Case Studies

Royal Marines Plymouth Band

April 15, 2025

Pushing Limits and Building Bonds: Royal Marines Plymouth Band Adventure Training in the Bannau Brycheiniog

When the Royal Marines Plymouth Band joined us for their latest Adventure Training, we knew we were working with a team that understands discipline, precision, and camaraderie. Our goal? To challenge them in a new environment, foster deeper team bonds, and offer some much-needed adventure in the wilds of the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park.

We designed a bespoke two-day residential programme, delivered over two half days and a full day, combining physical adventure with purposeful team development.

Day 1 – Breathing Deep in the Bannau

After a long drive from Plymouth, the team arrived at our base in South Wales on Wednesday afternoon. Rather than settling into rooms straight away, we laced up our boots and headed for the hills. The mountain walk was the perfect opener – a chance to shake off the journey, breathe in the fresh upland air, and reconnect with each other in a relaxed, informal setting.

With panoramic views stretching across the Swansea Valley and deeper into the National Park, the walk set the tone for the days ahead – full immersion in nature, shared experiences, and time away from the usual routine.

Day 2 – Behind Enemy Lines: Testing Teamwork and Leadership

Thursday was the heart of the programme – a full day of development designed to test and grow the group’s communication, decision-making, and leadership skills.

The challenge? Behind Enemy Lines – our immersive, scenario-based team development activity that blends physical exertion with strategic thinking. Set in the rugged terrain of the Bannau Brycheiniog, the exercise simulates a high-stakes mission where teams must navigate the landscape, gather intelligence, and complete tasks while staying ‘off radar’.

Each stage required effective delegation, trust, and adaptability. While the Royal Marines Band are no strangers to working as a unit, this was a chance to step away from their usual roles and test their mettle in unfamiliar terrain. It was brilliant to see them support each other, reassess plans on the fly, and develop a deeper appreciation of the different leadership styles within the group.

The debrief highlighted not just how they performed, but how they communicated, listened, and adapted – all crucial elements of effective teamwork in any context.

Day 3 – Canyoning: Immersion in Every Sense

On Friday, it was time to let loose – and there’s no better way to do that than canyoning.

If you’ve never tried it, canyoning is possibly the most exhilarating way to experience the wild beauty of the National Park. Clambering over rocks, leaping into plunge pools, sliding down waterfalls, and navigating river gorges – it’s the perfect blend of adrenaline and awe.

It was a brilliant way to close the programme: light-hearted, high-energy, and packed with laughter. It also served as a reminder that stepping out of comfort zones doesn’t always have to be serious – sometimes it’s just about having fun, together.

A Shared Experience to Remember

It was a pleasure to work with the Royal Marines Plymouth Band and to see them fully engage with each aspect of the programme – from reflective team development to pure adventure. Whether strengthening communication skills or simply standing at the top of a waterfall with grins on their faces, they embraced every challenge with good humour and determination.

These shared experiences in nature – away from routine and rehearsal rooms – play a powerful role in strengthening bonds, boosting morale, and reigniting purpose.

Looking for a bespoke adventure training programme for your team?
Get in touch to find out how we can tailor a development experience to meet your team’s goals in the heart of the Bannau Brycheiniog.

South Wales Police Future Leaders

May 11, 2022

Key Data

Focus – Leadership Development

Objectives – Developing Future Leaders

Delegate Number – Up to 6

Venue – Our Training Centre, Brecon Beacons

Brief

South Wales Police are currently working with us, here at Call of the Wild, on a series of innovative, online and in-person training courses, as it invests in its senior staff and future leaders.

The police force has already put several its most promising future leaders through an extensive training programme with us, with a final follow-up day scheduled, in which they will review how they are putting the training into practice.

Solution

The courses have been aimed at improving the participants’ leadership, teambuilding, and people management skills, as well as addressing strategies to improve their mental resilience in challenging situations. The extensive course contained seven modules, the first six of which took place online using our innovative video content. The other sessions have all taken place in-person at our Brecon Beacons headquarters.

Our offering has always been rooted in the incredible surroundings of the Brecon Beacons, but we were quick to pivot when lockdown measures were introduced in March 2020. We swiftly adapted to an online environment and worked hard to develop new and unique ways of delivering our courses, ensuring that they continued to be an immersive and challenging experience – even when completed virtually.

We continued to utilise the incredible landscape and geography around our headquarters by bringing the ruggedness to the screen – filming various scenarios and allowing participants to decide on different outcomes.

One of these virtual training sessions, called ‘Behind Enemy Lines’, uses footage of real geographical features – including rivers, rapids, caves and cliffs – and the physical challenges they present, to offer participants fully immersive scenario-based exercises that replicate the experience of actually being in the Brecon Beacons. Through this virtual world, participants need to work as a team to journey across the wild landscape, while simultaneously completing tasks and challenges to obtain clues. In one scenario, coordinates will lead the team to a downed plane in the area, where they must find the pilot and extract him from the mountains as quickly as possible.

This innovative training programme allowed South Wales Police to invest in its staff without spending excess time travelling to and from a training venue. It also enabled them to limit external contact during the height of the pandemic.

Feedback

Debbie Williams, Assistant Director of Learning and Development Service at South Wales Police, said:

“The pandemic presented us with a number of challenges, which included a need to adapt our training and develop strategy to ensure we could continue to invest in organisational leadership, while also keeping colleagues safe.

