TopHat

The Company

Tophat logo

TopHat is the UK’s leader in technology-driven modular housing manufacturing. TopHat has won the Sunday Times Readers’ Choice Award at the British Homes Awards as the preferred design for a home that can be delivered at scale to help address the UK’s housing crisis. TopHat serves customers across Britain, including councils, RSLs and private developers at all levels of specification.

The Business Situation

TopHat is undergoing growth and has recently received an investment from Goldman Sachs to take the company into the future, ensuring sustainability and growth in the market.

The organisation recognised a need to develop their team leaders to be more strategic, to align operations with the objectives of the business to ensure sustained growth. As the majority of the Team Leaders have worked in the business for a number of years it was crucial for them to recognise the need to step up and gain a greater awareness and insight into the needs of the business, adopting a ‘big picture’ approach to leadership and team management. Teams are expected to work collaboratively and ensure continuous improvement across the business. There was also a need for leaders throughout the business to fully understand the needs of the customer aligned with the growth of the sector.

The Approach

TopHat has identified a need for Team Leaders to have training in the foundation of leadership and management to equip them to lead their teams in the operational day-to-day functions of the business and managing their teams effectively to achieve organisational objectives and realise the growth targets.

The requirements of the business regarding the development of the Team Leaders was aligned to the ILM qualification and all delegates were supported through the accreditation process. To this end, a programme was designed and delivered with additional support for the achievement of the ILM Level 2 Team Leadership Skills qualification.

The Benefits

  • Team leaders to take on more responsibility and accountability for managing their staff, demonstrated through increased number of 1:1 with staff, reduction in disciplinary issues; improvement in production; improved communication
  • Understanding the transition from peer to team leader and the responsibilities that come with a leadership role and how to lead a team
  • Improvement in problem solving and decision making, evidenced by decline in referencing problems up the chain of command
  • Improvement in planning, both as individuals and for the team; improved time management and delegation skills and less ‘firefighting’
  • Use a range of techniques that can be employed and adapted to meet the range of people management issues a line manager may need to address
  • Analyse the key drivers of team performance and make plans to tackle problems and raise performance levels
  • Manage staff on a day-to-day basis, confident in how to approach problems with individuals and teams and able to maintain motivation levels and focus on the goals and objectives set
  • Build effective relationships, both formal and informal with staff and customers to ensure a positive and productive working environment is achieved
  • Recognise own personal strengths and weaknesses as a line manager and leader and learn from experience whilst planning personal development to improve own performance and leadership skills