Full Potential Group (FPG) Signs Agreement with Portman Building Society

Partnership Comes as Survey Shows That Building Society Bosses Identify The Need To ëHave the Best Staff Possibleí as a Key Challenge in 2005.

Marlow, UK, 21 June 2005. Full Potential Group (FPG), one of Europeís longest-established and leading executive coaching and people development specialists, today announced an agreement with Portman Building Society, the UKís third largest building society, to provide customised coaching programmes across the organisation.

Managers at all levels of the Society will undergo the six month programme with the aim of further developing the high performance coaching culture and upskilling managers with coaching skills as part of a new performance and development review process. The announcement coincides with a recent survey (May 2005) by the Building Societies Association which found that building society chief executives view having the best staff possible as a key challenge during 2005.

Full Potential Group will be rolling out two tailored coaching programmes at Portman. Coaching Champions works with senior managers to further enhance their existing management styles and help them become role models as coaching leaders throughout the Society. Coaching for Performance will be aimed at managers with more than five direct reports and will provide them with the necessary coaching skills to further develop their staff and broaden the performance review and appraisal process.

Portman Building Society is the third largest UK building society with assets of over 15.5 billion, over 2,000 staff and 1.8 million members. Full Potential Groupís clients include some of the UKís best known companies including Carphone Warehouse, ICI and Tesco. FPG helped Tesco non-food senior manages to establish a highly successful, high performance coaching culture with Tesco non-food now being the fastest-growing sector of the business with year-on-year growth of 39%.

Ann Elliot, Director of Human Resources for Portman Building Society welcomed the partnership:

As a market leader, we are always looking to grow further with the professional and personal development of our people, who are central to our future success. Through our partnership with Full Potential Group, we intend to provide our people with a greater sense of empowerment, unlock any untapped potential and build on the high-performance culture that already exists at Portman. We are looking forward to working with FPG to further develop our coaching culture in the same way they have done so successfully with other leading UK companies. By broadening our personal development processes, instilling a proactive, innovative and empowering culture and ensuring that we remain ahead of the game, Portman Building Society is meeting its challenges head on.

Her words were backed up by FPGís Founder and Managing Director, Carole Gaskell:

Coaching can have a dramatic impact on an organisationís culture, people and bottom-line and we salute Portman Building Society in bringing this pioneering approach to their organisation ñ and this at a time when their business is doing extremely well. When successfully woven within the fabric of an organisation, the benefits of coaching are there for all to see, leading to accelerated talent development, improved staff retention and a proactive, high performance culture offering real competitive advantage. We look forward to working with Portman and making these goals a reality.

According to a recent survey of building society chief executives carried out by the Building Societies Association, there is a high degree of optimism with 80% saying that they are optimistic about the prospects for their society.

Challenges that were identified included the need to retain market share, deliver excellent service to members and to have the best staff possible. One major building society boss said that encouraging everyone in the society to make a major contribution to its future would be vital.

The FPG Coaching Champions programme is designed to help Portman managers play a key role in developing future talent within the organisation at all levels, to create and sustain a high-performance culture and to be role models, inspiring others to develop themselves.

Programme content, which has been customised specifically for Portman, will consist of all participants completing 360 On-Line Coaching Assessments; an initial two-day workshop consisting of practical assignments, real plays, reflective thinking, self-development exercises and self and group evaluations, followed by two separate one-day Advanced Skills workshops.

The FPG Coaching for Performance Programme, targeted at senior managers with five or more direct reports, will provide managers with specific coaching skills to utilise in the performance review processes. It will provide managers with a better understanding of the core principles on which coaching is based; enable them to be competent coaching managers using coaching tools and techniques in their daily interactions with others; and provide them with the confidence to work with their direct reports and general staff to explore their potential, discuss performance issues, provide honest feedback and enhance their development. Programme content will consist of 360 assessments and two one-day workshops.