“Thankfully we’ve been able to achieve that, by introducing a solution which is creative and still close to the real-life, high-pressured scenarios our police leaders are likely to encounter during their careers.

“The individuals chosen to attend the courses have all been identified as future leaders within our force, and the skills and strategies they develop will undoubtedly help to ensure that South Wales Police can keep our communities safe well into the future”

Francesca Burrows, our Training Manager, said:

“The courses we provide are tailored to the specific needs of the clients we help. In the case of South Wales Police, we have focussed on building leadership skills and resilience. Due to the Covid pandemic, we have adapted many of the courses we would usually do in-situ into a virtual form, which has been welcomed by clients across the world, and is something we will continue.

“As restrictions open up, we are resuming our Brecon-based outdoor training, but the virtual option will always be there if people are unable to travel to us.”

Amazon Team Building Event

May 11, 2022

Key Data

Client – Amazon
Focus – To unite all those across the UK that are Women Engineers within Amazon.
Objectives – To build relationships and empower women of engineering.
Delegate Number – 28

Background

Objectives

The long term objective was to look for a repeatable delivery programmes to integrate into their annual Unite Women in Engineering Retreat.

Through our experiential learning and the ingredients provided by the great outdoors, the objective of the 3 days was to help these women develop and build their relationships, unite and empower the women with a view to strengthening bonds.

The importance of this objective was heightened due to the group working in traditionally male dominated roles male dominated roles and are dispersed across different sites in the UK.

Desired outcomes from this team building event were to have fun, lower barriers and create a space where they can bond.

Itinerary

The venue was our centre based in the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park. This provided the wild, isolated location required by the group. It helps that it is also a stunning location. We designed a 3 day residential event involving team development tasks and challenges. This culminated in the group taking part in a gorge walking activity.

Staff

Colin Brown – Lead outdoor Instructor
Francesca Burrows – Training Manager and former British Army Combat Medic
Dr. Phil Knowles – Head of Corporate Development

Testimonial

“Call of the Wild provided the whole experience and from the start I built up an amazing relationship with the organiser Fran. We had thorough meetings discussed our aims and goals and I am so proud of my team for what they achieved. It’s been an experience I don’t think I’ll ever be able to put into words and we are excited for the next one.”
B. Braithwaite – Amazon Organiser.

Aston Villa Football Club

March 19, 2021

Key Data

Focus: Development of relationships and team building Aston Villa First team squad
Objectives: to identify and develop key team development behaviours and to transfer these to the pitch
Delegate Number: 35
Venue: Our Development Centre Brecon Beacons

The Client

The squad from Premier League Football Club Aston Villa

The Objective/Brief

The management team asked for a challenging programme to build team relationships

The Solution

The Programme

A two day programme with an overnight stay

Overview

The group were split into teams sent to rescue a downed reconnaissance pilot (RP) and recover the camera and film from the plane.

The search for RP took place during the afternoon and early evening set in the demanding and beautiful natural environment of the Brecon Beacons and was combined with a series of challenges to test the team’s:

• Communication skills
• Problem solving
• Leadership
• Team work
• Individual behaviours
• Navigation skills

The exercise concluded when, having successfully completed the challenges, having followed the clues, the teams tracked down the RP’s hiding place to secure their extraction.

Overnight Camping

The event continued with an overnight camp. Giving the opportunity to the team to experience the beauty of night time in the hills and to take part in the challenges which flow naturally from setting up camp – pitching tents, building a fire and cooking their own evening meal – all superb tests of people’s behaviour and attitude at the end of a demanding day.

Staffing

Range of experienced staff including our Head of Programme Delivery Dr.Phil Knowles and former Royal Marines.

Outcome and Impact

Top placed English Manager in the Premier League and team on course for highest league finish in top flight since 2010 when then under the management of Martin O’Neil.

Review

‘I was just one of the boys that day rather than the actual leader.’

‘A lot you could see thinking ‘What are we doing? but as it went you could see they were thinking ‘This is all right. Actually, better than running round a field in pre-season’… They certainly got a lot out of it – you saw new relationships form.’

Dean Smith, Manager

“Out of all this he has emerged with a stronger club and a markedly improved team.”

Jonathan Northcroft, Football Correspondent, The Sunday Times. Article in Sunday Times 7th March 2021 where this event was referenced by Dean Smith.

Talis – People Programme

August 16, 2019

Key Data

Client – Talis
Focus – Engagement Programme
Objectives – A training and OD programme which was innovative, creative and stimulating. Seeking a more engaged workforce being managed effectively with timely communications, resulting in high achieving teams and productivity.
Delegate Number – 170
Venue – Our training centre and The Vale Resort

Call of the Wild for Talis

Background

After recognising that key areas within the organisation required attention Talis selected Call of the Wild to help design and deliver some of the key components of their people programme

Objectives

Areas to be looked at were:-

Leadership
Communication
Fair Deal/Effective Teams
Meaningful & Current Vision

The Programme

Following the mission delivery exercise on values and vision it was decided that in order to realign teams and individuals behind great leaders, a short leadership programme should be undertaken to examine expert practice, delivered by a trusted training partner. A leadership gap analysis against values & behaviours was carried out and a ‘Mission Delivery’ process was covered in the training, aligning individual and team KPIs against the Organisation. Wellbeing opportunities for employees on the living wage were reviewed and initiatives brought in to support them.

