 60 properties are now considered senior managers with far greater leadership responsibilities. In addition, a smaller number of Assistant Directors of Operations now look after groups of properties, focusing on providing leadership, direction and managing people to achieve high-level results.

Shona Dagless, Training Programmes Manager at the National Trust, is leading the programme and explains why the Trust is using an online 360-degree feedback tool:

The behavioural competency framework was the start of a process to embed the behaviours we needed in the new management structure. The idea of a 360 tool was mooted as a way to measure if the competency framework was embedding successfully. I worked with ETS to turn our complex, level-based framework into four different questionnaire versions - one for each management level - that could be quickly and easily completed online.

Management capability is key for the organisation as approximately half of its 5,000 permanent employees are managers, ranging from first-line supervisors and middle managers through to senior managers and directors. These managers are supported by 52,000 people working on a voluntary basis (including some volunteer managers). The tool is aimed at four levels of management.

When explaining ETS’s role, Shona talks about the advice ETS is providing for a training session for facilitators that will help create in-house capacity to provide one-to-one follow up to all those using the online 360-degree feedback tool. Talking more broadly about ETS's role, Shona says:

ETS acts as a conduit for a first class solution that will meet the Trust’s bespoke needs, such as building the tool around our competencies rather than a generic management option. I would say that ETS is flexible and friendly with that personal touch. I’m quite visual and I can describe something that I want to achieve and the quality of my relationship with ETS means that they will make it happen.

Shona describes the expected outcomes from using the online 360-degree feedback tool:

I expect the 360 programme will show that we have good management skills and need to concentrate more on leadership, which is key to moving us forward. We’ve already got clear strengths which we can then use for peer mentoring. The summary reports gives mangers a great first view of the feedback. I’m looking forward to using the group reporting tool so I can see how to drive the leadership and management development strategy in the future according to information on development needs.