Established in 1997 The City Bin Co. is a progressive and dynamic business, acting as a catalyst for change in the Irish waste management industry.
The BriefFrom inception in 1997 the growth of City Bin had been paced and organic however they now planned a period of rapid expansion into new geographical markets. This would require hiring a new senior team to be based outside their head office in Galway. Their concerns were:
- How would they find the right people to mirror the success of the Galway team?
- As their culture had been a critical factor in their success to date, how could they transfer this open and flexible tradition to the new office?
- How could they support their staff to take more ownership and responsibility as the business ramped up?
City Bin's Gene Browne turned to Ignite for assistance after they been recommended by a business friend Terence Monaghan, the CEO of BetaTHERM Corporation. Gene met with Ignite and they agreed on a six month programme of strategic business coaching that involved two separate but integrated pieces:
- Strategic Business Coaching - several one-to-one executive coaching sessions with the directors/founders.
- Team Value Creator - a four-part team coaching exercise that included a small number of one-to-one coaching sessions with the senior team.
What follows is a short summary of what happened during the six month coaching engagement from the perspective of Gene Browne of City Bin. The full client story including perspectives from all the team members can be downloaded in pdf format.
"In principle we need the right people on the right seats of the bus and the wrong people off the bus. By thinking in terms of what focused strengths are required for each role and what make up of personalities we want for each team, the hiring process has become far clearer. In addition, each team member is now clear on their role and that of their colleagues and why they are each suited to those roles. They understand their value to the team and the company and I believe feel more valued as a result."
"With the knowledge that came out of the coaching we were able to come up with a methodology that enables us to frame our corporate objectives in a way that has relevance for each individual."
"Because of different styles and personalities I can now see that in the past we sometimes pushed goals onto people, whereas now we are more realistic and are achieving the buy-in and personal ownership we always wanted. Each member of the team has their own personal and professional development plan. Each is taking responsibility and each has clear personal motivation for doing so."
"The process has helped me to understand myself more clearly and I now understand and see beyond the personality of other's. This enables me to frame my thinking about our vision and strategy through the values of each person, not just my own. This is extraordinarily useful in facilitating clear communication."
"We have always been strong on strategy, however the one-to-one coaching helped my business partner and I to frame our personal and business goals more clearly, and it took our partnership to a new level of understanding that effects the focus of business."
"The coaching brought clarity to us in many key areas, it certainly accelerated our efforts and it significantly reduced the downside risks involved in our expansion. I would not hesitate to recommend this valuable process to other organisations."