A Game-Changer: Securitas Elevates Leadership to Achieve Its Most Ambitious Business Goals Yet

Solution

In partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)®, Securitas created Accelerate, a 6-month leadership development journey divided into 3 cohorts of 24 area vice presidents (AVPs). During months of meticulous planning, every element of the customized, highly immersive initiative was designed to equip participants with the self-awareness and skills required to be high-performing leaders.

The first cohort began by taking a battery of leadership assessments, including a 360-degree Securitas tool that systematically collects perspectives about an individual’s performance from peers, direct reports, and superiors — and provides a complete view of a leader’s strengths and opportunities for growth. The exercise proved eye-opening for the AVPs.

With this vital feedback in hand, the AVPs embarked on a 2-day experience during which they met face-to-face with the company’s executive leadership team to discuss the most pressing challenges and opportunities for Securitas. They began to make connections between the company’s larger strategy and their own leadership development, setting the tone, foundation, and expectations for their individual and collective growth as leaders. Participants then explored leadership as a social process and engaged in activities that demonstrate how trust and psychological safety are key to effective collaboration. Challenged to take a hard look at their own leadership practices, the AVPs prepared to deepen their learning through the live online modules, peer team sessions, and coaching that followed during the next few months. Each AVP was teamed with an executive coach throughout the initiative.

Just as their journey began, it culminated with a second 2-day retreat focused on developing and retaining talent through effective communication. Through hands-on practice and working in small groups, the AVPs began to develop a communication style of their own — learning how to coach, give feedback, and ignite better conversations with team members. Finally, they explored how they can drive and sustain impact as Securitas leaders when equipped with such tools as our Direction – Alignment – Commitment (DAC)™ Model for Leadership and 4 core skills for coaching conversations.

After the second gathering, the AVPs met with their executive coaches to create action plans with next steps.

What initially started as a leadership program for a select group of mid-level managers quickly expanded to become an integral development program across all leadership ranks.

“We quickly realized, if we’re really going to bring about the cultural transformation that would go hand-in-hand with the digital transformation, that we had to go really big with this program and make it mandatory for the majority of our field-facing leadership teams. CCL helped us with that,” Elliott said.

Finding the right partner to build just the right program for Securitas proved to be a critical decision, making for a smooth and meaningful experience for those involved.

“CCL’s programs are steeped in research and have very strong facilitators who truly know how to engage business leaders in pragmatic ways and share easy-to-use, practical tools that the leaders can start using right away,” Elliott noted.

“We have very high expectations of our partners — and working with CCL’s implementation team exceeded those expectations.”

“Rarely do we find partners who are willing to walk the talk as powerfully as Securitas and its senior leadership,” said Ren Washington, Lead Solutions Partner for Securitas. “One of the most inspiring things the senior leadership attitude helped create was how ready the AVPs were to be trusted and how excited they were to demonstrate they were worth the investment.”

Results

It’s too soon to measure the precise impact of Accelerate — only one of 3 cohorts has completed the entirety of its work. Securitas plans to collect data on each cohort 6 months out using the Kirkpatrick Model, which analyzes and evaluates training programs based on reaction, learning, behavior, and results.

Success will be measured by concrete actions and behaviors related to collaborating across boundaries, leading high-performing teams, developing and retaining talent, and leading with an innovation mindset.

That said, informal feedback thus far shows the initiative has created a palpable — and unprecedented — level of excitement about learning among managers at Securitas. While the first cohort of AVPs came into Accelerate a bit skeptical of what they would learn, that quickly changed when they experienced what the program had to offer in the very first immersion.

“They were coming in not really knowing what to expect and they left extremely inspired,” Elliott said. “That’s one word that we’re hearing over and over again from our leaders after the first in-person immersion is that they’re inspired — they feel valued, they feel listened to, they feel vulnerable, and they feel like they have a lot to learn.

“Their passion and enthusiasm showed so much that the second cohort came in really excited. That was a beautiful shift, especially with leaders who have been with the business for 20-plus years.”

And the shifting did not stop there: Accelerate has ignited an awakening about leadership development among the company’s highest ranks.

“While our senior executives know that we need to build the capabilities of our leaders to meet our business priorities, they are also holding a mirror to themselves,” Elliott said.

“They are thinking about leadership development holistically and they are asking themselves what they might need to change to be able to lead more effectively and move the company forward.”