All staff needed to be consulted and given feedback on progress. An 18 -month strategy of engagement was needed and training to support this identified and planned into the workforce development plan.

From the 4 objectives set out above here are is the summary of the leadership objectives:-

Analyse current styles of leadership
Adopt and apply effective leadership behaviours as a high performing senior team
Create an openness between senior leaders Measurement:
Pulse survey to review progress
Aligned KPIs for teams v’s organisation
‘Buddy’ system measured by behaviour matrix

Outcomes

The training was innovative, creative and stimulating. The results were an engaged workforce being managed effectively with timely communications, resulting in high achieving teams and productivity. Several delegates have since been promoted within the UK and across the Group in Europe.

Key Outcomes –

All (170 FTE) have a ‘voice’
All staff have access to flexible working opportunities
Developed UK Values and Visions, then rolled out across whole of group (across 28 countries)
Absence rates fell from 2.2% to 1.6%
Reduced stigma of mental health
Best results in the company’s history
Increased productivity
Increased sales
Health & Safety statistics improved by 30% each year
Staff turnover – 36% reduction in staff turnover

NPTC Group – Commercial Awareness

February 2, 2017

Key Data

Client: NPT College Group
Focus: Raising Commercial Awareness
Objectives: Cultural and operational shift towards improved commercial awareness
Delegate Number: 12
Venue: Mid Wales

Background

The Building Engineering Service School at the College are always looking at ways to increase the breadth of its customer base. This means adopting a more customer focused and responsive approach to winning business. The Head of School felt the team would benefit from having a more aligned and positive approach to commercial thinking.

This training programme was therefore devised to help make this cultural and operational shift to commercial thought, to help frame the transformation as a positive change and to give voice to the team members on how they saw the department developing.
This training was designed to be inclusive and practical. All participants left the training with personal goals and with shared actions across the whole group, as well as a strong understanding of why these actions had been chosen and what these improvements would look like when actioned correctly.

Objectives

✓ Help to develop a commercial mind set.
✓ Balance the delivery of learning with an income focus.
✓ Enable the team to highlight the positives of a commercial model.
✓ Consider a customer’s view of the offer.
✓ Create a personal and team action plan to move to a more commercial set up.

Programme

Pre- Work

Each member of the team was asked to reflect and make notes on specific questions relating to their experience and understanding .

The Training Day

Experiential 1 day programme focussed on the customer journey, process vs culture, analysing customer type and groups, branding and service, using practical activities throughout.

Follow Up On Learning

Meeting to discuss progress and embedding of learning into practice and to review the agreed action plan.

Testimonial

I got Call of the Wild in to re-energise my staff and focus them on their commercial responsibilities going forward for my department and my college. They put up with quite a lot of indecision on my part and some very direct requests, but worked out just what I was after.

The trainer, Roger they provided was excellent. He was relaxed and genuine. The atmosphere in the training room, although a little tense to start with, soon become very engaging and interactive. Everyone came out with actions to do and feeling good about themselves and their future work.

The follow-up meeting 6 weeks later was largely driven by the actions we all wanted to achieve in the first 6 weeks after the training session. When we looked back we had all not only completed our actions but in many cases exceeded them.
Peter Snowball – NPTC Group of Colleges
Head of Building Engineering Services

Coastal Housing

January 24, 2017

Key Data

Client: Coastal Housing
Focus: IOSH managing safely
Objectives: Improve their risk management system within the maintenance and repairs team
Delegate Number: 40
Venue: South Wales

Background

A client who Call of the Wild have worked with extensively on a number of different business areas

Objectives

The organisation took a proactive approach to further improve their risk management system within the maintenance and repairs team

Programmme

Part of the solution was to deliver a bespoke IOSH Managing Safely course to all of the supervisors, which enabled them to fully understand their responsibilities for health and safety by applying Coastal Housing Group policy and procedures. Additionally, the organisation needed to ensure that all risk assessment actions were being completed by the maintenance and repairs team, which consist of a variety of construction trades (muti-skilled, plasterers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers etc.) Part of the solution was for the staff to receive bespoke training in actual working situations, namely, void properties. The content was related to significant hazards faced, and was primarily focused on ensuring that all staff apply the requirements of subsequent method statements rigorously.

Staff
Darren Rodrigues , Health and Safety Training Manager

Testimonial

“I know H&S is a subject many approach with trepidation and its only because I appreciate your approach that the message is conveyed in a much more positive way and makes people want to do the work, and this is all credit to you and your learning techniques – it also makes me feel more justified in engaging your services and it’s not just me!”
“Several of the attendees have asked to shadow me (thanks for that!) and have actually said they now understand why I say what I say and want to set up meetings to take forth their learning into the work practices and are now asking to do RA’s etc so for me, its ‘mission accomplished’.”
Rod Gregory: Facilities Manager Coastal Housing

Magor Designs

January 24, 2017

Key Data
Client: Magor Designs
Focus: IOSH Managing Safely – Bespoke
Objectives: To provide first line managers with the necessary knowledge skills and behaviours to manage health and safety.
Delegate Number: 6
Venue: South Wales

Background

A client who Call of the Wild has worked with on a number of different management focused programmes.

