About
West LB is a European commercial bank based in Düsseldorf in Germany. Impact, in partnership with West LB, designed a three-day ‘Focusing on the Future’ input, to engage and stretch the graduates whilst encouraging them to drive their own learning.
West LB put their graduates through an intensive eight-week development programme. Impact was approached to deliver part of this programme, positioned in the first week of their employment with the bank. The Impact module was to act as the springboard for the graduates’ ongoing personal and professional development.
For this module, Impact designed a three day ‘Focusing on the Future’ input, to engage and stretch the graduates whilst encouraging them to drive their own learning.
The main aims were to help the graduates to:
- Recognise the importance of self- leadership and develop the potential for leading others
- Understand different personality types and explore how these link to effective leadership and team working
- Explore how their actions and behaviours impact on their working relationships
- Develop and strengthen networks with their peer group
The programme included a series of projects designed to provide the graduates with opportunities to explore aspects of leadership, team working and individual feedback sessions.
Participants benefitted from a Myers Briggs Type Indicator as well as an exploration of Emotional Intelligence and its links to personal and professional effectiveness.
The programme culminated in the graduates designing and delivering a half-day session in an inner city secondary school for a group of 40 students. This formed part of the school’s Enterprise Skills initiative, and focused on topics such as Interview Skills, Career Advice and Effective Communication. This challenging Community Action Project required the graduates to put to use all of their learning about themselves, leadership and team working in order to achieve a successful result in a real and consequential situation.
"The graduates have been very enthusiastic about their experience: the content, the learning and the professionalism of the facilitators. The Impact programme encouraged participation and ongoing honest feedback, and this has resulted in a self-aware group of young professionals, with personal strategies to use going forward when managing themselves and their relationships within the Bank."
Tabitha Beaven, Learning, Development and Graduate Recruitment Manager