Kestrel Coal’s AHRI award-winning leadership development program prepares its leaders for the future by breaking down silos and innovating the training process.

Work is no longer about just turning up and getting paid, says Jess Roberson MAHRI, General Manager, Organisational Development and People Performance at Kestrel Coal Resources, a Queensland-based coal mining company with 700 employees.  

“People want a sense of purpose. They want to buy into the ‘why’ and what the company’s trying to do,” says Roberson.

Traditional leadership styles that depend solely on knowledge, technical prowess and instructing employees to perform specified tasks are becoming less effective. Instead, employees want to work with their leaders – to collaborate on initiatives, so they feel their ideas, questions and contributions are highly valued.  

Consequently, the leaders of the future will be those who can inspire employees with the ‘why’ – by demonstrating the company’s values, ensuring their teams work with purpose and influencing rather than merely managing.

To equip Kestrel’s leaders with the skills they needed, Roberson and her team developed UNLEASHED, a leadership program which won AHRI’s Best Leadership Development Strategy award last year. 

A three-pillar program to nurture leadership capabilities

UNLEASHED is based on three pillars: safety leadership, people skills and business skills. 

“Safety leadership is around giving [leaders] a deep understanding of the day-to-day challenges our people face, giving them the mindset and skills to role-model safety, and supporting them to build trust in their teams,” says Roberson. 

The people skills pillar focuses on expanding awareness of purpose, improving communication and building better relationships, and the business skills pillar covers planning and prioritising while empowering others, and collaborating to drive continuous business improvement. 

The three pillars form the basis of nine leadership modules, which, in the first roll-out, ran over 12 months. Eight were face-to-face and one was run online. 

Rather than being delivered in a traditional manner, they comprised a series of experimental initiatives. For example, under the people skills pillar, all participants completed a DISC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness) profile, which assessed their workplace personality, then ‘speed-dated’ employees with contrasting profiles. 

“We had feedback from leaders who later used this tool in their teams,” says Roberson. 

“They’d been struggling to work with a particular individual, but, once they understood themselves and the other person better – their drivers and motivators – they could tailor their approach and get a totally different outcome.”

Another example was a Shark Tank-style pitch session, run under the business skills pillar.  

“Each group had to come up with an initiative to improve the business, and convince the audience it was a great idea. It wasn’t about the validity of the idea, it was about allowing people the space to pitch their idea, using the influence, engagement and communication skills learnt through the modules.” 

“We had some excellent ideas, like ‘Thank God it’s Thursday’, pitching the benefits of a four-day week, and a new design for our underground conveyor system.”

“We don’t see leadership as your job title – it’s far bigger than that.” – Jess Roberson MAHRI, General Manager, Organisational Development and People Performance, Kestrel Coal

Leadership development is more than a title 

In inviting participants to join UNLEASHED, Roberson and her team adopted a broad definition of leadership. 

Rather than limiting participation to official people leaders, Roberson and her team invited 220 of Kestrel’s most influential employees to participate.

“We don’t see leadership as your job title – it’s far bigger than that,” she says. “There are people in our organisation, such as HR or finance business partners, who don’t have a team under them, but influence others at all different levels in the business.”

In addition, they saw an opportunity to break down silos. 

“We purposely arranged groups so you’d be with around 15 people you may never have worked with or even met. You might have an executive in the room with an operational supervisor and a superintendent. It was really, really mixed.

“This approach allowed our people to gain an appreciation of the work of other teams they’re not ordinarily exposed to. Some participants said it opened up new relationships and improved communication between our wash plant and underground operations.”

Furthermore, the HR team, in presenting the program, collaborated with others. 

For example, members of the executive helped deliver a module on leadership beliefs, while a hand-picked group of five participants co-facilitated a module on apathy, sympathy and empathy in their own language. 

Impressive results 

At the end of each module, each participant completed a leadership diagnostic, which enabled the HR team to track progress. 

By its conclusion, UNLEASHED delivered impressive results. Participants reported a:

• 33 per cent uplift in developing and executing innovative business improvements with their team.
• 22 per cent increase in committing to a plan to improve their team’s engagement and performance.
• 24 per cent increase in taking time to coach and mentor others. 
• 29 per cent uplift in participants’ understanding of the things that make their leadership style unique.
• 25 per cent uplift in participants’ understanding of their purpose beyond their job.
• 21 per cent increase in participants’ knowledge of their future goals and how to achieve them.

UNLEASHED is now an ongoing two-day program that Kestrel runs for new starters and new leaders.   

“Overall, the program has lifted the capability of all of our people,” says Roberson. 

“It has provided a unified purpose and common language that all levels in our business are aligned to.” 

A version of this article was originally published in the June edition of HRM Magazine.

Know someone who has made award-worthy contributions to their organisation or the HR profession? Applications are now open for the 2024 AHRI Awards. Read more and apply here.