Objectives

Magor Designs Limited is a very successful engineering company based in the Neath Valley that has retained the majority of their employees for decades. Therefore, a programme was required that needed to enhance how Health and Safety was considered at operational level.The organisation felt that the conduit to their success was ensuring that first line managers were inspired to initiate behavioural change.

The Solution

Part of the solution was to deliver a bespoke IOSH Managing Safely course to all of the shift team leaders. The delegates were expected to apply theory directly to company systems and procedures, and present their findings before each session. Thereafter, an ongoing programme of evaluation was applied designed to measure the impact of the programme.

Staff
Darren Rodrigues, Health and Safety Training Manager

Testimonial

“ We are hugely impressed and enthused at all levels in the company by the IOSH programme delivered by the Call of the Wild Team. It was focused and tailored, delivered in a no nonsense manner in a style and language that has really engaged the attendees. The commitment to and passion for the subject is completely infectious – this is so far beyond a traditional delivery of dare I say essential but dry matter –in 30 plus years in leadership I can honestly say I have not seen a programme gain such immediate buy in and enthusiasm from the delegates”

Four Reel Media

October 20, 2016

The Client

The client is Mike Johnson from Four Reel Media in London. They have been providing music production, video production and graphic design services since 2009.

The Issues

The Directors were seeking business support with a view to growing the business. This involved a business diagnostic and a training needs analysis for their staff. Training has been put in place together with a business development strategy.

Swansea University MBA

October 20, 2016

Key Data

Focus – Effective leadership behaviours
Objectives – To identify and develop the leadership capability of a cohort of senior managers
Delegate Number – 15-20 per group
Venue – Our Development Centre Brecon Beacons
Date – October 2008 to present

Background

Call of the Wild’s relationship with Swansea University Business School has always been interesting one, so when we were given the task of developing a leadership programme for a group of senior managers which really challenged them to become the best leaders they could be, we set to the task right away.

We realised from an early stage that in order to engage this group we would need to create a solution which utilised our most senior facilitation team. with this in mind we created a programme that drew on the skills of our most experienced business coaches, expertise from the world of professional sport and a leadership master class from an associate who has managed and led a successful Everest expedition.

The Objectives

The primary objective was for each delegate to be able to recognise, and develop appropriate leadership behaviours and transfer these to the workplace. We achieved this by providing each delegate with the opportunity to increase their self awarness by the use of real world leadership challenges and facilitaed action learning sets.

The Programme

The programme was designed to take delegates outside of their normal comfort zones in a challenging, yet safe environment.

Several developmental inputs are utilised.

Web-enabled learning
Leadership Master Class
Action Learning
Experiential Learning
Project Work
Post-programme Follow up

The programme allows delegates to become self-aware of their own leadership skills and provides a platform and support system to enable them to begin applying their learning to the work environment.

Testimonials

“I have worked with several experiential learning organisations and I can honestly say that Call of the Wild are the best.”

Dr.Mark Good

Remington

October 20, 2016

Key Data

Focus – Team event to support a new product launch

Objectives – Call of the Wild were given the challenge to create an event that brought the launch team from Remington together in an environment that would inspire,challenge and allow them to celebrate the launch of a major new hair care product into the UK marketplace.

From the outset the client stressed the need for an event location and programme that really provided the wow factor – Call of the Wild responded to the challenge by listening very carefully to the exact requirements of the Remington event team and then added value by facilitating a discussion which further explored and refined those requirements.

Delegate Number – 50

Venue – Call of the Wild found the perfect venue within an hours drive of the Remington headquarters in Staines, this 4 star country hotel with grounds provided a truly spectacular backdrop to the event and greatly added to the success of the product launch.

Alstom

October 20, 2016

The Client

Alstom is a global leader in equipment and services for power generation and rail transport. The Group is present in more than 70 countries worldwide and employs around 76 000 people.

The Issues

Call of the Wild, after a number of meetings with the clients HR consultant, identified the problem as being a new group of senior management not working together as a team.

Objectives

Objectives agreed with the client were:

Team to gain an understanding of each other as people not just in business
Get past the ‘storming phase’
Implement peak communication
Share a common experience that bonds the team
Explore effective communication
Help identify preferred leadership styles

The Solution

In consultation it was decided the course should take the form of a team development intervention for 8 members of this new senior management team. This intervention would begin to identify and break down the barriers to high performance, the group would be encouraged to reflect on their learning and incorporate resolutions to transfer back to the work environment.

The Programme

The client requested an outdoor based experiential learning event taking the group out of their comfort zone and putting them under pressure in an unfamiliar environment. The objective was to stretch the individuals in order to draw out the lessons required through the facilitation and intervention of Call of the Wild staff. Call of the Wild designed and delivered a three day programme. This involved a series of physical, mental and behavioural challenges including: orienteering, camping, navigation and command tasks. The group were asked to camp out overnight and prepare their own evening meals which included preparing a rabbit and pigeon for the group to cook for their dinner.

In order to transfer the learning to the workplace for maximum relevance, a Power Station Challenge was incorporated as the culmination of the 3 day event. This was included to test the group members when they were fatigued. The group were required to design, on site, a retrofit for a power station and present their findings to the Station Manager.

