Case study 02
IGNITE: a nine-month leadership programme for Black leaders at Serco
IGNITE was a nine-month leadership development programme MindsetShift designed for Black leaders at Serco. It addressed one organisational constraint: strong performance was not consistently turning into visibility or progression. The design combined five plenaries, six Action Learning Groups, strategic mentoring arranged through Serco and an in-person capstone. End-of-programme reporting recorded a Net Promoter Score of 87.5. These are participant-reported programme measures, not organisation-wide outcomes.
- Client
- Serco
- Programme
- IGNITE, leadership development for Black leaders
- Duration
- Nine months
- Format
- 5 plenaries, 6 Action Learning Groups, strategic mentoring, in-person capstone
- Evidence
- End-of-programme report
The constraint: performance that was not becoming progression
What shapes the choices of a high performer whose performance is not turning into progression?
Participants were already capable, high-performing professionals. Their performance was not consistently translating into visibility, progression or access to senior leadership, and another layer of generic leadership competencies would not change that.
Baseline at the time of the brief: the client's business case reported one Black Band 1 leader out of 192 (0.52%). This describes the position when the work was commissioned, not a current figure.
The mechanism: how the design moved into day-to-day leadership
- 1
Make progression discussable
Plenaries named visibility, power and progression as legitimate leadership topics, not private frustrations.
- 2
Connect to mentors and managers
Strategic mentoring arranged through Serco linked participants to people who shape access.
- 3
Repeat it in real work
Six Action Learning Groups turned each insight into a workplace experiment, then reviewed what happened.
- 4
Use the organisation's language
The work mapped to Serco's leadership behaviours: belonging, growth, collaboration, safety, results and learning.
This is the designed route for transfer. It is not evidence of lasting culture change.
Results and evidence
What participants reported doing
- Participants submitted individual development plans
- Some secured new internal roles
- Improved management effectiveness was described
- Client relationships became more visible
- Cross-functional networks were built
- Participants sought feedback more actively
Examples recorded in end-of-programme reporting. No counts were recorded, and none were verified independently or over time.
What the evidence shows
- 87.5Net Promoter ScoreParticipants, end of programme
- 90%Confident applying their learningParticipants, end of programme
- 85%Said the programme impacted their leadershipParticipants, end of programme
Participant-reported programme measures. They show how participants rated the experience, not organisation-wide outcomes.
What would prove lasting change
- Promotion and internal move rates for participants at 12 and 18 months, set against the baseline at the time of the brief
- Representation at senior bands over time
- Manager and mentor observation of the behaviours in practice
- Career-support feedback compared with a matched group
Not yet measured. These are the measures we would agree with a client from the outset.
This is relevant if
- Capable people are performing but not progressing, and generic leadership content has not changed that.
- Progression and visibility need to become discussable between participants, managers and sponsors.
- You want inclusive leadership development tied to your own leadership behaviours and real work.
- You need an honest measurement plan from the start, not only a satisfaction score at the end.