“I was looking for an agency with international experience that understood our internal culture, shared our values and could coach and mentor both experienced and more junior employees.” With this challenging question, HR Manager Catherine Waters set out to find a partner for training managers and employees. She is happy to share how InContext has exceeded her expectations more than once.”

The organisation

With offices in Boston, Cape Town, London, Singapore, Utrecht, Paris, Hamburg and Madrid, Green Giraffe has been providing financial advice and market information on all types of renewable energy since 2010. The ambition is to always provide highly qualified and specialized advice. The value of Green Giraffe is the belief in renewable energy as the basis for a healthy future.

As with many training or coaching questions, Catherine’s search began online. Soon she had put together a shortlist of six international agencies that met the requirements for the managing directors. During the sales pitch, InContext immediately stood out.

“The sales pitch was actually immediately the first coaching session. A special and unforgettable start.”

The question behind the question…

In addition to the personal ‘click’, InContext’s extensive experience with similar training and management development programs was immediately clear. But more importantly: InContext immediately got Green Giraffe thinking about the issues and challenges behind the assignment. Through the questions that InContext asked and the experience with similar projects, a solid foundation was immediately laid for the cooperation.

” InContext got us thinking from the very first moment. About our organization, the way we work together and the issues that which we ourselves had not yet concretely identified.”

Flying start

Green Giraffe sought expertise to train employees at all levels. From the management team to the professionals on the shop floor. InContext started the process with a personality test for all employees. This provided a solid basis for the training program, which focused on themes such as feedback, leadership, collaboration, management and culture. Looking back on the program, Catherine sees that the growth it has brought about in employees and managers is unmistakable.

“During personal conversations and meetings I see that ‘the elephant in the room in the room’ is named, that colleagues dare to give each other feedback and that that the team has emerged stronger.”

Exciting

Because of the themes, but also because a start had been made with the individual employees, InContext was able to have a great impact immediately. The team at Green Giraffe is very close-knit and there has always been a pleasant and friendly atmosphere. Under the water surface, however, not everything was always discussed, which could sometimes lead to misunderstandings or misunderstandings. The training sessions immediately contributed to better mutual cooperation. Colleagues give each other feedback and have difficult conversations when necessary. Especially in the beginning this was a little bit tense, but Catherine sees that at the moment it is increasingly the ‘way of working’.

“I am proud of the fact that my colleagues have been so enthusiastic about the training courses with the training courses.”

Tips and advice

InContext is always evolving and loves to learn from its clients. Therefore, we asked Catherine to give us feedback on the cooperation of the past year. Catherine seized the moment to give InContext a big compliment. The cooperation was very professional and pleasant, and ratings from all employees about the trainings were high. If there were any points of attention, they were immediately solved along the way. Because of this, the process and cooperation always retained its value.

With great pleasure, we look back on a successful collaboration with Green Giraffe and look forward to the future!

Jeroen van Berkom, Michelle Vaessen en Thomas Benedict