Overview

At OnTalent, we know that lasting leadership growth is built over time, not in a day. It comes through consistency, tailored development, and space for reflection. That’s the approach we took when partnering with a national organisation in the transport sector to deliver an 18 month leadership program for their senior executive team.

The Challenge

The organisation sought to strengthen collaboration, lift strategic capability, and create a more defined leadership culture. With leaders based across multiple states, fostering cohesion and a shared leadership identity was a priority.

Partnering together with key internal stakeholders and our Careers, Leadership and Consulting team, we co-designed a program that would evolve with the team, structured enough to deliver outcomes, flexible enough to respond to change.

The Program

The journey began with in depth personality profiling and 360 degree feedback to build self-awareness and guide individual development. This formed the basis for customised coaching and informed the design of the group learning experience.

The core program included:

• Quarterly 3-day offsite workshops held in Tasmania, Melbourne, and Brisbane
• Leadership themes: Understanding self, One Culture, High Performance, Change Leadership, Building Trust, Communicating with power and influence.
• Individual executive coaching: 6–12 sessions per participant
• Agile delivery: Customised onboarding and recap sessions for new leaders who joined mid-program

The workshops combined strategic simulations, peer learning, and practical activities. This immersive format gave participants a rare chance to connect away from daily pressures, foster deeper relationships, and reflect on how they show up as leaders.

Each executive also received individual coaching between sessions, tailored to their personal goals, with 6 to 12 sessions delivered across the program.

As changes occurred within the executive group, the program remained agile, integrating new leaders with tailored recap sessions to ensure continuity and connection.

Impact and Outcomes

Nine senior leaders took part in the program. From the outset, this was a highly engaged cohort. The opportunity to step away from day-to-day demands and spend time together in person was seen as a rare and valuable experience.

A central focus of the program was culture, first exploring it at an organisational level, then within the executive group, and finally within each leader’s team. Conversations were honest, reflective, and often challenging, but always constructive.

While the intensity of the three day workshops often left participants feeling mentally stretched, their enthusiasm never wavered. They consistently showed up with openness, ready to listen, share, and grow.

Measurable Results: Survey Findings

Following the program, the organisation conducted annual culture and engagement surveys, benchmarking outcomes across four core areas:

• Their Roles
• Their Leaders
• Their Wellbeing
• Their Future

Over a two year period, the organisation reported an average of 7.75% improvement across all four categories, a clear indicator of the impact the program had on leadership alignment, engagement, and trust within the organisation.

These quantitative results validated the leadership development investment and demonstrated how tailored, well executed programs can shift both mindset and metrics.

Sustaining the Momentum

Following the success of the core program, OnTalent continues to support this organisation with targeted team development across other levels, ensuring leadership capability is reinforced and embedded across the broader workforce.

Why It Worked

This program succeeded because it was co-designed with the organisation’s leaders in response to real needs. It wasn’t about ticking boxes; it was about building shared ownership, aligning leaders around purpose, and creating space for lasting change. It was led from the top and people were held to account.

If your organisation is navigating change, growing complexity, or cultural transformation, let’s start a conversation about how leadership development can support your future direction.