Staffing

The programme was delivered by our facilitators David Thomas, MIC, CIPD and Fiona Thornewill, MBE. Dave is a highly experienced management training facilitator with a particular expertise in outdoor experiential programmes. He is one of the highest qualified outdoor facilitators in the UK.

Fiona Thornewill, has an impressive CV which is second to none. She was the 1st British woman to ski to Geographic South Pole,1st British woman to ski to the Geographic North Pole, 1st Woman to ski to both Geographic Poles, Fastest woman to ski – Geographic North Pole in 55 days, 1st British woman to ski solo & unsupported to the Geographic South Pole and fastest (man or woman) to ski – Geographic South Pole – unsupported in 41 days 8 hours 14 minutes.

Outcome

Here’s what our client thought of the programme:

“We are a large business operating across continents with customers that are household names. We searched many suppliers, and only one could give us what we wanted – Call of the Wild. With a new top-team and a massive change agenda together with a stretching annual target, it was critical to embed the new team as quickly as possible.

Our demands were more than a match for any supplier, but not only were they met, Call of the Wild added great value throughout the team building process with ideas, determination, the ability to work to our precise needs, and demonstrating a leadership spirit that provided an excellent model to learn from. The instructors were of the highest quality and blended challenge, the ability to stretch comfort zones beyond anything we envisaged, whilst always maintaining the highest standards of safety.

“There is no doubt that our return on investment will be many multiples of the cost and, most importantly, we have a new team that has not only bonded, but understands how to operate with each other in the most effective way. This will only benefit the team, the wider business, and, most importantly, our customers. We are so pleased with the outcome that if you require any first-hand recommendations, please feel free to call us and we will tell you exactly how professional Call of the Wild is.”

D. Stephens, General Manager

Global Utilities ILM Level 5 Programme

October 12, 2016

Key Data

Client – Global Utilities and Engineering Company
Focus – Institute of Leadership and Management Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management Skills
Objectives – Enable delegates to recognise, practice and transfer leadership behaviours to the workplace and focus on outcomes and impact in the workplace
Delegate Number – 70+

Background

Call of the Wild were invited to design and deliver a leadership development programme by the client. This programme was initially to be rolled out across the senior management team in one Division of the Company before roll out to others.

The Objectives

To provide the delegates with the opportunity to identify and practise positive leadership skills in a challenging environment and to begin to transfer those skills back into their places of work. We sought to measure the impact of the behavioural changes back in the workplace and the difference it made to the business.

The Programme

The programme design was intended to offer a unique combination of media including:

Experiential learning workshop
Online learning
Telephone coaching
Action learning

The design provides the opportunity for delegates to explore their own leadership capabilities in a real environment, to learn from world-class leaders and to practise leadership skills back in the workplace.

The delegates explore key leadership concepts and models, supported by the Call of the Wild facilitation team, they are encouraged to show initiative and learn from the actual process of leading. Delegates maintain a learning log to record their personal reflections and observations on leadership and to serve as an aid to the transfer of skills.

The certificate mandatory units are:-

Assessing your own leadership capability and performance
Improving own leadership potential through action learning

Testimonials

Feedback not from the delegates but from their line managers

“He has implemented good changes, team communication has greatly improved, he has evaluated how he communicates with his team and what best suits the team’s style to ensure information is clear and understood. Performance out put from his team has also increased month on month, Performance reviews have a different structure and linked with improvements in communication this is clearly having an impact.”

“She was new into the Regional Manager position so it was good for her to attend the course during her probationary period. I think she has been able to step back and take the time to review things and now she may have a different suggestion to solve an issue. Previously it felt as though we were always so busy that decisions would be made quickly which then the best decisions are not always made.”

“Yes definitely, I think that she has learned a lot about different ways of managing situations she seems more confident now and I think above all else this course has given her the opportunity to discuss with other colleagues best practices and look at different ways of managing people. In some cases this has confirmed that she was doing things correctly but I think she has also learned from others within the group. It has also given her an opportunity to spend time with her peers that does not regularly happen.”

Sytner BMW – Developing Teams

October 12, 2016

A Proven Return on Investment For Management Development Courses

Introduction

There has been and ongoing debate as to whether it is possible to measure the quantitative effect of management development courses. The existing evidence is somewhat contradictory and therefore Call of the Wild, as with all our courses, sought to find out if such a measure can be made in order to provide reassurance for the client that they would get a real rather than perceived return on investment.

Background

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in work performance after completion of a typical three-day outdoor management development (OMD) session organised by “Call of the Wild”. This session involved participants working as members of a team in a variety of outdoor challenges, in order to develop skills that would prove valuable if they could be transferred back to the workplace environment.

The effectiveness of this session was measured using a specially adapted version of the Life-Effectiveness Questionnaire (LEQ) developed by Neill, Marsh & Richards, (2003), which measures a person’s life effectiveness, that is, how competent a person perceives himself or herself to be in a variety of areas necessary for success in working life, including communication and team-work.

Comparisons were made between participants’ life effectiveness in terms of various aspects of work performance prior to the three-day OMD session and one month after this OMD session. In addition to this, six telephone interviews were conducted with participants of this session, to supplement the information provided by the questionnaire data. The participants in this study were eighty-five employees of BMW/MINI, who were participating in the three-day OMD session organised by Call of the Wild Ltd.

