Issues: Leadership Bench Strength, Innovation,
Leadership Capacity

Solution: Integrated leadership curriculum to address self, team, and organizational leadership capacity

Results: Improved leadership capacity, alignment and leadership skills at all levels in the organization

Skanska is one of the world’s leading construction and project development companies and enjoys one of the industry’s strongest balance sheets. Founded in 1887, the organization employs 60,000 individuals and serves approximately 4,000 customers via four business streams (Construction, Infrastructure Development, Commercial Development and Residential Development). About 73 percent of Skanska’s operating income comes from construction alone but the company is always looking for growth opportunities.

In addition to its reputation for industry excellence Skanska prides itself on it’s commitment to people development. A key focus for Skanska is keeping their employees connected in order to maximize innovation and information sharing. Additionally the company strives to build leaders to innovate and lead change, understand the business landscape, and network effectively throughout the organization. Lastly, Skanska wants to create leaders at all levels who are skilled at leading the organization forward toward performance.

In order to create alignment and integration while building leadership excellence for the future, Skanska sought the guidance of The Ken Blanchard Companies to create a solution, support its GreatBoss leadership development process, and improve information sharing and connectedness. Skanska believed that the best way to achieve its goals was to target leading construction groups and immerse them in a five-month learning process.

A combination of online pre-work and assessment case studies paved the way for two weeks of classroom development delivered over a two-month period. Skanska utilized a mix of program content from The Ken Blanchard Companies including LAP (Leadership) and TAP (Team) assessments, Situational Leadership II, Building High Performing Teams, and Leadership Point of View to develop the multifaceted leadership capacity they sought to achieve. Monthly, personalized coaching sessions allowed each leader participating in the training to maximize their development process. Thirty four participants from various business units and locations were brought together for the training process that mirrors a mini MBA experience. Individuals were assigned to teams for the duration of the process and given an assignment to solve based on a real business issue.

A key ingredient in Skanska’s success is the support of top management throughout the process. Skanska’s Chairman of U.S. Business Units and former Skanska AB President and CEO as well as key executives from Blanchard kick off each training session in order to ensure that participants understand the importance and relevance of the training as well as the business case. Skanska also feels that their partnership with Blanchard is vital to the success of the project. As John Benson, Corporate Director of Human Resources Leadership and Management Development for Skanska said, “Blanchard was key in designing and delivering a program that allowed us to sustain the support of top management. The people at Blanchard are stellar. They partnered with us at every phase in this process and were as passionate about our success as we were.”

Skanska is seeing improvements in leadership capacity and skills, and increased promotional opportunities. In addition, independent impact study results show that 83 percent of participants feel that they learned new skills that were not only relevant to their work but also producing results. Equally important, the organization is witnessing a significant change in culture and branding to “One Skanska,” an aligned and connected organization at all levels.