Case Study:

The Challenge

A large public sector organisation employs nearly 1,000 staff across the UK, with a growing and diverse workforce and staff working across hybrid contracts

Despite this scale, the organisation’s Learning & Development (L&D) team consisted of just four people, two of whom are trainers, leaving limited capacity to deliver consistent, strategic development support.

As a result, several challenges had emerged:

• No coordinated management development strategy
  Training provision was piecemeal, reactive, and dependent on sporadic budgets rather than long-term planning.
• ‘First-time Managers’ across the organisation
  While team objectives were set during appraisals, managers lacked access to structured training to support their roles. Many had progressed into management positions without the skills, confidence, or development needed to succeed.
• Low staff engagement around development
  The annual staff survey highlighted that the ‘development’ metric was the lowest-scoring area, signalling a clear organisational risk around retention, motivation, and performance.

The organisation needed a scalable, sustainable approach to leadership development—one that could build internal capability without adding pressure to an already stretched L&D function.

The Solution

To address these challenges, the organisation commissioned North West Employers to design and deliver a collaborative, practical management development solution using Action Learning Sets (ALS).

Rather than relying solely on external training delivery, the organisation chose to build internal capability by inviting staff to volunteer as action learning facilitators.

• 13 facilitators trained, split across two cohorts
• Participants represented a broad mix of directorates, including:
  • Communications
  • Finance
  • Digital & IT

This cross-directorate approach encouraged organisational learning beyond traditional silos.

What Is Action Learning?

Action learning sets are structured peer groups where participants work together to address real workplace challenges through reflection, questioning, and shared learning.

Unlike traditional training, action learning focuses on:

• Real issues, not hypothetical scenarios
• Learning through doing
• Accountability for action and follow-through

How Action Learning Sets Work

1. Presentation of Challenges

   Each participant presents a real issue they are currently facing at work.

2. Reflective Questioning

   Other group members ask probing questions to help the individual think differently about their challenge. Advice-giving is avoided.

3. Action and Accountability

   Participants identify clear actions to take and reflect on outcomes at future sessions.

4. Safe, Facilitated Environment

   Sets operate with agreed ground rules, confidentiality, and (where needed) trained facilitation to maintain focus and psychological safety.

Action learning is widely used in leadership development and organisational change because it builds problem-solving, self-awareness, collaboration, and confidence, while delivering immediate practical benefits.

The Programme Design

NWE delivered a two-day programme for each cohort:

• Day One: Understanding Action Learning
  • Exploring common management challenges
  • Learning the principles and structure of action learning
  • Experiencing action learning sets as participants
• Day Two: Facilitating in Practice
  • Developing facilitation skills
  • Practising questioning and reflective techniques
  • Building confidence to run action learning sets independently

By the end of the programme, participants were equipped not just to take part in action learning—but to facilitate it for others.

The Impact

The outcomes were both immediate and long-term.

Individual Impact

Participant feedback showed that the programme:

• Met their development needs
• Strengthened their management and facilitation skills
• Increased confidence in supporting others
• Was highly recommended for anyone wishing to become an action learning facilitator

Organisational Impact

Since the programme, the organisation has:

• Created a community of practice, supported by an active Microsoft Teams workspace
• Paired facilitators into buddy partnerships, strengthening confidence and consistency
• Identified four strategic skills priorities for 2026/27:
  • Leadership & accountability
  • Collaboration & influence
  • Delivery & change execution (project management)
  • Digital & data fluency

• Launched a People Strategy, incorporating management development to overcome the challenges

These priorities are now  in the planning stages to implement through ongoing action learning groups, embedding development into day-to-day work.

Added Value and Return on Investment

Previously, the organisation had invested in formal methodologies such as PRINCE2. While valuable, this approach alone did not always lead to shared learning or practical application across teams.

By contrast, the action learning model has enabled staff to:

• Share learning and experience more effectively
• Collaborate across projects and disciplines
• Reduce duplication of effort
• Save time and training costs
• Use the skills learned such as effective listening and the use of coaching questions, in other scenarios

Additionally, areas where staff had previously been reluctant to attend the office is now steadily seeing engagement embedded. The face-to-face, collaborative nature of action learning encouraged people to come together to share experiences and learn in a practical, hands-on way.

The Result

The organisation now has an ambition for:

• A sustainable, internally-led development model
• Increased confidence and capability among managers
• A growing culture of collaboration and shared learning
• A practical solution to building leadership capacity at scale

By investing in people, not just programmes, the organisation has laid strong foundations for long-term development and performance.