There were seventy-four males and eleven females, with an average age of thirty-seven years. This session proved to be effective, as participants’ life effectiveness skills as measured by the LEQ were significantly greater one month after completion of this session than prior to this OMD session. The implications of these findings are discussed, and specific areas of future research are recommended, in order that more information can be obtained concerning the effectiveness of OMD and other outdoor learning sessions.

Method

Participants

Eighty-five (85) employees of BMW/MINI participated the OMD session conducted by “Call of the Wild”. There were 74 males and 11 females, and the average of the participants was 37 years. The details of all of the participants remained confidential, and their participation was entirely voluntary. The participants were split into teams of between five and nine members, depending on the part of the country they were from. There were a total of eleven teams from the different divisions of BMW/MINI. These were; High Wycombe, Harold Wood, Nottingham, Coventry, Solihull, Chigwell, Leicester, Sunningdale, City, Sheffield and Divisional.

Results

A one-way within-subjects repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted in order to see whether or not there were any differences in the skills measured by the LEQ across the test times (before the OMD session, and one month after completion of this OMD session). The results of this test show that there was a significant difference ( F = 9.7, p<.05) in the reported life effectiveness as a result of participation in this programme.

The descriptive statistics for the participants’ overall Life Effectiveness are presented below:

Time 1

Mean Score: 5.78
SD: 2.38

Time 2

Mean Score: 7.36
SD: 2.84

Descriptive Statistics for Overall Life Effectiveness from Pre-Test to Post-Tests

One month after completion of the OMD session, six non-rigorous telephone interviews were conducted with the participants of this session, in order to support and extend the information provided by the LEQ. The results of these interviews suggest that the OMD session had a positive effect upon those taking part, in terms of enhanced levels of trust and co-operation between team members. It was also suggested that many of the effects of this session were enduring, and that these skills successfully transferred back to the workplace environment, resulting in an enhanced level of individual and team performance within the organisational setting.

“Call of the Wild have designed, developed and delivered a number of superb team development events for the Sytner BMW/MINI Division . We were delighted with their speed and professionalism in working up a programmes for the 85 -100+ managers concerned.

We were very impressed with Call of the Wild’s project management, their design team and excellent facilitation of the events.”

Sue Sansome
Group Training & Development Manager
Sytner Group Ltd

Sandvik – IOSH Managing Safely

October 11, 2016

Key Data

Client – Sandvik Osprey
Focus – IOSH managing safely
Objectives – To provide first line managers with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage health and safety on the shop floor by applying company procedures.
Delegate Number – 12
Venue – South Wales

Background

A client who Call of the Wild have worked with on a number of different business areas.

Objectives

The organisation wanted to improve their H&S culture. Initially they provided first line managers with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage health and safety on the shop floor by applying company procedures.

Part of the solution was to deliver a bespoke IOSH Managing Safely course to all of the shift team leaders. The delegates were expected to apply theory directly to company systems and procedures, and present their findings before each session. Thereafter, an ongoing programme of evaluation was applied designed to measure the impact of the programme.

Staff

Darren Rodrigues, Health and Safety Training Manager

Testimonial

“Managers have taken ownership of completing risk assessments in their area. All risk assessment reviews have been completed on time and to a good standard, and near miss reporting has rocketed! Whilst developing the bespoke programme, the trainer almost felt like an extension to the business; not somebody working for, but with! It has all been like a breath of fresh air.”

Sheraine Thomas (Safety, Health and Environment Manager).

NPT Homes – H&S for Senior Executives

October 11, 2016

Key Data

Client – NPT Homes
Focus – H&S For Senior Executives
Objectives – To provide executive and non executive board members awareness of their legal health and safety responsibilities
Delegate Number – 12
Venue – South Wales

Background

A client who Call of the Wild have worked with extensively on a number of different business areas.

Objectives

The organisation took a proactive approach to ensure that executive and non-executive board members were not only aware of corporate health and safety responsibilities, but were fully aware of the corporate systems and procedures as they relate to executive staff.

Staff

Darren Rodrigues, Health and Safety Training Manager

Testimonial

“The strategic Health and Safety training provided to our Board was very well received and, by linking strategic responsibilities with demonstrating how those responsibilities were being discharged within the organisation, ensured that the training was both informative and re-assuring.”

Steve Tucker: Assets Director NPT Homes

Call of the Wild for Puffin Produce

October 9, 2016

Key Data

Client – Puffin Produce Ltd
Focus – Work with the company’s Senior Leadership Team to identify and create a vision and a supporting set of values and behaviours across Puffin Produce that will underpin the future success, growth and culture of Puffin
Objectives – The project had three distinct parts to it 1) Employee Consultation process, 2) Strategic creation of the values following this period, 3) Cascade the new vision and embed values across the company with all employees
Delegate Number – Senior Leadership Team = 10, Middle Managers = 18, Employees = 50
Venue – Puffin Produce Head Office and local hotel and presentation venue

Background

Puffin Produce have been rapidly expanding and growing their successful business for some time. They approached a number of high profile training companies and chose Call of the Wild to partner them in a significant piece of work to identify and articulate their core values and vision, and to engage the whole workforce in the process. There was also an expectation to then support managers in rolling out and embedding these agreed behaviours to all staff across the company. This project was expected to be 12-18 months of work and support.

