Leadership development in 
With managers spread across ten different countries and even more different offices, Volue wanted to establish a common standard for leadership in the company. The fact that all managers are now undergoing leadership development under the auspices of FRONT Leadership has created visible results, both for the individual manager and for the company as a whole.
Volue is a young company that was established in March 2020. With a combination of six different companies, Volue offers a range of products and services to the power and energy industry.
- We see ourselves as a corporate start-up. There is a lot of history and long experience in the company, combined with a start-up mentality that makes us curious about what we can achieve together. The goal of creating a shared culture doesn't happen overnight, and we've been aware from the start that we need to involve our managers in this work. A natural step along the way was therefore to offer a leadership development program that addresses different themes that will equip our leaders for the future," says Anniken Fischer, Head of Learning and Culture at Volue.
Photo: Glenn Pettersen
The digital leadership development course that FRONT Leadership has tailored for Volue consists of eight modules and runs over a period of ten months. Participants are given specific and practical leadership challenges after each module, which they practice at home until the next module. This is where the most important learning takes place. They are also divided into training partner groups of three people across the organization and with varying degrees of experience for sparring and sharing experience between modules. The managers have a close dialogue with their own manager and are also encouraged to involve their own employees throughout the program to get even better benefits.
- One of the most important aspects of the program is to set aside time to talk about leadership, share experiences and build relationships across the organization. The aim is to build a solid foundation and a common language for leadership in Volue. We use the leadership program as a gathering place where managers from different business areas and locations can spar and get inspiration from each other," Fischer continues.
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Leadership principles as a guideline for leadership development
In order to have a common foundation and understanding of what it means to be a leader at Volue, the company has recently defined leadership principles that will be an important part of future leadership development.
- In our efforts to build a shared culture and values, we saw the need to develop defined leadership principles. The leadership principles are closely linked to our values and are in fact an extension of Volue's value-based culture. One of the leadership principles is "We build strong teams working TOGETHER". As a leader, it is important to have concrete examples of the type of behavior that supports this leadership principle. For example, the value TOGETHER and the subsequent leadership principle are fulfilled when you as a leader see your team in the big picture and encourage your employees to learn from and share within and outside Volue. Another guideline is that you as a leader should strengthen your team and facilitate growth. The leadership development program we are already running in collaboration with FRONT Leadership gives us the opportunity to give our leaders a common foundation and to practice what the leadership principles mean for Volue and for the individual leader," says Fischer.
The feedback from participants has been good. At the same time, Volue is seeing concrete results in the form of employees experiencing better follow-up and support from their immediate manager. This is shown in the latest employee engagement survey and was one of Volue's focus areas.
- It's great to see a clear improvement in the goals we have set ourselves! We're also seeing a change in the expectations associated with the management role. Previously, the gold standard has been the operational manager who has become a manager based on professional expertise. The nature of the company has changed a lot since it was established, and the leadership role has changed accordingly. The leadership development program has contributed to a greater understanding of this change and what it will take to be a leader at Volue in the future," concludes Fischer.
