What was the original reason that you were looking for support with leadership development at Teck?
In 2010 Teck recognized that a high percentage of our current front-line supervisors were due to retire over the next five years, and that their successors would not have time to adequately prepare them to be effective supervisors. Teck was also experiencing a parallel demographic shift in our hourly workforce which expected a more respectful and collaborative style from their leaders. We recognized that our current supervisor training was not working, and that we needed to shift two things, 1) our approach to the development of our leaders, and 2) our leadership culture overall.

Why did Teck choose Refinery?
Prior to 2010 Teck had engaged with several different consultants for supervisor training and development, that resulted in minimal net change in skills, beliefs and culture. We determined that classroom learning was not effective for participants who were used to being on their feet outdoors most of the day. Refinery was chosen for several reasons: 1) because they firmly believed that leadership should be cultivated through cohort-based, modular and experiential learning rather than taught in a formal classroom setting; 2) the experiential learning would engage participants in very different activities that would generate engagement and discussion about their emotional experience and how they might channel that learning back at the workplace as leaders, and 3) Refinery stated that they would only undertake the work if they were permitted to undertake a detailed discovery. This included input from leaders at all levels including hourly and the union as well as input from all locations.

How has the partnership with Refinery made a difference in the leadership culture at Teck?
Refinery has truly been our partner in this 11-year journey. At times the partnership has been strained by market economics of the mining industry, by changes in leadership on both sides, by changing expectations for program objectives as well as differences of opinions on how and when to evolve the programs. But throughout all of this Teck and Refinery have sought to find common ground through respectful dialogue and collaboration. And, the result has always deepened the partnership and been a model of the very qualities and behaviours we expect from the program facilitators and our supervisors.
The impact of our partnership has been significant. While we still have work to do to become a true learning company our culture has shifted from disrespectful yelling and commanding to respectful collaboration. The best example of this shift came from a comment from the SVP Coal Business Unit a few years back. There were a few senior leaders pushing hard for ROI data on the impact of our development programs with Refinery. However, when presented with the process to collect this data, this SVP shared that we already had the only real data we required: since the inception of our leadership programs, Teck’s safety standards had gotten better on every metric—year after year. This leader went on to state that he believed our leaders were more confident and more capable of having a conversation about difficult safety situation which is exactly our expectation of our front-line supervisors.

What has surprised you most about the experience of working with Refinery?
This question makes me laugh, and will do so for anyone who has ever attended a Refinery event of any kind–even a progress update meeting. Surprise is what you expect from Refinery. Any meeting with anyone from Refinery includes the unexpected, the bizarre, the weird and the wonderful moment when you sigh with delight at a newly found awareness, appreciation, knowledge, insight and always an emotional hook! I dare you to try and sit on your hands and not contribute, grow and learn…it is just not feasible.
And perhaps what is truly surprising is that even thought I know that this is the DNA of Refinery, and I am ready, on my toes, they still continue to surprise me. Creativity is their norm, deep curious caring for others and their requirements is the way they roll. And it is infectious.

What would you tell someone who is considering working with Refinery about what to expect?
Initially it might feel like you are not actually getting exactly what you asked for. Trust their creative process and resist the need to see, touch and feel every detail in advance. In the long range you will get more than you asked for, and many things you didn’t. Be prepared for their tendency to go slow at the start in order to go fast later. Because of the care that they take in getting to learn about your organization, your people will assume that Refinery consultants are internal full-time employees of your company as well the role models of what they teach.
Oh and a one more thing…whatever you expect of your people, they will expect of you and will not hesitate to call you on it, no matter how senior you are. Refinery has contributed to the environment that holds us all accountable for our leadership behaviours.

Hang on and enjoy!

Barry Billings
Director of Talent Management