Aims/ Objectives

Whole programme objectives:-.
Focus Senior Leaders on identifying a core set of values and a vision. To create an effective employee engagement process for gathering feedback and opinion on the company and its values, and to support middle and first line managers to embed and roll out the values into everyday work life and the language at Puffin. Areas to be developed were:-

Leading the business- setting the direction and vision of the business
Employee Engagement and consultation – communicating with the workforce though face- to -face and online methods to capture opinion and feeling towards the business
Leading people – team leadership, people performance in relation to embedding values and language
Managing self – Self- motivation to engage in the values process

When working with middle managers the objectives for the process were;-

Increase awareness of the new Puffin Produce values and behaviours amongst the line manager and influencers across the organisation.
To ensure understanding of the rationale for creating these values and behaviours, the process and the plans to embed them.
To enable participants to link the new values and behaviours to their own personal drives and ambitions
To enable participants to examine and communicate how the values and behaviours help them to deliver their day-to-day work.
To develop the skills and confidence of the participants to cascade information on both the values and behaviours, and also their practical application to the rest of the workforce
To help the participants articulate the longer goals for embedding the values and behaviours and aspiration for company Puffin Produce wants to become.

The Programme

Initially we spent a few days working with the senior team to scope out the company’s vision and then we worked with Puffin Produce to create and send out an employee engagement survey to consult with everyone across the different functions of the firm.

We also supported the senior team to have direct consultation surgeries with the workforce to gather feedback and ideas. Leading on from this we worked with the senior team to focus on finalising a set of behavioural values under three main areas to underpin this vision. We then helped Puffin Produce senior leaders roll this out to all employees through active engagement and workshop sessions with middle managers to support them in embedding the values into everyday work life, language and appraisals.

The programme required senior leaders to challenge their thinking, to re-evaluate their leadership styles and approach as a team and to ensure they included and communicated with their whole workforce effectively to design the right values for the company. These values had to hold up even in times of financial or business stresses and be honest, consistent and truly represent the behaviours of Puffin Produce.

The senior team had to consider their own strengths direction and performance as a team and as individuals in that team. Whilst each phase and challenge was reviewed upon completion, the senior team considered the elements of leadership and skills required to identify the vision and and engage the workforce in creating the values.

What Did Our Clients Think?

Babcock ILM Level 5 Programme

October 4, 2016

Key Data

Client: Babcock International
Focus: Institute of Leadership and Management Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management Skills
Objectives: Enable delegates to recognise, practice and transfer leadership behaviours to the workplace and focus on outcomes and impact in the workplace
Delegate Number: 70+

Background

The Objectives

The Programme

The programme design was intended to offer a unique combination of media including:

Experiential learning workshop
Online learning
Telephone coaching
Action learning

The certificate mandatory units are:-

Assessing your own leadership capability and performance

Improving own leadership potential through action learning

Testimonials

Feedback not from the delegates but from their line managers

“He has implemented good changes, team communication has greatly improved, he has evaluated how he communicates with his team and was best suits the team’s style to ensure information is clear and understood. Performance out put from his team has also increased month on month, Performance reviews have a different structure and linked with improvments in communication this is clearly having an impact”

“She was new into the Regional Manager position so it was good for her to attend the course during her probationary period. I think she has been able to step back and take the time to review things and now she may have a different suggestion to solve an issue. Previously it felt as though we were always so busy that decisions would be made quickly which then the best decisions are not always made.”

“Yes definitely, I think that she has learnt a lot about different ways of managing situations she seems more confident now and I think above all else this course has given her the opportunity to discuss with other colleagues best practices and look at different ways of managing people. In some cases this has confirmed that she was doing things correctly but I think she has also learnt from others within the group. It has also given her an opportunity to spend time with her peers that does not regularly happen.”

ICAEW – World Class Accountancy Body

October 3, 2016

Key Data

Client: Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales
Focus: Leadership Development
Objectives: Enable delegates to recognise, practice and transfer leadership behaviours
Delegate Number: 200+
Venue: Brecons Beacons, Lake District, Peak District,Central London & Tanzania

Background

Call of the Wild were invited to tender for a leadership development programme by the client. Having been invited to present to the tender panel, Call of the Wild were awarded the contract to design and deliver the intervention.

The Objectives

To provide the delegates with the opportunity to identify and practise positive leadership skills in a challenging, competitive environment and to begin to transfer those skills back into their places of work.

The Programme

The programme design was intended to offer a unique combination of media including:

Experiential learning workshop
Leadership Master Class
African Project

The Master Class is delivered by Alan Chambers MBE and John Neal and provides delegates with an insight into the performance of leader and teams under extreme pressure. The Master Class offers a unique and powerful learning experience and enhances participants understanding of effective leadership behaviours.

Delegates are also able to further develop and practise the skills of leadership in a truly inspirational and challenging environment in delivering a charitable project in Africa, providing a real experience of what leadership and team work is all about the project is designed to embed core skills.

Staffing

Facilitators

Dave Thomas MIC CIPD

Dave is an outdoor management development professional of 15 years experience, he is an accredited CIPD coach.

