Phoenix recommends MBTI® development
OPP Consultancy recently worked with closed life assurance fund The Phoenix Group on a series of hard-hitting, MBTI-based development sessions
The goal was to help the Group bolster its skills in such areas as leadership, personal effectiveness, communication and team building.
Phoenix’s Learning and Development Business Partner Tamar Hughes was keen to work with OPP on the development sessions.
“I knew OPP were the MBTI specialists, but they also had a great reputation for designing the kind of bite-sized, high-impact development sessions we were after”, she says. “We needed a consultant who could design a series of workshops tailored to our needs, and who could then pass on their knowledge and expertise to our internal L&D team so that we could run the sessions ourselves.”
Reflecting on the great success of the intervention, Tamar continues:
“The team event has brought about a greater awareness of individual styles. I am now much more conscious of what makes my peers and colleagues tick, and have a better understanding of why they don’t think the same way as me about an issue. I consider how I put a point across to them more too, in order to explain myself a little more and give people the chance to understand my point of view better. As a result I feel like I am more in control of managing people’s expectations.
“Equally, the team are remembering to acknowledge that people work differently. They particularly liked the conflict training and are using it in practice – for example, avoiding wasting time on fruitless battles.
“I now see colleagues being more direct with each other and their manager, in a very healthy way. All in all, I think we’ve loosened up a bit as a team and relaxed with each other a little more.”
There’s a desire to embed the MBTI framework at all levels of Phoenix, in all departments. Over time, the team aims to add to the layers of understanding with further MBTI applications. Tamar concludes:
“It’s been a wholly positive experience. We learnt so much, and now we’re passing on the benefits to the organisation. I would highly recommend it."
Read the full Phoenix Group case study here.
The Phoenix Group is a closed life assurance fund specialising in the management and acquisition of life insurance and pensions. With over five million policy holders and assets of 68.6 billion pounds, the Group is the largest UK consolidator of closed life assurance funds. Phoenix was also recognised as one of Britain’s Top Employers in 2014 – for the third time in a row.