New Possible’s British Training Awards sets out to discover and celebrate the organisations that are truly passionate about L&Ds role in building a thriving workforce.
In our latest ‘Sharing Success’ series, we interview British Training Awards Winners to shine a light on the inspiring initiatives that are improving workplaces across the UK and beyond. In this article we chat with Louise Kirtley from Nationwide Building Society, winners of the ‘Financial Services Initiative of the Year’ category.
Introducing Louise Kirtley
Louise is Business Psychologist by background and started her career working as a consultant psychologist. However, for the last 20 years, Louise has worked in HR departments, within Learning, mainly in the world of finance.
Louise shared “As Director of Learning, Leadership and Skills, I lead the strategic direction of Nationwide’s organisational-wide learning and development proposition, ensuring it is fully aligned with our organisational goals, future ambitions and empowers our people to thrive and grow”.
About Nationwide Building Society
Nationwide Building Society is owned by its members, not shareholders. That’s anyone who banks, saves or has a mortgage with them. This means they can always focus on what’s best for them. With approximately 18,000 permanent employees and a small contingent workforce everyone is working with a shared goal of putting the customer first, whatever their role.
They aim to attract high-performing, purpose-driven individuals and empower them to grow their careers. To support this, investing in the development and training of leaders is essential.
Empowering Every Leader
In 2023, Nationwide Building Society launched a bold new strategy, recognising that great managers are essential to delivering high-performing teams and requiring senior leaders to think more commercially with greater enterprise-wide collaboration to achieve organisational goals. To support this, Nationwide’s Learning, Leadership and Skills team designed a comprehensive development proposition tailored to all managers and leaders, across the business starting with two flagship programmes, the People Manager Programme (PMP) and the Senior Leader Programme (SLP).
When asked what inspired the creation of this organisational-wide development proposition Louise explained: “The development proposition was inspired by a clear need to unify and elevate leadership capability across the Society. As Nationwide continues to evolve in a complex and fast-changing environment, it became essential to ensure that every manager and leader, regardless of level, function, or background, has access to consistent, high-quality development opportunities. This was not only about building individual capability, but also about fostering a shared leadership culture that reflects our values, drives high-performance, and supports our strategic ambitions.”
Nationwide’s People Manager Programme
Louise provided further insights on one of Nationwide’s flagship programmes: “The People Manager Programme (PMP) was developed to drive behavioural and cultural change to enrich management skills. Key focuses include fundamental management skills, such as challenging performance conversations and prioritising for delivery."
"In-person workshops serve as a catalyst for peer mentoring, enabling managers to build strong networks through cohort coaching, shared challenges, and group exercises. A key feature of the programme includes practicing real challenging conversations with professional actors in simulated scenarios, helping managers build confidence. This helps refine their communication skills in a safe, supportive environment. This is complemented by a flipped learning approach and flexible learning formats which incorporates digital learning and workbooks. Real workplace scenarios ensure learning is practical, timely, and embedded in the flow of work.”
The challenge was to deliver a high-quality, engaging programme at scale and low cost. The programme was tailored to address key challenges identified through focus groups, culture surveys, performance data, and 360 feedback. Nationwide’s internal teams built the programme in-house, with minimal supplier support and ensuring the content was practical, bespoke, and behaviour-change focused. The result was a four-month, six-module blended learning programme featuring:
- Digital workbooks, video lessons, and vlogs
- Interactive workshops and peer learning
- “In the flow of work” experiments to embed learning
Widespread Reach and Enduring Success
To manage delivery of PMP at scale, a dedicated team enabled around 200 managers to start the programme every month, with workshops being held UK-wide and online when needed for accessibility. Over 2,100 managers have now completed the programme
We asked Louise to share how this programme was developed: “To develop a manager development programme that truly met the needs of our people managers, we began with a comprehensive discovery phase. This included external research, needs analysis, focus groups, and manager surveys, which revealed critical skills gaps and inconsistencies in how people managers provided clarity and direction to their teams. These insights highlighted the need for a more unified and impactful development experience. Placing the manager experience at the centre, our internal leadership development team applied design thinking and empathy mapping to shape a programme that was both relevant and human centred.”
“Our teams’ decades of expertise were complemented by an external provider specialising in communication, ensuring the programme was enriched with best-in-class practices. Together, we developed the People Manager Programme that focused on strengthening core people management capabilities, such as building positive and inclusive teams, giving feedback and managing people risk. The programme is designed to be inclusive, flexible, and scalable, offering a mix of digital, in-person, and peer-led learning opportunities that embed learning into the flow of work. This holistic approach ensures managers are not only equipped to meet today’s challenges but are also empowered to inspire, engage, and lead with clarity and empathy.”
We also asked Louise if there were any challenges in designing an organisational-wide leadership development proposition for such a wide audience: “Designing leadership programmes for a broad audience, from aspiring managers to executive leaders, presented several challenges. These included catering to diverse needs, ensuring relevance across roles, and maintaining consistency while allowing flexibility. To address these, a tiered framework was developed with tailored programmes and pathways for each leadership level, supported by modular content that could be adapted to different contexts. Input from across the business helped shape the design, ensuring it resonated with real-world challenges and expectations."
"Accessibility and engagement were also key considerations, especially for time-pressed managers and leaders. Solutions included offering learning in varied formats, such as digital, in-person, and peer-led experiences, and embedding development into the flow of work. Success metrics and feedback loops were built in to measure impact and continuously refine the offering, ensuring the programmes remained relevant, were delivering impact and aligned with Nationwide’s strategic goals.”
From Capability to Culture: Leadership Transformation
The impact of both PMP and SLP is extensive with some highlights including:
- 92% of attendees feel better equipped to carry out their role following the People Manager Programme.
- Statistically significant improvements in role and expectation clarity, team commitment, and determination for teams led by PMP-trained managers.
- 96% of attendees have built their network across the business through the Senior Leader Programme.
- Statistically significant improvements in senior leaders prioritisation and innovation pace to effectively deliver strategic priorities compared to those yet to attend the Senior Leader Programme.
The programmes have received strong endorsement from managers, teams, and Nationwide’s Executive Committee. One PMP participant noted, “The mixed cohorts offer broader insight and alternative perspectives that add value to your day-to-day role.” One Senior Leader adds, “The networking capabilities should not be under-estimated. Some of the individuals I met from across the Society I would never have met unless through this programme.”
PMP has also earned ‘Assured status’ from the Institute of Leadership and Management, reinforcing its credibility and Nationwide’s commitment to developing our people.
The organisational wide leadership development proposition exemplifies Nationwide’s strategic focus on building the most capable workforce. By delivering tailored, practical, and scalable learning experiences, the organisation is equipping its managers and leaders to lead with confidence, clarity, and impact - setting a new standard for leadership development across the financial services sector.
What advice would Louise give to other organisations looking to develop leadership at a large-scale?
“Start with clarity of purpose and alignment to strategic goals. Leadership development shouldn’t be a standalone initiative, it must be connected to the organisation’s culture, values, and future ambitions. Engage stakeholders early, understand the diverse needs across leadership levels, and co-create a framework that balances consistency with flexibility. A tiered approach, underpinned by core leadership principles, helps ensure relevance while allowing for tailored experiences across different roles and contexts."
"Equally important is designing for accessibility, engagement, and impact. Leaders are busy, so learning must be practical, embedded in the flow of work, and offers immediate and lasting impact. Build in feedback loops and success metrics from the start to measure progress and impact and continuously refine the offer.”
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