Corporate Learning Solutions
Success Stories

Delivery of one program in Strategic Management, led us to developing a curriculum for their leaders.

In late 2005, the City of Ottawa committed resources to the implementation of a Management Development Program. The ultimate goal was to achieve service excellence through increasing employee engagement to gain the confidence and trust of the City of Ottawa’s key customers, its citizens. Canadian Management Centre is proud to be a provider of leadership and management solutions in support of the City’s development objectives. We have grown our relationship by focusing on providing customized, relevant learning solutions that leverage existing programs within the City of Ottawa’s development offerings. We aim to achieve this by partnering with our stakeholders to ensure our recommendations leverage the strengths of the management team, align closely to current business challenges, integrate real-world experience and reflect the values of the organization.

As a real commitment to the continued development of its current leaders and a focused effort on supporting high potential employees, the City of Ottawa is now working towards launching a comprehensive curriculum. This curriculum has been designed to enable all employees to take risks, be innovative and generate genuine results all with the goal of delivering the kinds of offerings citizens demand, with the level of service they deserve. It has truly been our pleasure to be a part of this worthy and exciting initiative.

"I love working with the people at CMC. I feel like you are part of my team. Together we have made great inroads in the area of management and leadership at the City of Ottawa. I wanted you to know how proud I am to tell others that I work with Canadian Management Centre and that they never disappoint!"

Shirley de la Torre
Organizational Effectiveness Consultant
Human Resources, Leadership & Employee Development, City of Ottawa

Making it Happen for Award-Winning Results

In August 2005, LoyaltyOne™ (formerly Loyalty Management Group Canada Inc.) issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the development of a new managers program. They were seeking a learning provider who could develop a curriculum which encouraged leaders to examine their attitudes, behaviours and leadership styles; helping them leverage their coaching skills and improve their effectiveness as people leaders. “We wanted more of a true partnership,” explains Tania Cervoni (Manager, Learning and Performance Consulting). Following a rigorous selection process, Canadian Management Centre earned the role of ‘vendor of choice’ given their flexible approach and demonstrated ability to design and deliver customized learning solutions.

Working in close partnership, Canadian Management Centre and LoyaltyOne™ designed and successfully implemented an engaging and interactive learning experience for their new managers: Make It Happen: Leadership Fundamentals Series.

The managers have not only enjoyed the program, but have demonstrated a readiness to apply what they’ve learned on the job and to be held accountable for it. Feeling equipped with the tools they need to lead more effectively, the participants have deemed the program to be practical and relevant to their needs and the challenges they face in their roles as new managers.

Since the program was launched in February 2006, average Level 1 evaluation ratings in key areas show that:

• 97% of participants agreed that the program was relevant to their needs
• 97% of participants agreed there were a variety of learning methods used which aided in their understanding
• 96% of participants agreed there was sufficient hands-on practice and discussion
• 99% of participants felt the content helped to develop the skills and knowledge they need to perform

As Tania Cervoni adds, “One of the indicators to me of success is that managers who have either participated in it or had people participate in it have come forward to say, 'When is the next offering? I have a new manager that I want to get into the program.' And I think that speaks volumes.”

The success of Make It Happen: Leadership Fundamentals Series was further recognized by the Canadian Society for Training and Development, who recently awarded Canadian Management Centre and LoyaltyOne™ with the 2007 Gold Award for Canadian Training Excellence.

LoyaltyOne™ is a trademark of LoyaltyOne, Inc.

Leadership program prepares managers to contribute to Gibsons' doubling pre-tax income in a 24 month period

Canadian Management Centre was approached by Calgary based Gibsons Energy Ltd. to design and deliver a leadership program for their management team. The company had gone through a period of unprecedented growth and determined that a stronger and more consistent leadership approach would be required to build on this momentum to inspire employees to achieve Gibsons’ aggressive growth plans.

After an extensive needs assessment phase, which included site visits and field trips, clear success measures were articulated and a strategy to design a program to achieve these was created. The result was a highly interactive, relevant 3-day residential program, Success Through People, which integrated networking elements to help build an even more cohesive leadership team. We worked very closely with Gibsons throughout the development process and believe that this partnership was instrumental in the clear impact this program has had on the organization.

And the results are in, based on feedback directly from Gibsons Human Resources team we know: “Based on a comparison of 2006 vs. 2008 employee engagement results, Gibsons has seen an increase in several areas that could be directly linked to the successes and skills gained through the Success Through People program.” These include learning and development, leadership, career opportunities and people practices.

We are thrilled that Gibsons has seen measurable results from their investment in leadership development. As quoted by Rick Luciani, VP Human Resources and Administration:

"Gibsons has realized tremendous growth. In order to sustain this growth, there was a need for increased leadership capabilities as many new managers have emerged and more experienced managers have realized the need to upgrade their skills. Over the past 24-month period, Gibsons has doubled its pre-tax income and we believe the Success Through People program is a contributing factor to this success."