HR Case Studies


General HR

The Client

North East Autism Society are a charity based in Sunderland who offer independent residential and day specialist provision for adults, young people, adults and children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Aspergers Syndrome. They employ some 400 staff working in schools, colleges and their residential accommodation. They approached us as advisors to their management training scheme.

The Problem

The Society had some 30 managers who had been promoted internally. They had significant knowledge and skills relating to their service users, however they lacked knowledge of management tools and techniques as well as the confidence in dealing with people issues. Senior management had to deal with many everyday people issues that arose.

The Society recognised that many managers were lacking the basic managerial skills that were needed to achieve the Society's objectives and that standards had to be improved.

Our HR Solution

The first step was to agree what was required of a manager by the Society. Previously managers had worked as team leaders rather than managers, with the core 'management' decisions falling to senior managers.

Working with the senior executives we identified the competencies required for the management roles. We devised and delivered a management development programme that met the competency needs by providing both training, and a coaching and mentoring process for each individual manager.

Assessment was an integral part of the design and there were some managers who could not meet the performance standards. We helped individuals reconcile their performance against the required competencies and we helped the Society's senior team look for opportunities for redeployment.

The Results

Managers have now taken responsibility for many people management tasks, including absence management, recruitment and performance management.

Better hands on management is reducing absenteeism. It is improving individual employee performance and thus it is reducing costs. This has a direct impact on the quality of service that the Society is able to offer to the people in its care. The senior team is now able to concentrate on strategic issues and the growth plans of the Society.


Training Company Council

The Client

North East Autism Society are a charity based in Sunderland who offer independent residential and day specialist provision for adults, young people, adults and children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Aspergers Syndrome. They employ some 400 staff working in schools, colleges and their residential accommodation. They approached us as advisors to their management training scheme.

The Problem

The Society had some 30 managers who had been promoted internally. They had significant knowledge and skills relating to their service users, however they lacked knowledge of management tools and techniques as well as the confidence in dealing with people issues. Senior management had to deal with many everyday people issues that arose.

The Society recognised that many managers were lacking the basic managerial skills that were needed to achieve the Society's objectives and that standards had to be improved.

Our HR Solution

The first step was to agree what was required of a manager by the Society. Previously managers had worked as team leaders rather than managers, with the core 'management' decisions falling to senior managers.

Working with the senior executives we identified the competencies required for the management roles. We devised and delivered a management development programme that met the competency needs by providing both training, and a coaching and mentoring process for each individual manager.

Assessment was an integral part of the design and there were some managers who could not meet the performance standards. We helped individuals reconcile their performance against the required competencies and we helped the Society's senior team look for opportunities for redeployment.

The Results

Managers have now taken responsibility for many people management tasks, including absence management, recruitment and performance management.

Better hands on management is reducing absenteeism. It is improving individual employee performance and thus it is reducing costs. This has a direct impact on the quality of service that the Society is able to offer to the people in its care. The senior team is now able to concentrate on strategic issues and the growth plans of the Society.


Assessment Centre - Psychometrics

The Client

Our client specialises in fleet management for a wide range of logistics and corporate organisations throughout the UK. Vehicles can include a mixture of staff cars through to multi axle delivery vehicles.

They both purchase and hire vehicles on behalf of clients, and they operate a sophisticated vehicle maintenance system to ensure that their clients' operating costs are minimised and that vehicles are always available.

The core of the business is a call centre where clients and their drivers can obtain immediate solutions to breakdowns and fleet maintenance issues.

The Problem

The company had enjoyed significant growth and needed to increase the management team to help it both consolidate and cope with further expansion.

They decided that it was important to recruit externally to bring additional experience into the management team. This was an Operations Manager role and a crucial member of the senior team. The role required a candidate with proven technical skills, preferably from a motor vehicle background, knowledge of call centre operations and a significant awareness of customer relations.

Through one of our partner organisations, five candidates were shortlisted and the company decided that the importance of the decision needed an assessment centre designed specifically for their needs.

Our HR Solution

Working the client we designed and operated a one day assessment centre that provided a balance of well validated psychometrics, ability tests, job and team exercises.

Senior managers of the company and the HR manager were the assessors and they were trained and coached by one of our senior consultants to maximize objective decision making.

The Results

The MD confidently made an informed appointment and the Operations Manager is now confirmed as a member of the management team.


myHRpeople © 2013