Alan Chambers MBE
Alan demonstrates the determination and focus it takes to lead the first British unsupported team to walk to the Geographic North Pole, he facilitates thought provoking exercises and discussion, designed to stimulate and enlighten

John Neal

Psycho-physiologist, businessman and performance coach delivers a highly interactive coaching session based on the lessons for business from high performance sport.

Panasonic – Creating Future Leaders

October 3, 2016

Key Data

Client – Panasonic
Focus – Developing Staff with Potential to become Future Management
Objectives – Place people in a pressured unfamiliar environment whilst learning and applying principles of team dynamics and leadership
Delegate Number – 30
Venue – Call of the Wild Training centre and venues in close proximity

Call of the Wild for Panasonic Future Leaders

Background

After tendering for the this work against 6 of the top development training companies in the UK Panasonic selected Call of the Wild to help design and deliver some of the key components of their in-house future leader programme opertaed by their assessment centre. This was the inaugral event organised for the future leaders programmes.

Objectives

Place people in a pressured unfamiliar environment whilst learning and applying principles of team dynamics and leadership. Areas to be developed were:-

Leading the business – Direction and innovation
Managing buisness relationships – Communication, influence
Leading people – team leadership, people performance
Managing self – Self motivation

The Programme

The programme required delegates to consider their strengths as individuals and as a team, their ability to plan to achieve a pre-determined goal, assess their performance whilst solving problems requiring creative thinking.

Delegates were given a matrix of information relating to the tasks; time taken to complete the tasks, level of challenge, difficulty, points gained upon successful completion. Information was also be received at separate times as to the nature of each of the tasks and the primary skills involved in completing the tasks.

During the planning phase of this task, the teams needed to consider it’s strengths, direction and performance. At various points during this phase, information relating to the overall challenge changed, enabling participants the opportunity to re-evaluate their position and amend their planning accordingly.

A series of challenges were offered to the teams, varying in difficulty and also in value. Teams were required to collect as many points and as much information as possible for the challenges the following day.

Whilst each phase and challenge was reviewed upon completion, delegates considered the elements of leadership and skills required to build a successful team.

What Did Our Clients Think of the Future leaders Programme?

“On arrival it was straight into the action – an introduction to Call Of The Wild staff was followed by night time orienteering. The whole Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing theory of team building process was fascinating to be involved in and to watch, but perform those teams eventually did!
Each task had been specifically designed to highlight different leadership and team skills, and after each the team’s performance was reviewed and discussed by all, a real experiential learning process. This immediate feedback was an invaluable tool to improve performance as the course progressed.
During the evening de briefing session it was clear that everybody involved in the Future Leaders Programme had learnt a huge amount from two very intensive days, and all had made new contacts across the whole company, many felt they had made new friends. The level of motivation, effort and openness to ideas shown by everybody was fantastic and is indicative of the quality of people throughout PUK.”

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October 3, 2016

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Barclays Bank Graduate Programme

October 3, 2016

Key Data

Focus: Development of leadership skills for finance academy graduates
Objectives: to identify and develop key leadership behaviours and to transfer these to the workplace
Delegate Number: 15-20 per group
Venue: Our Development Centre Brecon Beacons | Barclays Head Office, Canary Wharf

Background

As a direct result of the success of other development inputs within Barclays, Call of the Wild were asked to design and deliver a leadership programme for the graduates from Barclays Finance Academy.

The Objectives

The primary objective was for each delegate to be able to recognise, and develop appropriate leadership behaviours and transfer these to the workplace.

The Programme

The programme was designed to take delegates outside of their normal comfort zones in a challenging, yet safe environment.

Several developmental inputs are utilised.

Web-enabled learning
Experiential Learning
Project Work
Post-programme Follow up

The programme allows delegates to become self-aware of their own leadership skills and provides a platform and support system to enable them to begin applying their learning to the work environment.

Testimonials

“This training was great, everything we did could be related to situations we may encounter in the workplace. It has increased my confidence in myself”

“The discussion and feedback sessions have really made me think about my leadership skills, overall an excellent programme”

John Lewis Senior Management Team

October 3, 2016

On September 24th 2009, John Lewis opened its second largest Shop outside Oxford Street London.

As an organisation with its roots in South Wales, it was a real privilege for Call of the Wild to be asked to work with the Cardiff MD Liz Mihell and Training Manager Will Read to design and deliver an intervention as part of their leadership development strategy for the new shop.

The brief given to Call of the Wild was very clear – create an environment in which the whole management group are able to come together, get to know themselves as individuals and as a team and help enable them to transfer this as smoothly as possible into the opening of the branch.

The development of the intervention was done in close collaboration with the MD and Training Manager. It was essential that the message received was consistent with those of John Lewis.

Given the quality and can-do attitude of the individuals involved it was possible to create a truly innovative intervention that took delegates and teams outside of their comfort zones resulting in a real and lasting learning experience.

The process which took place over 6 days culminated in the entire management team working with the Cardiff Arms Park Male Voice Choir to learn and sing a traditional Welsh Hymn in a four part harmony to the partners on opening day-a real welcome to Wales!

To be a part of the transformation of a group of hugely talented individuals into a team that will deliver an outstanding retail experience to the people of Cardiff and South Wales was an extremely enjoyable experience for the Call of the Wild team.