THE HOXBY LEARNING TEAM SHARE THEIR TIPS FOR FINDING YOUR PERFECT LEADERSHIP FACILITATOR 

If you're responsible for designing and delivering leadership programmes at your organisation, you'll know that finding the right facilitator for your programme is vital. But how can you be confident that your prospective facilitator will be the right fit before unleashing them onto your leadership team?

 
Here are the five questions you should be able to answer before you confidently book your next leadership facilitator.

Is the facilitator interested in the programme’s learning objectives? Do you get the sense that they want to help your people develop and grow? Did they talk to you about how they’ll support your delegates to translate their learning to their role?

Great facilitators will adapt their style to your people's preferences and needs. You want your facilitator to care deeply about delivering meaningful learning experiences, nurturing constructive but challenging conversations, helping your delegates link what they are learning to the real world and making sure they positively impact your cohort.

Has the facilitator asked about your business vision, values, behaviours and strategy? Are they inquisitive about how the programme fits the broader business goals and plans? Did they seem genuinely curious about what your business does and how it makes a positive impact?

Our strong advice is to find facilitators who are as passionate about what you do as you are. You want anything delivered to be applicable and well received. Make sure you see curiosity and excitement about your business in your facilitator from the word go!

Consider what your potential facilitator has done in their career and personal life. Ask them what stories they can tell to build a connection with your cohort, deepen understanding and enrich the learning experience through personal storytelling.

For example, one of our leadership facilitators at Hoxby draws on her experience as part of the first all-female expedition to the North Pole to design and deliver resilience courses that focus on culture's role in individual and business resilience. 

It might sound harsh, but will your people like your potential facilitator? If you are asking your leaders to spend their precious time on this programme, try to test the facilitators' values and behaviours to see if your cohort will enjoy being in their company.

Ask to talk to a recent client to find out their style first-hand. Be bold and ask for detailed feedback after the first session and share it with the facilitator so that they can build on what your delegates liked and didn't like so much. We are in the business of learning and developing, after all! 

People who love their work are generally optimistic, motivated, listen brilliantly, and infect everyone around them with positivity, just what you want from a leadership facilitator! Consider if they love what they do.

At Hoxby, we curate a bespoke team of specialists for every brief, combining skills, passion and experience. That way, we can match facilitators to clients and ensure everyone is motivated to deliver the best work! 

If it’s a resounding YES to these five questions, get them booked because you’ve found yourself a fantastic facilitator! If you’re unsure, then why not contact Hoxby to see if we’ve got the right facilitator for you? We pride ourselves on facilitating exceptional modules and programmes that delight.

As one of our clients recently shared:

“The session was great, and we have our highest NPS* to date! Thank you so much for your partnership and quick turnaround for this event”. 

* NPS - NPS (Net Promoter Score) measures the loyalty of a company's customer base with a score from -100 to +100, which comes from customers answering the question, "How likely are you to recommend this company to a friend or colleague?

Get in touch if you'd like to find out how we can help you too: hello@hoxby.com 

Hoxby’s people-related offer is co-lead by Cath Green and Clare Welsh, who have together amassed over 40 years of experience in corporate HR and communications, including a number of executive-level roles, before bringing their experience and insight to Hoxby.

We have an unrivalled community of People Strategists with the experience and innovative thinking to resolve the toughest strategic challenges and deliver transformational change. Answering briefs across leadership development, organisational development, hybrid working, change management, capability and career planning, employee wellbeing, diversity, equality and inclusion, and more.